PHIL HALE TOM HUNTER MICHELE TURRIANI SIMON LARBALESTIER CHARLOTTE HEAL GUY PATERSON SARAH ROESINK RACHEL THOMSON
PHOTOLITA EXHIBITION OPENING AT FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS, LONDON JULY 9TH 2010
PHOTOLITA is an antidote to Photoshop, reflecting a growing rejection amongst artists of the ubiqui- tous ease of a digital aesthetic. The artist’s role is to say no to the common currency and to find their own way. The group of artists in this show have chosen to work with analogue photographic processes, drawing on the unpredictability of light and the deliberate pursuit of chance. Away from the screen and in the sun- light or darkroom there is less control, and a directness that can be open-ended, creatively satisfying and risk-taking. The artists are guided by their own restless interest in the world, and their perspective in PHOTOLITA is the recognition of incomplete knowledge. The work experiments with the earliest forms of photography, cyanotype and van dyke, liquid emulsion, instant Polariod, infrared and panoramic film, pinhole and cameraless photography. At the opening of PHOTOLITA, Michele Turriani will be delivering a live black and white dark room performance and there will be a short documentary to accompany the show, filmed on Super 8 by Phil Hale.
ARTISTS IN PHOTOLITA
PHIL HALE
Phil Hale is a London-based painter whose work has been heavily influenced by his own experimentation in analogue photography. With film supplied by The Impossible Project (www.impossibleprojects.com) and a Polariod SX-70 camera he will take a series of black and white abstracted head shots of his fellow artists and writers in East London.The intention is to include the Polaroids unique presence as a relic of the event itself. Phil Hale was best known for his illustration work for Playboy, Stephen King, Warner Bros and others in the 1990s. In 2000 he made the transition to portraiture and fine art. His portraits have included Thomas Ades for the National Portrait gallery in London and Tony Blair’s official portrait for the House of Commons. His paintings hang in numerous public and private collections including Lords Cricket Grounds, the National Portrait Gallery, the Jerwood foundation and the Royal Portrait Painter’s society. Solo shows include Mockingbirds/Relaxeder at the Jerwood Space, and Urge Ourselves Under at Five Hundred Dollars, London.
TOM HUNTER
Internationally renowned photographer Tom Hunter uses a pinhole camera to photograph places of worship in his local area of East London. Tom Hunter graduated from the London College of Printing with a BA First Class Honours [1994], Hunter took his MA at the Royal College of Art, London [1997]. In 1998, Hunter won the John Kobal Photographic Portrait Award. In 2006 Hunter was the first artist to have a photography show at the National Gallery, London.He currently lives and works in London. His work is often particular, but not exclusive, to the community of travellers he knows as neigh- bours and friends in East London. He has exhibited work both nationally and internationally, in solo and group shows and is also a Senior Research Fellow of the London College of Communication, University of the Arts London.
MICHELE TURRIANI
Photographer Michele Turriani has over twenty years experience in the dark room often manipulating his images to stunning effect. He will be doing a live photography performance at the show, shooting directly onto 10 x 8 paper negatives. Visitors will be invited to take part and follow their image as it is developed, contact printed and displayed. Michele Turriani trained in Urbino as a graphic designer and art director. He moved to London in the 90’s and worked in the music industry with the formidable ADS such as Vaughan Oliver at 4AD and Rob O’conner at Stylorouge. He currently works in fashion, editorial and advertising with clients including Levi’s, Pirelli, Champion, Lee Jeans and Heineken. He undertook a live large format Polariod performance at the BAFTAS, photographing among others Claude Schiffer, Dame Helen Mirren, Diane Kruger and Juliette Lewis.
