Simon Roberts
dal 6/7/2015 al 7/8/2015
Segnalato da
6/7/2015
Simon Roberts
Flowers Gallery, London
National Property: The Picturesque Imperfect. The artist has turned his attention to heritage sites across England, exploring themes of identity, memory and nationhood through our everyday interactions with the landscape.
“In most of my photographs we witness
the somewhat mundane ways in
which we interact with the landscape
– walking the dog, diving into a river,
cycling along a tow-path – interacting
with the landscape perhaps with no
sense of the historic significance of the
place we’re passing through or using.
I’m also looking for subliminal signals
in the landscape, capturing a sense of
tension just under the surface of the
photograph – the police car in Kielder
Water, the jockeying for position to
take a picture at Flatford Mill, the
managed pathways at Stonehenge, the
gas delivery van ‘spoiling’ the view of
Sheringham Park.” – Simon Roberts
Flowers Gallery is pleased to present
a new series of photographs by Simon
Roberts. Building on his previous
major bodies of work: We English
(2009); The Election Project (2010); and
Lambda print on Fuji Crystal Archive Paper
Pierdom (2013); Roberts has turned
his attention to heritage sites across
England, exploring themes of identity, memory and nationhood through our everyday interactions with the landscape.
In 2014, Roberts travelled around the country to photograph popular scenic destinations, heritage sites and historic
properties owned on behalf of the nation. Capturing the activities and interactions of visitors at each location, his
photographs reflect upon how the countryside has been modelled and managed for the purposes of leisure, and in turn,
how our sense of belonging is determined by a connection to place.
The elevated perspective of his large-format tableaux sets the viewer at a critical distance from the scene. Taking his
photographs from a high vantage point, often from the roof of his motorhome, Roberts attempts to map the patterns
of contemporary life, which he describes as “governed by forces that are not possible to see from a position within
the crowd”. Presenting an alternative viewpoint to the pastoral idyll, Roberts highlights our shared and sometimes
imperfect experience of the landscape, inviting wider questions about private ownership and public usage of land.
“Roberts’ work explores senses of belonging in landscapes. Since land invariably belongs to somebody, landscape is closely
linked to notions of ownership, by individuals or institutions. Landscapes are also linked, beyond legal ownership, to larger
worlds of nature and nation, beauty and history, as the term belonging extends to more shared senses of attachment,
citizenship and entitlement.” - Stephen Daniels. Excerpt from the upcoming publication: Landscapes of the National
Trust (Pavilion Books, October 2015).
Image: Trough House Bridge, Eskdale, Cumbria, 2014, 150 x 122cm
Press Contact:
Hannah Hughes - Hannah@flowersgallery.com / 0207 920 7777
Opening: Tuesday 7 July 6-8pm
Flowers Gallery
21 Cork Street, London