I’m giving an artist talk at Quay Arts centre on Isle of Wight. Book tickets online here.
You can also take part in Quay Arts’ Piers & Bridges debate and upload your photographs of the world of piers and bridges to their Facebook page: www.facebook.com/quay.arts tagging ‘Quay Arts’ and you could win a one-to-one critique session with me on Friday 11 May.
Deadline to upload your images: Tuesday 8 May
Raising funds for the 3 children of Anton Hammerl, photojournalist killed in Libya last year. An auction of contemporary prints will take at Christie’s in New York on May 15, 2012.
Signed prints will available by some of the world’s leading photographers – including Sebastiao Salgado, Alec Soth, Christopher Anderson, Ed Kashi, Yuri Kozyrev, Larry Fink, Lynsey Addario, Susan Meiselas, Ron Haviv, David Burnett, Joao Silva, Bruce Davidson, Greg Marinovich, Samuel Aranda, Roger Ballen and Vincent Laforet – will be auctioned off by Christie’s Senior Vice President Lydia Fenet.
To find out more about the auction visit the Friends of Anton website here.
Anton Hammerl, 1969-2011
Anton, 41, was a former picture editor and chief photographer for The Saturday Star in Johannesburg, South Africa. He was mentored by the late Ken Oosterbroek, member of the acclaimed South African ‘Bang Bang Club’, and worked for the Associated Press, the Sunday Independent, Reuters and the Star Newspaper.
He moved to London in 2006 where he became a freelance photographer, shooting both news and corporate work. He had gone to cover the fighting in Libya in late March as a freelancer.
Anton is survived by his three children – 11 year-old Aurora, 8 year-old Neo, and 1 year-old baby Hiro – and his wife Penny Sukhraj.
The Libyan regime repeatedly told Anton’s family that he was alive and well. The truth is Anton died on day one. It is now clear that the Gaddafi regime knew about Anton’s fate all along and chose to cover it up.
Image: Kenneth Rowntree (1915-1997) Underbank Farm, Woodlands, Ashdale, Derbyshire. 1940
This symposium at the V&A is a fantastic opportunity to explore the complex presence of the past, national identity, taste and nostalgia in relation to the Recording Britain collection of water colours and drawings produced at the start of World War II with both art historians and practicing artists. Speakers include Patrick Wright, David Heathcote, and artists Ingrid Pollard, Abigail Reynolds, Simon Roberts and Paul Scott. At the outbreak of the Second World War an ambitious scheme was set up to employ artists on the home front. The result was a collection of more than 1500 watercolours and drawings that make up a fascinating record of British lives and landscapes at a time of imminent change. Recording Britain was the brainchild of Sir Kenneth Clark, who saw it as an extension of the Official War Artist scheme. By choosing watercolour painting as the medium of record, Clark hoped that the scheme would also help to preserve this characteristic English art form – you can find out more about the scheme here.
Wave Crashing, Maggi Hambling, 2011, Oil on board, Framed 24.13 x 29.85 cm
Date for your diary…Paintings in Hospitals annual fundraising art auction will take place at Bonhams, Knightsbridge on Monday 28 May 2012, 6.30 – 8.00pm.
The inaugural PiH Contemporaries auction will feature works donated by some of the most interesting emerging artists working in Britain today alongside more established names. Among the many artists who have lent their support this year are Ian Davenport, Maggi Hambling, Alexis Harding, Jonathan Huxley, Jarik Jongman, HaYoung Kim, Ben Rivers, Simon Roberts, Tim Shaw, Jonathan Trayte and Mary Webb.
Paintings in Hospitals is a registered charity that uses art and creativity to improve the health, wellbeing and quality of life of adults and children living with illness and disability. Proceeds from the auction will enable us to continue to provide our art library at subsidised rates, ensuring everyone has access to the therapeutic benefits that art provides.
A formal email invitation will follow along with access to our online sale catalogue.
All enquiries [email protected] | 0207 407 3222
We English projected in PICA’s exhibition of Hijacked III
Take a trip into the fantastic and foreboding world of Hijacked III: Contemporary Photography from Australia and the UK. More than 24 artists from opposite sides of the globe offer unique photographs ranging from oblique takes on portraiture and collage to snapshots of society at its best and worst. This exhibition presents far reaching photographic practices which question what it means to look, catch or construct images for the 21st century.
Curated by Louise Clements, Mark McPherson and Leigh Robb and presented as part of the Perth International Arts Festival and FotoFreo, the exhibition coincides with a simultaneous exhibition at QUAD Gallery, Derby, UK and the launch of an 400 page publication featuring 32 artists.
A fleeting glimpse into the life and times of both countries and beyond, Hijacked III will disrupt the way you think about photography.
This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council for the Arts, its arts funding and advisory body.