SIMON LARBALESTIER
Photographer Simon Larbalestier’s hand manipulated monochromatic imagery combines characteristic beauty and melancholy with a documentary approach. Using a Hassalblad panoramic camera to photograph this landscape series in Morroco, he then individually hand prints and tones the images onto fibre based paper. Simon Larbalestier’s work has become emblematic of the legendary band the Pixies and his often surreal and macabre imagery has hugely affected many artists, photographers and designers. He has had many solo and group exhibitions in Britain, Europe, Scandinavia and the USA. His work during the 1990s and 2000s has moved through several landscape series in Italy, USA, Australia and India to longer term documentary projects in Thailand, Cambodia and other areas of South East Asia.
CHARLOTTE HEAL
Graphic designer and photographer Charlotte Heal’s delicately iridescent photographic series appears to document a new galactic landscape, revealing a fascination with the beauty and strength of memetic patterns in nature. Charlotte Heal graduated from the Royal College of art in 2007 and has been working as a freelance graphic designer incorporating her own photography and illustrations into her designs. Her clients include Laurence King, The House of Lords, Royal School of Ballet, Drama Fashion Magazine, The Poetry Society and Penguin Books.
GUY PATERSON
Artist Guy Paterson approaches photography from his fine art print background combining screen printing with photo chemistry on light sensitised surfaces and conventional photography. His work reappropriates and reassigns obsolete industrial equipment, materials and techniques questioning our standing and perception of progress. In ‘1000 nails’ he uses the cameraless technique of the photogram to strip photography to its fundamentals allowing for a very typological approach and exploring the relationship between mechanical reproduction and individuality/uniqueness. His hand bound ‘sketchbook’ permits an indulgence into the tactile fascination of wet processing techniques. Guy Paterson teaches and inspires imagemakers on his alternative photographic courses at Central St Martins.
SARAH ROESINK
Sarah Roesink is a London based photographer, with a strong interest in recording the atmosphere of the moment. She works in various formats of photography including a self-made camera obscura and a collection of vintage cameras. The images here were taken with a pinhole camera, a contact print then printed from colour photographic paper. Sarah Roesink graduated in 2008 with a distinction from the MA course in Communication Design (pathway photography) at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in London and also has a BA in Fashion Photography from London College of Fashion. Since Autumn 2008 she has been teaching at Kingston College for Art and Design, in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey.
www.sarahroesink.net www.Ideologio.com
RACHELTHOMSON
Rachel Thomson makes cyanotype shadowgraphs that map a history of her surroundings, including the plants, people, places and found street treasures in Hackney East London.Rachel Thomson trained in photography and print media at Central St Martins, where she founded her first print magazine Loop. She uses various process- es including photogravure and cyanotype. She is currently editor\producer of Imbroglio magazine and is the curator of PHOTOLITA.
FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS 21 Vyner Street London E2 9DG
info@fivehundreddollars.co.uk
(nearest tube: Bethnal Green)
PHOTOLITA PRIVATE VIEW
Thursday 8th July 2010, 6pm-9pm
PHOTOLITA FILM SCREENING
Thursday 15th July 2010, 6pm-9pm
OPEN 9th July – 5th August, Friday – Sunday 12pm-6pm or by appointment and First Thursdays 6pm-10pm
Here are the four prints I will be exhibiting:
Zagorra #1, Morocco, 2010 from the series "The 5th Quadrant". Selenium Split-toned Silver Gelatin Print. Image Size: 18x46cm. Paper Size: 34x50cm. Edition of 5
Zagorra Desert, Morocco, 2010 from the series "The 5th Quadrant". Selenium Split-toned Silver Gelatin Print. Image Size: 18x46cm. Paper Size: 34x50cm. Edition of 5
Sahara Desert #1, Morocco, 2010 from the series "The 5th Quadrant". Selenium Split-toned Silver Gelatin Print. Image Size: 18x46cm. Paper Size: 34x50cm. Edition of 5
Zagorra #2, Morocco, 2010 from the series "The 5th Quadrant". Selenium Split-toned Silver Gelatin Print. Image Size: 18x46cm. Paper Size: 34x50cm. Edition of 3
