Brian Griffin
dal 6/4/2011 al 18/6/2011
Segnalato da
6/4/2011
Brian Griffin
The New Art Gallery Walsall, Walsall
The Black Country. The photographic series predominantly focuses on the factory worker, a role he played himself after leaving school at 16, and one both his parents occupied throughout their working lives. Other works depict the Black Country as seen through a child's eyes. The photographs reveal how the factories, its workers, the surrounding landscape and local traditions, spurred Griffin's imagination from an early age.
‘Growing up in the Black Country was the best thing that ever happened to me ’.
Brian Griffin, 2010
The New Art Gallery Walsall is pleased to present the first UK showing of The Black
Country, a new body of work by renowned photographer Brian Griffin.
Brian Griffin was born in Birmingham in 1948 but spent his childhood in Lye, in the Black
Country before departing for Manchester College of Art in 1969 to study photography.
He has since gone on to become one of the UK’s most established photographers and is
renowned for his portraits of musicians, actors, political figures and the business
community. However, growing up in the 50s and 60s in the Black Country, surrounded by
industry, has left an indelible impression on the artist, to such an extent, that a new body
of work restages his childhood memories of living amongst the factories on Stocking
Street, Lye.
‘’Factories were everywhere, even surrounding my school. I was determined not to end
up in one but in 1964 I did. Forced out of school by my parents, being an only child, the
family needed money and I was a source. I never realised at the time – wanting to stay on
at school to do my A levels – but working in a factory would turn out to be my salvation .’’
The photographic series predominantly focuses on the factory worker, a role he played
himself after leaving school at 16, and one both his parents occupied throughout their
working lives. Other works depict the Black Country as seen through a child’s eyes. The
photographs reveal how the factories, its workers, the surrounding landscape and local
traditions, spurred Griffin’s imagination from an early age.
‘’If I opened my bedroom net curtains, sometimes the night sky would be glowing red
from the furnaces of Round Oak Steelworks in Brierley Hill. Beyond the steelworks was
Dudley Castle the former home of the Earls of Dudley. Mom and Dad used to say that
everything was the Earl of Dudley’s.’’
The Earl of Dudley, Black Country Food, Speedway racing, The Lone Ranger, Davy
Crockett, the local pub, the family cat and his early years as a choir boy are also
celebrated in the series. Family photographs and Griffin’s written accounts of childhood
also accompany the photographs.
Each of the images within The Black Country brings together a careful composition of
nostalgia, tenderness and absurdity. Inspired by a range of influences including
Caravaggio, Stanley Spencer, Joseph Wright of Derby and religious art, his theatrical
scenarios place his life story on centre stage.
Griffin’s artistic influences will also be explored through a display of works from The New
Art Gallery Walsall’s collection. The accompanying exhibition curated by Griffin, will
include works by Jacob Epstein, Odilon Redon and Georges Rouault.
For further information please contact: Chris Wilkinson, Marketing and Development
Assistant on 01922 654416 or email: wilkinsonc@walsall.gov.uk
Exhibition Preview: Thursday 7 April 2011, 6-8pm
The New Art Gallery Walsall
Floor 3, Gallery 1
Gallery Square, London
open: Tuesday to Saturday 10am to 5pm, Sunday 11am to 4pm
Admission is free