Martin Parr
dal 14/10/2009 al 16/1/2010
Segnalato da
14/10/2009
Martin Parr
Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead
Parr is known for his satirical documentation of British contemporary life; capturing a range of social demographics he offers a colourful social panorama of Britain today unmasking the banal and the offbeat with his wry look at class and wealth. For more than 30 years, Parr has been documenting society and everyday culture initially in Britian and Ireland but later across the world, taking in global phenomena such as mass tourism, consumerism, social and cultural events.
Parr is known for his satirical documentation of British contemporary life; capturing a range of social demographics he offers a colourful social panorama of Britain today unmasking the banal and the offbeat with his wry look at class and wealth. Many of his images appear exaggerated and yet they are inventive and often humorous using colour and motif to great effect. For more than 30 years, Parr has been documenting society and everyday culture initially in Britian and Ireland but later across the world, taking in global phenomena such as mass tourism, consumerism, social and cultural events.
For his new series Luxury, Parr shows the different ways in which people display their wealth. Choosing various locations across the world, and a range of situations including art fairs and race courses, including Newcastle’s premier horse racing event The Northumbrian Plate, he has selected scenarios in which people are comfortable showing off their wealth. Designer clothes, champagne and parties are all part of this repertoire. As well as the more established wealth hot spots in Europe and America, there are photographs from the emerging world, for example showing the Millionaires’ Fair in Moscow, the Dubai Art Fair and the Motor Show in Beijing. At such events the international jet-set can be observed as they proudly present the regalia of new money and opulence The notion of collecting is fundamental to Parrworld as we are presented with not only Parr’s own photography but also a remarkable selection of photographic works from internationally recognised artists, books taken from his several-thousand strong library and a collection of personal items collected from his international and UK travels.
An extraordinary collection of photographs has been brought together for the exhibition, exemplifying Parr’s respect and admiration for his peers. Presented here are works by UK photographers Jill Constantine, Paul Graham and Richard Billingham. There are several with North East associations; Chris Killip whose 1980s images of Tyneside endure, the photographer Graham Smith with his images of Teeside as well as current Newcastle based artist, Mark Neville. These are shown alongside works from highly respected international photographers such as the South African, David Goldblatt, William Eggleston, (US) Frank Breuer (Germany) Gary Winogrand, (US) Bernd and Hilla Becher (Germany).
Alongside the photography Parr shows, through his often quirky collections of postcards and personally collected objects, his real individual flair as an inveterate collector whose fascination for the peculiar and the curious are displayed. This assortment of commercial design and memorabilia documents key historical and political moments with original posters and leaflets from the 1984 UK miners strike, a collection of commemorative china from Margaret Thatcher’s term as Prime Minister, examples of prayer mats featuring the New York Twin Towers, a bizarre range of Saddam Hussein watches and his most recent collection of Barack Obama ephemera.
For this exhibition Parr will act as a photographer, collector and curator as Parrworld offers an entertaining yet serious analysis of photography as a contemporary medium.
This exhibition is organized by Haus der Kunst, Munich in association with the BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art.
Show us a Secret: BALTIC Young Photographers Competition, judged by renowned photographer MARTIN PARR.
We're inviting budding young photographers aged 14 – 18 to capture an image of NewcastleGateshead which shows us a secret. Martin Parr will select six photographs to be featured in the October edition of The Journal's Culture Magazine as well as exhibited in Quay at BALTIC during Juice, NewcastleGateshead's Festival for Children and Young People, 22 October - 8 November 2009.
The finalists will also be invited to meet Martin Parr at the VIP preview on Thursday 15 October at BALTIC for his major exhibition PARRWORLD. A further selection of photographs will be shown in Quay and on BALTIC's website during Juice Festival.
BALTIC invites you to journey into Parrworld with a special event offering you insights from the artist behind the exhibition. Martin Parr will talk about his own photography, discuss the work he owns by other photographers and choices behind his extraordinary collection of memorabilia from around the world.
To compliment Parr’s photographic series Luxury, you will be served a glass of champagne (or soft drink) on arrival. The galleries will also remain open until 20.30 for an exclusive private view of Parrworld. There’ll also be a chance to pose questions to the artist and buy the newly published book Luxury, which Martin Parr will also be signing copies of.
Opening Thursday 15 October, 11am - 1pm
BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art
Quays South Shore Road Gateshead NE8 3BA UK
Open Daily 10-18.00 except Tuesdays 10.30-18. Last entry 15 minutes before closing.
tickets: £6.00 (£4.50 concessions for unwaged and students with valid NUS card) and available online