23 April – 19 May

To celebrate the opening of Liverpool’s Literary Festival, Open Eye are today offering a 10% discount on all the books in our Gallery Shop, just quote ‘Liverpool Literary Festival’ at the front desk to receive your discount. We have a wide range of artists books, photography history and theory books. Why not drop into Open Eye Gallery and have a browse through our collection. Here are some of our suggestions.

Penguin Great Ideas

Throughout history, some books have changed the world. They have transformed the way we see ourselves – and each other. They have inspired debate, dissent, war and revolution. They have enlightened, outraged, provoked and comforted. They have enriched lives – and destroyed them. Now Penguin brings you the works of the great thinkers, pioneers, radicals and visionaries whose ideas shook civilisation, and helped make us who we are.

Ivan Vartanian & Ryuchi Kaneko: Japanese Photobooks of the 1960′s and ’70′s

During the 1960s and 70s in Japan, the photobook through a combination of excellence in design, printing, and materials over took prints as a popular mode of artistic dissemination. This process has expanded to an extent where any discussion of Japanese photography now has to include the book work. Today, the most famous works such as Nobuyoshi Arakis ‘Sentimental Journey’ and Eikoh Hosoes ‘Man and Woman’ continue to inspire artists internationally. ‘Japanese Photobooks of the 1960s and 70s’ presents forty definitive publications from the era, piecing together an otherwise invisible history that has played out in tandem with photography as a medium. Included are some of the most influential works along with forgotten gems, placed within a larger historical and sociological context.

Anne-Celine Jaeger: Image Makers, Image Takers

This new and expanded edition of the hugely successful ‘Image Makers, Image Takers’ explores how celebrated contemporary photographers work, and how photo editors, agency directors, curators and art publishers pick that final image. In Part 1, twenty top photographers answer the questions every aspiring camera artist wants to ask, from creative inspiration and realizing concepts to perfect post-production. Part 2 presents the views of a selection of renowned editors and curators on how to spot and present the perfect image. Each of the 33 in-depth interviews features up to fifteen questions and answers, and is lavishly illustrated with the contributors work

Adam Broomberg & Oliver Chanarin: People in Trouble Laughing Pushed to the Ground (first edition)

Broomberg & Chanarin have been collaborating for over a decade. They have produced six books, each in different ways examine the language of documentary photography. Belfast Exposed was founded in 1983 as a response to concern over the careful control of images depicting British military activity during the Troubles. These photographs, taken by professional photo-journalists as well as ‘civilian’ photographers, chronicle protests, funerals and acts of terrorism as well as the more ordinary aspects of life such as drinking tea and watching trains. Whenever an image in this archive was chosen, approved or selected, a blue, red or yellow dot was placed on the surface of the contact sheet as a marker. Each of the circular photographs shown on the previous pages reveals the area beneath these circular stickers; the part of each image that has been obscured from view the moment it was selected.

Mark Power: MASS (limited edition, individually numbered & signed)

‘MASS’, the new book by Mark Power, examines the dominance and influence of the Catholic church in Poland. While living in Poland during the autumn and winter of 2010/11 Power sought permission to photograph over fifty Catholic church services in the southern city of Krakow. Power, a lapsed Catholic, had already become fascinated by the great numbers attending Mass each day and by the intensity of faith on display, appearing to cross borders of class and age, often in settings of spectacular beauty.

Viviane Sassen: In & Out of Fashion

Bringing together seventeen years of work in the fashion world, this eye-catching volume features selections from Sassen’s award-winning series and campaigns for Stella McCartney, Adidas, Carven, Bergdorf Goodman, MiuMiu, and M Missoni, along with editorials for magazines such as The New York Times Magazine, i-D, Numero, Purple, AnOther Magazine, Dazed & Confused, Fantastic Man, and POP. Sassen’s intuitive and imaginative style can be flamboyant, contemplative, erotic, and surreal, often simultaneously. This volume includes essays that offer a context for Sassen’s work in the history of fashion photography as well as a bibliography of nearly all her fashion series. The book will be a delight for Sassen’s many fans and those eager for inspiration or just beautiful escape.

Pietro Mattioli: Two Thousand Light Years From Home (limited edition)

‘Two Thousand Light Years from Home’ is an immediately compelling object; the traditional structure of the book has been made as strange as the otherwise ordinary subjects of Mattioli’s photographs. The printed, folded sheet of each of the book’s signatures remains uncut on one edge; every page conceals an interior printed in a deep pink. Mattioli, a new father at the time, photographed a series of objects—fences, light posts, trees, each lit solely by a burst of flash—while strolling at night through his yard and along nearby streets. His meanderings, taken while his child slept, were constrained by the radius of his baby-monitor reception.

