Image: Screengrab from The Brexit Lexicon by Simon Roberts, 2018
‘Brexit will spell the end of British art as we know it. Discuss. – A Panel Discussion
According to the artist Bob and Roberta Smith leaving the EU will have a devastating impact on our artists, museums and galleries, with Brexit meaning the end of a period of British culture born out of the ashes of the Second World War that was open, intellectually curious and essentially generous. As the UK Government releases Technical Notices on a ‘No Deal Brexit’ and we approach the date of the People’s Vote March for the Future in Central London on 20 October, our panelists will explore the possible impact of Brexit on the cultural sector and ask how we should respond as artists and stakeholders working within the arts. The panel will also discuss the changing funding landscape and our shifting relationship with Europe.
Free but tickets must be booked here:
Panelists will include:
Shoair Mavlian, Director of Photoworks and former Assistant Curator at Tate Modern.
Mahtab Hussain, whose work explores the relationship between identity, heritage and displacement. Mahtab was recently featured on the BBC 4 documentary ‘What Do Artists Do All Day?’.
Natasha Caruana, artist and Senior Lecturer of Photography at the University for the Creative Arts, Farnham, UK
Michael Lightfoot, artist, illustrator, and director of Artists for Brexit, a network of artists, arts workers and arts enthusiasts who support the process of securing independence for the UK.
and Uta Kogelsberger, a London based artist working with photography, video installation and sound. Uta’s new work ‘Uncertain Subjects: Part II’ being shown as part of the 2018 Brighton Photo Biennial gives a voice to those who feel they are not being heard in the current Brexit negotiations.
This event forms part of the 2018 Brighton Photo Biennial festival and is supported by Arts Council England, Photoworks and the Brighton Photo Fringe.
It has been convened by Brighton-based artist Simon Roberts, who is showing work during the festival exploring Brexit.
Flowers Gallery is pleased to present an exhibition by British photographer Simon Roberts, bringing together works from his extended photographic surveys of Russia and Britain produced over a period of 15 years.
Simon Roberts is known for his major bodies of work, We English, Pierdom, and Merrie Albion, which together comprise one of the most significant contemporary photographic studies of Britain since the new color documentary of the 1980s. His earlier series Motherland remains one of the most extensive, comprehensive photographic accounts of Russia by a Western photographer. Presented together in this exhibition, Homeland explores Roberts’ critical reflection on the relationship between contemporary national identity and place, and his ongoing investigation of what draws people together within a particular landscape.
Free entry and open Tuesday to Saturday 10am – 6pm
Simon will be in conversation with W.M Hunt on Saturday November 17 at 3.30pm.
Press Release: (pdf).
Image: Extract from ‘The Thames Wunderkammer: Tales from Victoria Embankment in Two Parts’ An artwork commissioned by Tideway, 2017
Wednesday 5 September, 7pm (doors open 6.30pm)
Tideway Cottons Centre, SE1
Free but booking required (please see below)
An ‘in-conversation’ between Simon Roberts and David Prior, Head of Public Services and Outreach at the Parliamentary Archives, chaired by curator, Rachel Fleming-Mulford.
Using his large-scale artwork for the Victoria Embankment, commissioned by Tideway, as a starting point, Simon Roberts will discuss his photography and his approach to the creation of the artwork, which references the rich and varied history of that section of the Victoria Embankment and the River Thames. Roberts took photographs at the site but also researched objects and images from a wide variety of archives and collections in London to create the work.
“The design is created to reflect the literal and metaphorical layering of the landscape, in which objects from the past and present are juxtaposed to evoke new meanings. The hoarding represents an aesthetic excavation of the area, so that diverse elements, both manmade and natural, can co-exist in new ways.
“All the objects are presented as a metaphoric Victorian ‘Cabinet of Curiosities’. Modern terminology would categorise the objects included as belonging to natural history, geology, ethnography, archaeology, religious or historical relics, works of art, and antiquities.”
Simon is joined by David Prior, who is Head of Public Services and Outreach at the Parliamentary Archives. The Parliamentary Archives holds the records of both Houses of Parliament. The records, which date from 1497, reflect the ways in which Parliament has affected the lives of individuals and communities and the processes by which people have been able to influence the work of Parliament. David’s responsibilities include the curation and management of exhibitions and displays, the development of community outreach activities and the provision of facilities for public access to the Archives. He will bring his fascinating perspective as a heritage expert to the discussion.
Part of Totally Thames Festival 2018 that runs from 1-30 September.
Book free tickets here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-thames-wunderkammerin-conversation-with-photographer-simon-roberts-tickets-46525090799
I will be discussing my most recent project, Merrie Albion, in Bristol at Martin Parr’s new foundation. Copies of the book will also be available.
Image: Daniel Meadows National Portrait (Three Boys and a Pigeon) 1974. Courtesy the artist.
Prints from Merrie Albion are included in this new group exhibition Modern Nature: Photography that explores the merging of urban and rural landscapes in Britain.
For the first time in human history, more people are living in urban environments than in the countryside, yet the impulse to seek out nature remains as strong as ever. This new exhibition of photographs at The Hepworth Wakefield features leading British photographers Shirley Baker, Bill Brandt, Anna Fox, Chris Killip, Martin Parr and Tony Ray-Jones, Simon Roberts and explores our evolving relationship with the natural world and how this shapes individuals and communities.
