Opening of OUT|TUO

Installation.

Opening.

[photo credit: Jordan Hutchings, Catalyst Arts, 17/01/13]

-PM

Moriyama: Chasing the Dog

Daido Moriyama (born 1938) is one of many photographers that I continue to be impressed and influenced by, but it is his distinct framing method and visual style that confirms that it is possible to make a life from following expressionistic photography.  This is a style that I have been pouring over more and more in the past few years; a style where 'shooting from the hip' is endorsed and accepted, and where conventional rules of framing or processing can be broken.

I travelled to the newly opened Klein + Moriyama show at the TATE Modern Gallery, in London.  Although it was the closing weekend of the Edvard Munch show I had no interest of seeing anything other than photography; also, I hadn't realised that I was so wrapped up in planning my photography trip that I forgot that the London Film Festival was on.  It was not until I was outside the BFI that it became obvious, and unimportant.  I was there for photography.

The Klein + Moriyama show at the TATE was nothing short of brilliant programming.  For more information on the show I would advise visiting the TATE website.  The exhibit led viewers through the works of William Klein, a primary influence on Moriyama and a fantastically modern photographer in his own right.  Their similarities are many: stark monochromatic prints (most of the time); freer framing methods (at odds with traditionalists or documentarians); they created bodies of work on cities and specific areas - including portraits, landscapes and abstracts (favouring urban detritus, advertising, reflections).  Much of what was on show can be found echoing in the work of contemporary American greats such as Garry Winogrand, Lee Freidlander, and Diane Arbus; as well as the more contemporary work of Jacob Aue Sobol.

At the end of the exhibition, in the Moriyama half of the floor, that I became really excited by two bodies of work I have never had a chance to see before (the preceding projects can be purchased as photobooks or in a larger photobook entitled Daido Moriyama: The World Through My Eyes).  These final works were Tales of Tono (1976), which was displayed as a series of prints and as slideshow, and Polaroid/Polaroid 1997 in which Moriyama recreated his entire studio using Polaroids.  Tono was captivating: it was the first time I had seen the entire project projected or printed and it was the first time I had seen Moriyama work in a rural setting.  This is a body of work I will have to come back to shortly - in relation to my own work, which will also be based in a more pastoral locale.

The highlight of the weekend was a printing show with Moriyama himself, where attendants were able to make a custom photobook of twenty prints from an available sixty with a signed silkscreen cover (yes, there was even a choice of cover).  This allowed me to edit together my own book of Moriyama's work, including a selection of rare colour prints.  Forget that old saying about not meeting your idols - this was an experience of a lifetime!

[Print Workshop with Daido Moriyama, TATE Modern, London, October 2012]

[Print Workshop with Daido Moriyama (pictured), TATE Modern, London, October 2012]

-PM

'Churches', by Sylvia Grace Borda

Churches

Sylvia Grace Borda

20th January - 2nd March 2012

Belfast Exposed, Belfast

[taken from BelfastExposed.org]... Sylvia Grace Borda is interested in exploring the architectural legacy of Modernism in Northern Ireland and has made a photographic survey of its modernist churches. Borda spent 2 years journeying through Northern Ireland, seeking out and photographing its churches. The result is an extensive photographic typology, which forms a contemporary portrait of Northern Ireland, and its unchronicled Modernist past.

Modernist civic buildings in Northern Ireland have been characteristically imposing, adopting brutalist architectural strategies. Many of its modernist churches however have aspired to be ethereal and open. These designs reflected the Modernist 1960s idea that architecture had a potential, through spatial openness, to improve social and political lives. Modernist churches employed architectural designs that did not privilege one particular faith over another. It is almost impossible to examine the structural form of many churches and readily distinguish the associated faith.

Churches is an exhibition in 3 parts. At the front of the gallery is a display cabinet containing a series of ceramic objects loaned from antique shops and official Government collections in Northern Ireland. The traditional "souvenir plate" was popular as a token of remembrance, and was often associated with travel and the depiction of picturesque locales. The main gallery space hosts an installation of photo-printed, ceramic plates, entitled "Coming to the Table" and a video projection of over 100 unnamed modernist churches from across Northern Ireland.

http://www.sylviagraceborda.com/

http://belfastexposed.org/

"Seeing and Being"... in Cavan

Cavan, what a magical place. In the end only three of us ventured through 'orchard country' and beyond, but three was an ample amount for the Belfast contingent.

We departed Belfast at 9am to attend an artist talk with Michael Fortune, check his

website

for a look at his work. Working with community groups, his family, animals, schools and producing books, DVDs, as well as online archives for each project Michael sets a great standard for working practice.

After spending our lunch soaking up the sites of Cavan town (namely the Old Abby Ruins) we were taken a few miles outside of Cavan town to the Bluewall Gallery. I don't think there are many galleries that can boast being lakeside, or situated in a geo-park but those are just extra reasons to visit the space. Information on the gallery and exhibition can be found here!

Seeing and Being in the Landscape

Saturday 26th of February - Saturday 26th of March

Bluewall Gallery, Cavan

"Seeing and Being in the Landscape is an exhibition bringing together fourteen artists with a concern for the local environment, as well as the post industrial landscapes between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, and how these can be visualised and defined. "

-PM