Last night we officially opened photographer Cambridge Jones' new exhibition Talking Pictures. It's a collection of 31 images of Welsh celebrities, accompanied by an audio guide which allows you to hear each of the subjects talking about what inspired them to do what they do.
It's been a real pleasure to work with Cambridge. When I first met him to talk about the project he'd stopped at the Centre to photograph Bryn Terfel for the exhibition; we started talking about the logistics of hanging and curating the collection and he asked me if I'd be happy to hang it myself as it's part of the process that he doesn't really enjoy. I jumped at the chance.
I wanted to share the process I went through in hanging his work. The collection includes actors, comedians and musicians, all with Welsh DNA, so two options presented themselves straight away - I could hang the work in groups, depending on the subjects profession, or geographically, based on the area of Wales that they are most closely associated with.
Eventually, however, I chose a third option. Geography was quickly dismissed - there was no supporting information that would alert the viewer to this choice and adding something in would distract from the real subject, the person. When you hear Cambridge talk about his work he's quick to emphasise that fact that each of his subjects is just that, a person, and what interests him is capturing the person not the celebrity. Drawing attention back to the celebrity, achieved through their occupation, would also detract from Cambridge’s objective, so we ruled out hanging by profession.
When we started to unwrap the pieces, it soon became clear that there were a number of tonal and aesthetic themes within the collection that we could use to take people on a journey through the exhibition without detracting from each of the individuals involved. We used colour and space to group images together and were lucky to find images that provided transitions between the lighter and darker works, and those where the subject filled the frame and others where space around the person opened up.
The only time we struggled was with Anthony Hopkins; his is the only image where there is almost no space within the frame. We got around this by tracing a line through this section of the exhibition based on the subjects eye-line within the frame – I’d be interested to know if you see what I see when you look at the exhibition.
The inclusion of two landscape images provided a complimentary way to top and tail the collection (and resulted in a happy accident with the audio tracks that I’ll let you discover).
The visual arts form a major part of my role here at the Centre and recently we've been doing some really exciting things in this area. I wanted to share one other in particular with you.
project/ten
 |
| Carwyn Evans installing his new piece in Ffresh Lounge |
For me, Carwyn Evans new installation that runs around the windows in the Lounge sums this up - I got to see his working drawing while he was installing the piece and he'd been in and worked out his angles and measurements as a designer would, to ensure that his piece both followed and echoed the undulations of Amber Hiscox line that traces it's way around the building.
The partnership between the Centre and project/ten seemed a really obvious thing to do - we live in a building that's recognised for its design worldwide and our remit includes supporting and promoting both established and emerging Welsh artists.
Let's hope that it's one that continues for some time. You can hear Cat talking about the exhibition yn Gymraeg here...http://www.ydydd.co.uk/clip/1509.
There’s plenty more exhibitions coming up at the Centre over the rest of the year. Keep an eye on our website for more information.
Rob
No comments:
Post a Comment