Drawn from the collection of Claire and James Hyman, which comprises more than 3,000 photographs ranging from conceptual compositions to documentary-style works, Modern Nature will include around 60 photographs taken since the end of the Second World War, through the beginnings of de-industrialisation to the present day. It will explore the merging of urban and rural landscapes, the rapid expansion of cities and the increasingly intrusive management of the countryside.
Here’s a recent feature in the Guardian about the exhibition.
Modern Nature runs from 13 July until 22 April 2019 at The Hepworth Wakefield. Admission is free.
‘Another Europe‘ celebrates the European Year of Cultural Heritage and Austria’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union. The exhibition features 28 photographs, one from each EU Member-State, mounted on specially designed concrete benches around London’s Kings Cross area – the UK’s ‘Gateway to Europe’. Organised by Austrian Cultural Forum London.
ABOUT
To celebrate the European Year of Cultural Heritage and Austria’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union, the Austrian Cultural Forum London in collaboration with the Representation of the European Commission in the UK and EUNIC (European Union National Institutes of Culture) presents Another Europe, an outdoor exhibition of photographs, around the Kings Cross area of London, exploring the diversity of European Heritage.
Another Europe features 28 photographs, one from each EU Member-State, mounted on specially designed concrete benches dispersed around London’s King’s Cross area. The photographers represent a wide range of photographic practices and are a mixture of established and emerging talents. Together they voice themes and influences we all recognise as part of our cultural heritage from concrete manifestations such as monuments, buildings and sites to the more ephemeral social aspects such as childhood, fairytales; theatre, landscape, conflict, work, celebration, family, memories, literature and traditions.
Images of NATO observation towers by Belgian photographer Els van den Meersch contrast with those of a wedding ceremony in Greece by George Tatakis, Petra Lajdova’s striking portrait of a woman in traditional Slovakian clothing, Marketa Luskacova’sCzech carnival scenes or the installation of a Jeff Koons sculpture at Amsterdam’s Stedelijk Museum by Henk Wildschut. Italian photographer Massimo Vitali, famous for his heat-infused Mediterranean beach scenes, has photographed the Rome Forum while Simon Roberts (UK) brings us a very British beach scene of the Charles Dickens celebration at Broadstairs.
Curated by UK artist Hamish Park, the exhibiting artists are in full:
Jean Back (Luxembourg), Gerry Balfe Smith (Ireland), Jelena Blagović (Croatia), Paulo Catrica (Portugal) Emil Danailov (Bulgaria), Joanna Demarco (Malta), Alvaro Deprit (Spain), Tamas Dezso (Hungary), Jeanette Hagglund (Sweden), Nina Korhonen (Finland), Astrid Kruse Jensen (Denmark), Petra Lajdova (Slovakia), Marketa Luskacova (Czech Republic), Marlot & Chopard (France), Adam Panczuk (Poland), Klaus Pichler (Austria) Romualdas Požerskis (Lithuania), Birgit Püve (Estonia), Simon Roberts (UK), Oana Stoian (Romania), George Tatakis (Greece), Andrej Tarfila (Slovenia), Andreas Trogisch (Germany), Thodoris Tzalavras (Cyprus), Iveta Vaivode (Latvia), Els van den Meersch (Belgium), Massimo Vitali (Italy), Henk Wildschut (Netherlands).
I will be one of the speakers at this year’s Street London festival in East London.
Street London returns in August this year with a new theme. We want to explore the ‘borders’ of street photography: where street photography meets photojournalism, art photography and portraiture.
Come join us for talks, shooting, panel discussions, drinks and much more.
TIckets available HERE.
I have several prints included in this group exhibition at Side Gallery in Newcastle.
Some of this country’s most compelling documentary photography has been about the North of England. Explore the role it plays – both as conversation with communities and arguments with power – in this exhibition of major historical and contemporary photography. Drawing on Side Gallery’s own extraordinary collections as well as other key works, you’ll delve into a tradition that continues to shape perceptions of the wider North.
Bringing together contemporary and historical representations of Blackpool’s piers, Neither Land nor Sea, documents the enduring appeal of the architecture, atmosphere and activity of these Seaside structures.
Alongside paintings and photographic works from the Grundy’s Collection, a series of images by 19th Century, Blackpool-based photographer, Albert Eden, will also be exhibited. Printed from glass slides; part of Blackpool Council’s Heritage Collections, these images will be shown alongside a selection of work from photographers based in, or with links to Blackpool and the Fylde Coast, for whom Blackpool’s piers are a frequent subject.
Featuring works by; Albert Eden, H. Burrell, Joseph Conrad Morley, Thomas Huson, Simon Roberts, Linzi Cason, Karl Child, Yannick Dixon, Claire Griffiths, Dawn Mander, Jill Reidy, Richard Jon and Kate Yates.
You can read a review of the exhibition in Corridor 8 HERE.
Image: H. Burrell Pavilion Fire, North Pier 1921.
EVENTS
Saturday 14 April, 3pm – 5pm: Neither Land nor Sea, Artists’ Talk
Saturday 9 June, (time tbc): Blackpool North Pier, Tour and Talk
Saturday 16 June, 3pm – 5pm: The Social History of Blackpool’s Piers, an Illustrated Talk by Tony Sharkey
All events are FREE and will take place at the Grundy apart from the Blackpool North Pier, Tour and Talk. Please contact the Grundy or see our website for further information about any of these events
Image: The end of the world (1955) from New Vedute (2015-2016)
My New Vedute series are on show at Galerie Heinzer Reszler Lausanne.
Please join us for the private view on Tuesday 15 May.