Open Eye Gallery volunteer, Eve Goulden, shares with us her experiences with photography… and the first time she made a pinhole camera. 

I had become so accustomed to the instantaneous nature of digital photography, the swift transition from camera to computer screen so mind-numbingly quick and easy.  Without even thinking to question how the internal mechanisms worked, or how digital photography was such a remarkable development in photographic technology, I was quite happy just to snap away.  That was, in a way, what I had always known.  A keen photographer from the age of thirteen, I’d experimented with 35mm film a few times, but the fact that I could take, manipulate, share and print images so quickly using my digital camera meant that I always preferred to use it deep down.

When I began studying photography, I was exposed to camera-less photography as part of a project entitled ‘Images Without Lenses’.  The project entailed creating images in ways I’d never explored previously: photograms, scanograms, chemograms and pinhole imagery.  Beginning to understand the invention of photography right from the early usage of the camera obscura changed the way I photographed things from that point on and caused me to think more carefully about how images are made.  To a teenager, quite sickeningly dependent on technology, hundred-year-old-techniques invented by the forefathers of photography seemed so new and innovative, but at the same time almost impossible.

The pinhole camera I made for the project was fashioned from an old paperboard perfume box, small and rectangular with a deep lid.  Transforming this humble box, one that just sat gathering dust upon a shelf, into a pinhole camera was a real labour of love.  I slathered the interior with black acrylic paint using a thick paintbrush, carefully cut a small circular hole from the box lid with a craft knife, and attached a slither of black sugar paper to the inside to cover the hole.  What was perhaps most satisfying was pricking this piece of paper gently with a drawing pin, creating the tiniest little hole, one that could barely be seen.  This wasn’t anything in the realm of my professional zoom lens attached to my DSLR camera, and I found it fascinating that this petite prick in the paper was what made this box into a camera, what would transform it from a mundane object into a piece of photographic equipment.  A piece of black electrical tape formed the camera’s ‘shutter’: this was placed over the pinhole to make the camera light tight, and was peeled back when an exposure was being taken.

The exterior of the camera, for me, was a blank canvas.  This was something I had created myself, something that was unique to me.  I wanted to give it my own twist, take advantage of the fact that I could make this camera look any way I wanted it to.  Making this camera had got my creative juices flowing.  I used cuttings from old newspapers and books and stuck strips all over the outside with PVA glue.  I then attached to the shutter a cutting from an old French dictionary: “photographie”.  The finishing result felt like a piece of artwork in itself.  There are pinhole cameras readily available to buy, templates that can be printed.  But putting my own twist on how my pinhole camera looked made the experience of pinhole photography feel evermore personal.

The taking of the pinhole images was a completely otherworldly experience in comparison to photographing digitally.  I used blue tack to secure unexposed photographic paper inside the chamber, opposite to the pinhole.  Once the camera was loaded I found myself nervously clutching at the pinhole camera, cuddling it close to my chest like a newborn baby wrapped in a blanket: the camera was now very much alive and precious.  I was photographing a building off Myrtle Street, a tall structure used for student housing which seems to stand alone, isolated.  I placed the camera on the concrete floor, using the kerb from the pavement to tilt it up just slightly.  I peeled back the electrical tape and allowed the image to be exposed for around fifteen seconds – the day was cloudy and overcast.  There were feelings of both excitement and anticipation rushing through me: a mixture of wanting to see the image once it had been developed, tied in with the underlying worry that the image may have been ruined due to light leaks, or not exposed properly.  Again, I felt protective of the camera.  It was my duty to ensure that it would be safe and secure until I could get it back to the safety of the red light within the dark room.

At this point, my excitement began to take over.  I opened up the box impatiently, as though it contained a Christmas present, removed the exposed paper and placed it into the tray of developer.  It was a joyous feeling to see the image appear on the paper, almost magical.  Satisfied with the final outcome, I finished off putting my print through the chemical process.

I was lucky that my first attempt at pinhole photography went so smoothly.  Pinhole photography is all about making mistakes and learning how to rectify them through experimentation.  This is what makes pinhole photography so personal: it’s so simplistic, there’s no gadgetry involved and you as the photographer are in control of every single detail.  Photography has arguably become far too over-complicated with the progression of the computer age, and taking it back to its most basic form is a truly intriguing and satisfying thing to do for any person with a passion for photography.

