A registered charity that provides artists studios, exhibition space and public engagement with contemporary art in the heart of East Oxford
Description:
An online exhibition showcasing the work of 12 studio and associate artists at Magdalen Road Studios who work in and around Oxford and beyond. The exhibition focuses on the diverse ways in which artists use photography in their practice. The exhibition has been curated and edited by Cally Shadbolt, Catalina Renjifo and Lucas McLaughlin.
The exhibition runs in parallel with the Photo Oxford Festival, from the 16th October to the 12th November, and includes a taught workshop on Paper Lithography.
Paper Lithography is an approachable printmaking technique that transforms high contrast photocopied images to produce surprising effects in hand pulled prints. In the day-long workshop participants learn to apply the principles of lithography without the lengthy stone process to explore and experiment with this unique technique and produce beautiful prints from their own photographs.
Information:
Venue: Magdalen Road Studios (website)
Associated Organisations: Photo Oxford and Oxford City College
Type of event: Online exhibition and related workshop
Exhibition Dates: 16 October to 16 November 2020
Workshop date: Saturday 24th October
Workshop venue: Oxford City College
Workshop information: http://www.magdalenroadstudios.com/paper-lithography-workshop
Exhibition Title: ‘A Dangerous Field’: Women, Artists and the Photographic Image
Link to exhibition: http://www.magdalenroadstudios.com/a-dangerous-field
Curated and Edited By: Cally Shadbolt, Catalina Renjifo and Lucas McLaughlin
Press statement:
Magdalen Road Studios is pleased to announce ‘A Dangerous Field’: Women, Artists and the Photographic Image, their first online exhibition, curated and edited by Cally Shadbolt, Catalina Renjifo and Lucas McLaughlin.
The exhibition is available on a dedicated page on the website, running in parallel and in association with Photo Oxford Festival, from the 16th October to the 12th November. Additionally a taught workshop opportunity is offered: ‘Paper Lithography, with Asma M Hashmi, kindly hosted by Oxford City College.
The overarching theme of the exhibition is the diverse ways in which artists may use photography. The exhibition showcases the work of 12 studio and associate artists who work in and around Oxford and beyond. In ‘A Dangerous Field’, each artist engages in an examination of their practice, demonstrating their own particular use of photography, whether to explore or subvert the ‘field’, or to record and research their subject.
The title comes from a quote found in ‘A Short History of Photography’ by Walter Benjamin, who paraphrasing Sasha Stone, a Russian artist who died in 1940, states that photography as art is a dangerous field. Even today, artists continue to weave photography into their practice in surprising ways, treading a fine line between the purely factual and boundless imagination.
In asking how much a photograph tells us about reality, the viewer is invited to discover the truth for themselves. It may be the materiality of the photographic print, whether artists employ high-resolution professional equipment and domain specific products, or choose low tech devices, such as phone cameras and home printers, along unconventional materials, in order to test the medium.
The manipulation of the print itself or the use of camera-less methods such as cyanotype or solarisation may introduce accident and surprise. On the other hand, a controlled altering such as drawing or re-touching can also extend the possibilities of the physical image.
How works are created, presented or reproduced, such as in artist books or postcards can become an experiment in sequencing of text and image. The 'how' of capturing something is what is interesting in this context. Temporality becomes evident in film and performance, to rediscover ageing, or to ask the viewer to ponder whether the photograph aids or hinders memory.
Whatever the reality might be, it is worth considering that, as Walter Benjamin wrote: ‘The illiterate of the future will not be the man who cannot read the alphabet, but the one who cannot take a photograph’. Read also woman.