This week’s New Statesman magazine features photographs from the Our Lives project I worked on last year – a commission with Save the Children on UK child poverty.
A selection of the photographs will go on display in the Upper Waiting Hall of the Palace of Westminster, London SW1 from 12-16 March.
Our Lives will be then be on show in the Embankment Galleries at Somerset House from 27 April – 20 May as part of the World Photography Awards exhibition. There will be a seminar in conjunction with the exhibition on 28th April where I’ll be speaking alongside the other photographers who worked on the project- Liz Hingley, Laura Pannack, Abbie Trayler-Smith and Carol Allen-Storey.
In this session of In the Photographers Studio, we speak to award winning photographers Simon Roberts,
The Hijacked III exhibition and publication launch will take place at QUAD Gallery on Friday 3rd March.
This major survey features some of the best photographic talents from or within Australia and the United Kingdom. My series We English, has been included.
Here’s some of the press blurb: “Known for halting the status quo, arresting the scene and exploding a new perspective on the practices of contemporary photography, this third edition of the biennale Hijacked series explores the world through the eyes and works of 32 international photographers from or within the United Kingdom and Australia. Also featuring a series of specially commissioned films about participating photographers.”
The exhibition will show simultaneously in QUAD with a partner version at PICA in Perth Australia. It will also tour to a couple of other Australian cities. Details here:
Perth Institute of Contemporary Art (PICA) Feb 17 – April 8, 2012
Griffith University Art Gallery (GUAG) April 20 – June 16, 2012
Australian Centre for Photography (ACP) June 29 – August 19, 2012
Curated by:
Louise Clements QUAD & FORMAT International Photography Festival UK, Mark McPherson Big City Press Aus, Leigh Robb PICA Aus.
Featuring:
AUS – Tony Albert, Warwick Baker, Bindi Cole, Christopher Day, Tarryn Gill & Pilar Mata Dupont, Toni Greaves, Petrina Hicks, Alin Huma, Katrin Koenning, David Manley, Jesse Marlow, Tracey Moffatt, Justin Spiers, Michelle Tran, Christian Thompson, Michael Ziebarth.
UK – Adam Broomberg & Oliver Chanarin, Natasha Caruana, Maciej Dakowicz, Melinda Gibson, Leonie Hampton, Rasha Kahil, Seba Kurtis, Trish Morrissey, Laura Pannack, Sarah Pickering, Zhao Renhui, Simon Roberts, Helen Sear, Luke Stephenson, Wassink & Lundgren, Tereza Zelenkova.
The voting for Museums at Night 2012 is now open!
This is your chance to help send me to one of these three Museums:
Working Class Movement Library, Salford
From strikes and protests to tailors and the Spanish Civil War, the Working Class Movement Library tells 200 years of campaigning. Their books, pamphlets, leaflets and tape recordings date as far back as the mid-18th century, including the roots of British trade unions.
They say: “There are many stories in libraries. Usually they’re written down. We want Simon to help us celebrate the image. He will photograph modern dissenters, drawing inspiration from the stories of past campaigns archived in our library. We’ll use these, and the public’s photographic responses, to debate the power of pictures and writing to move and to persuade. We are a hidden treasure. Vote for us so more people hear about our amazing building and its stunning collection.”
Quay Arts, Isle of Wight
Three galleries and a theatre are at the heart of the Isle of Wight’s main arts centre, acting as a space for families and some of the Island’s most talented artists in a former brewery warehouse complex. It was established in 1997.
They say: “We all know the Isle of Wight is a special place. Simon’s work, which captures the beauty of piers around the UK – four of which are on the Island – highlights this even further. By voting, you could secure a chance for this acclaimed artist to come to the Island. This isn’t just a talk – it’s about celebrating the nostalgic beauty of the Island, and a chance to get in involved, show off your talent and possibly even win.”
Guernsey’s venue is surely one of the most impressive – an ancient harbour fortress which includes a Maritime Museum, Militia Museums and the expansive Hatton Gallery, filled with portraits.
They say: “Guernsey Museum’s event takes place in the beautiful setting of Castle Cornet. We are open to suggestions about what Simon would like to do, but the place is not short of inspiration, with narrow Medieval passageways and breathtaking views of the neighbouring islands and France beyond. The night is a collaboration and we will be sharing the Castle with the lovely folk from the Guernsey Photography Festival. Simon’s extensive travelling relates perfectly to the theme of this year’s Festival: Journey.”
You can VOTE here.
Voting closes at 5pm on March 5 2012.
Museums at Night is the annual after hours celebration when hundreds of museums, galleries, libraries, archives and heritage sites open their doors for special evening events. Friday May 18 – Sunday May 20 2012.
I will be giving an artist’s talk at the Light House gallery on 15th March to coincide with my We English exhibition which runs from Friday 27th January – Friday 13th April. More details here.