Open Eye Gallery celebrates World Pinhole Day on 28th April with a special free event. Visit http://www.openeye.org.uk/events/world-pinhole-day/ for more information.

Appropriating images – Death of the Photographer?

Appropriation art is a practice that involves borrowing or reusing existing elements within a new body of work. Postmodern appropriation artists argue that the notion of an ‘original’ artwork is flawed and some theorists and art critics would also support this point. By reappropriating existing works, artists are able to place the work within a different context and in doing so, open up new dialogues surrounding the piece.

Marcel Duchamp is considered to be the first artist to exhibit appropriated art or ‘ready-mades’, the most famous likely being a porcelain urinal signed ‘R. Mutt’ and titled ‘Fountain’. It was initially submitted as a sculpture for the Society of Independent Artists exhibition in 1917 but was rejected by the selectors committee. This was momentous in changing the associations the viewer has with a particular object or work and in turn, subverts it as the audience is forced to rexamine it within a new framework.
An anonymous article for The Blind Man, which is presumed to have been written by Beatrice Wood sums up why Duchamp’s piece managed to shift the art world’s importance of physical and technical craft to intellectual interpretation.

“Whether Mr Mutt made the fountain with his own hands or not has no importance. He CHOSE it. He took an article of life, placed it so that its useful significance disappeared under the new title and point of view – created a new thought for that object”[1]

When observing appropriated art or images, the central debate is often concerned with the notion of authorship and originality. The practice of appropriation often supports the point that authorship is an obsolete and misguided concept. Roland Barthes is a key figure in this discussion after his work ‘Death of the Author’ was published in 1966. “The explanation of a work is always sought in the man or woman who created it… (but) it is language which speaks; not the author”[2]

Described by some as a ‘modern-day Duchamp’[3], Mishka Henner is an exhibiting artist at the Open Eye (1^st March – 5^th May) whose work is created by recontextualising imagery that has been taken from sources such as Google Earth, Google Street View, YouTube and Bing Maps.

Levelland Oil Field and Feedlots (2012-2013) is a new body of work being shown at Open Eye Gallery for the first time in a solo exhibition titled ‘Precious Commodities’.

Exploring the US oil and beef industries, Henner has created striking, large-scale inkjet prints, which have been taken from satellite imagery that is readily available on free software provided by Google Earth. On a first glance, it’s hard to believe that these are photographs have been taken from the web as the colours and texture of the pieces resemble something more like an abstract landscape painting. However, after closer inspection, learning how Henner has produced these works, and also what they represent in terms of America’s capitalistic cattle feeding lots and Texas oil fields. These images become far more interesting, and in some cases – rather disturbing.

Henner describes the Internet as an ‘untapped resource’ for collecting data and information which can ‘unearth details about the society and culture we live in’. By investigating oil farms in particular, he is effectively presenting aspects of the landscape that represent issues that drive so much of our economy and culture.

The reappropriation of the images opens up an interesting dialogue, which questions the originality and authorship of these images and in turn allows us to wonder how relevant this is in our ‘Death of the author’ theoretical society. When questioned about this technique, Henner states that he likes ‘surrendering control’, and sees himself as just ‘joining the dots’. However, this body of work is much more than a presentation of satellite images. He has made important decisions with size, scale as well as how he’s stitched these images together, making us question exactly what we’re looking at.

As a volunteer front of house assistant, I’ve had the privilege of witnessing people’s first reactions to the work, many of which are taken a back when they realise the source of the images. Many of them question the surreal painterly quality of the photographs, and ask if it has been edited in any way. Other visitors request the coordinates so they can locate these satellite images by themselves.

Having had the opportunity to work in the gallery a few times since Henner’s work was previewed in March, it has allowed me to spend full days mulling over the works and I still find something new in them every time I visit the gallery. I am drawn to the Beef and Oil pieces in particular, because I’m intrigued by the juxtaposition between images that are both aesthetically pleasing as well managing to embody a darker and more disturbing subject matter. By pushing the boundaries of what is considered ‘photography’ and showing us something that is already there – and readily available to view he gently captures our gaze and in doing so, forces us to recognize these global issues. Henner has an exceptional skill at successfully tackling these hugely important social concerns in a quiet, unassuming way.

[1] http://www.toutfait.com/unmaking_the_museum/fountain.html

[2] http://www.studentpulse.com/articles/546/appropriation-in-contemporary-art

[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mishka_Henner

The permanent collection at Walker Art Gallery is a treasure trove of established paintings and sculptures, displaying the development of European art from the 13^th century onwards.  For their current exhibition, on display indefinitely from 2^nd February, Walker have acquired an abundance of contemporary work by artists such as Anish Kapoor, Yoko Ono and Haroon Mirza.

Contemporary earthen structures are rituistically dusted with a layer of vivid red powder each time Anish Kapoor’s Red in the Centre is displayed.  The sculptures play with the idea of nature and growth: one particular sculpture emerges from the floor like two tall blades of grass; another resembles a seedling ready to grow into something new.   It is ironic that at the time that Kapoor made these pieces during his residency at Walker Art Gallery during the early 1980s, he was on the cusp of growing into one of the UK’s most renowned and distinguished sculptural artists.

Kapoor’s Indian heritage is something that he often draws ideas from and refers to when creating his sculptures.  His mother practiced Hinduism, a religion rich in art, architecture and myth throughout its history.  A tongue-like object pokes out of the wall adjacent to the floor, a symbol of the mischievous Hindu goddess, Kali, who is known as the dark mother and represents both creation and destruction in the Vedas.  In Kali temples, worshippers smear their tongues with the blood of sacrificed animals.  This is echoed within the sculpture, the red pigment powder falls from the tongue and stains the walls and floor beneath like blood.

The sensual curvature of the sculptures pay homage to the feminine form, while the red pigment in the centre represents masculinity, turning the objects into generative works and relating to creation of new life.   “I have always loved the colour red as a colour of the centre, like a path to emotional explosion,” said Kapoor.  This fascination with the rich, radiant colour red has influence in many of Kapoor’s other sculptures, including a smaller, untitled sculpture,which also features in the exhibition at the Walker.  This comprises of three small objects, two of which are made of glazed earthenware and one made from terracotta.

Halima Cassell similarly juxtaposes established styles with modern architecture and sculpture.  The artist, of Pakistani descent, incorporates pattern and form traditionally found in Moorish and Islamic palaces.  Her hand carved sculptural object, featured in New Works at the Walker, is sculpted from grogged clay, which is made by combining crumbled fired clay with wet clay to provide a rigid structure.

Contrastingly, the mixed media installation piece created by Haroon Mirza, A Sleek Dry Yell connotes distance and detachment from the home.  He combines everyday household objects with a video piece and the sound of rushing water to create a sinister composition.  The menacing voice of Richard ‘Kid’ Strange in combination with the sounds of rushing water, and the salient strike of a minor chord cause a chilling sense of unease across the gallery space: when viewing other works the sound piece creeps up upon the exhibition’s visitors, creating a resonating audiovisual experience.

Yoko Ono’s found object installation, Skyladders, is an alluring and moving piece, which has been displayed previously at the Bombed Out Church during the 2008 biennial.  It relates to personal memories of first encounters with John Lennon, when they attended a private view in the 1960s of unfinished paintings and objects, which included one of the ladders featured in this installation.  Ono clings on to this memory, and creates a family of wooden ladders of different heights and sizes.  Alongside the ladders, there is a handwritten quote from Yoko Ono reading,

“Pick a ladder,

Watch it very carefully,

Climb the ladder,

In your dream,

To get nearer to the sky”.

Photography also plays a role in this exhibition, and Viral Landscapes by Helen Chadwick is arguably one of the most captivating bodies of work featured.  Photographs of rugged coastline landscapes are blotched with enlarged images of the artist’s own body cells to create intriguing large-scale images.  Processes of change and evolution have influenced these images greatly, prompted by growing awareness of the AIDs virus during the 1980s.    Jyll Bradley’s backlit panoramic photographs are an exploration of what happened to Liverpool’s famed botanical departments after they were closed and the plant life dispersed.  The installation draws together a fantasy garden of Bradley’s very own.  Wolfgang Tillmans’ Cameron is a photograph of an artist who must work on a market stall in order to make enough money in order to survive.  The emotion captured upon the subject’s face is raw and striking.

The show was made possible through the Contemporary Art Society’s Art and Sculpture Funds and is part of a remit to acquire new work.   New work will be added to the show during its running time, “a living, breathing exhibition”.  The surface has only been scratched when it comes to this show, as there is such a diverse range of multinational, contemporary works.  The only way to gage the scale of the show is to see it for yourself.

We’re now stocking all three in the Open Eye Shop (in store and online)

Lisa Bernard: Chateau Despair
Limited edition of 500
Signed
£25

Helen Sear: Brisées
Limited Edition of 500
£20

Mark Power: Mass
Limited Edition of 750
Signed
£45

GOST books at Open Eye Gallery Shop

Lorenzo curated the 2010 and 2012 reiterations of the Liverpool Biennial, respectively entitled Touched and The Unexpected Guest.

In 2012 he also curated a suite of three retrospective exhibitions for the Galleria Civica di Modena (Italy), bringing together the work of Peter Hujar, Mark Morrisroe and Jack Smith under the collective title Changing Difference: Queer Politics and Shifting Identities.

Prior to his appointment at the Liverpool Biennial, Lorenzo was Chief Curator at sms contemporaea and Palazzo delle Papesse Contemporary Art Centre in Siena (Italy). During this time, he curated numerous solo presentations (Gordon Matta-Clark, Barbara Kruger and Cyprien Gaillard, just to name a few) and group shows such as System Error and .ZA, Young Art From South Africa.

His latest publishing endeavour is a monographic book devoted to the oeuvre of Alfredo Jaar (Exòrma Edizioni, 2012 Rome), focusing on the relations between art and history. Along with his professional commitments, Lorenzo also lectures regularly at Hope University, Tate Liverpool and Liverpool John Moores University Liverpool.

Lorenzo joins Open Eye at a pivotal time, with the organisation having recently celebrated record visitor figures since moving to their new premises 14 months ago.

Lorenzo will lead a team of six members of staff. One of his first tasks will be to appoint a Deputy Director and Programme Co-ordinator. Lorenzo said “Open Eye’s resilience and rich history represent an important legacy and an incredible source of inspiration for me. Over the last 40 years, the organisation has consolidated its unique role in the local and national cultural arena. I am thrilled to now take the lead towards a new phase of this history, building on the gallery’s already established reputation and tradition”.

Lorenzo replaces outgoing director Patrick Henry who has left to pursue a series of projects including Look 13, Liverpool’s international photography festival.

Tell us a little bit about  ‘Together, Yet Forever Apart’.

The piece at Open Eye Gallery is the start of a new series of public art works exploring coloured light, reflective surfaces and architectural spaces.

‘Together, Yet Forever Apart’ is based on the idea of “falling in love” and “forbidden love” – ideas stemming from the two exhibitions by Mark Morrisroe and Kohei Yushiyuki (both of which were housed in the gallery when the piece was first unveiled). Both artists deal with love, sexual love, the desire to love and to be loved, of memory and escapism.

How do you relate photography to your practice?

For me, photography is about the materiality light, the layering of light and the layering of colour to create a picture. With this in mind, I wanted to explore similar concepts but in a more physical way.

If you could place your work on any other building around the world where would it be and why?

It’d be fun to work with the world’s most iconic buildings. However my concerns are less about deconstructing icons of architecture – more about the viewer’s experience of colour, space and geometry. In short I’d like to think that I can work with well known as well as lesser known buildings – they all interest me.

You are based in London but you spent a large amount of time in Liverpool in the run up to the biennial show. What are your impressions of the city?

I love it. There’s a wonderful vibrancy about Liverpool -  the people are friendly, very chatty and there’s a thriving music and art scene here too. Liverpudlians are lucky to have such a large number of art organisations all within walking distance of each other. What I like most though are the wonderful pieces of public art scattered all across the city – they act as visual remnants of previous Biennials. My favourites are Jorge Pardo’s “Penelope” light piece on Wolstenholme Square and street text pieces commissioned by Visible Virals.

Other than Open Eye, what were your Biennial highlights this year?

I loved the Elmgreen and Dragset VIP door – not to everyone’s taste but I find their work very punchy, witty and breathe of fresh air compared to a lot of public art that I see.

Tell us your plans for any future projects.

I’ve recently come back from installing a painted mural for a group show at NEST – a wonderful art organisation at The Hague, Netherlands.

January 2013 is going to be a busy month. A public commission for Locws International, where we will be printing 6metre high gold palms trees on the high street in Swansea, Wales! Also opening this January is my collaborative show with sculptor Nick Hornby, curated by Ann Elliott for the lobby space of 1 Canada Square - that’s the very tall building at Canary Wharf, London.

It’s always fun and challenging working with other artists and people with different skill sets. I feel that as an artist it’s important to push the boundaries of both materials and concepts.

You can view Sinta’s work at Open Eye Gallery until May 2013.

Read it here.

My personal shopping list includes books by Francesca Woodman (£36.50), Joel Sternfeld: First Pictures (£32.50) and Pietro Mattioli: Two Thousand Light Years From Home (£25)…held together with a Goodwin & Goodwin book end (£14.00).

Purchases can still be made from our e-shop throughout this time.

We are open as normal from Wednesday 2nd January.