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18/5/2012

Two Exhibitions

The Photographers' Gallery, London

The Photographers’ Gallery presents a solo exhibition of works by New Delhi based Raqs Media Collective. The show will feature two distinct but related installation works: a video projection titled "An Afternoon Unregistered on the Richter Scale" (2011) and a sculptural piece entitled "36 Planes of Emotion" (2011). With characteristically playful use of language and form, these contrasting works invite the viewer to explore themes concerned with the fluctuation of time, the transfer and transformation of ideas, and the relationships that exist between the said and the unsaid, the seen and the unseen.

"An Afternoon Unregistered on the Richter Scale" is a silent, looped video the projection featuring a series of subtle alterations to an early 20 century photograph. The original archival image, held by the British Library, London, is titled Examining Room of the Duffing Section of the Photographic Department of the Survey of India. The photograph was taken in 1911 by the British photographer James Waterhouse and depicts the interior of a Surveyor’s office in Calcutta with workers earnestly absorbed in their tasks. An Afternoon Unregistered on the Richter Scale refers to the traces of events that in their subtlety do not register. Raqs’ interventions within the photograph – a slight shift in colour, a gentle movement of hands, the slow spin of the fan – remain so delicate and elusive that they are almost unnoticeable. By manipulating the stillness of the image, Raqs set out to create a sense of uncertainty which ultimately defeats the accuracy of the original image and, by extension, the surveyor’s task of measuring and structuring.

"36 Planes of Emotion" features an ensemble of perspex shapes that mimic the size and weight of books, arranged on a desk and illuminated in the darkened gallery space with wall-mounted reading lights. The coloured shapes have titles etched into them, as if on the spines of a book, which describe emotional states as collective nouns verging on the ineffable. These include title such as: a clutch of uncertain embarrassments, a furtherance of future anticipations, a whisper of manic mirths and a fluster of surprised kisses. Both these works convey a similar sense of studious contemplation interrupted through subtle poetic intervention.

Raqs Media Collective said: Our thinking on things temporal occurs under the twin signs of interruption and potential. Interruptions interfere with the flow of how things are, potentials point to how they might yet be. Both these tendencies can be seen at work (and at play) in the works. An interruption un-freezes an archival photograph, and we extend states of potential through invented collective nouns. They name feelings we can only have when we consider a proliferation of ways of being. Either way, what gets triggered is an insurgency of latent possibilities too subtle to register on a Richter scale.

Notes to Editors
The Raqs Media Collective was founded in 1992 by Jeebesh Bagchi (b. 1965), Monica Narula (b. 1969) and Shuddhabrata Sengupta (b. 1968). Variously described as artists, curators, researchers, editors and catalysts of cultural processes, their work has been exhibited widely in major international spaces including ZKM, Karlsruhe, MAXXI, Rome, Italy (2011); Baltic Centre, Gateshead, England (2010); 29th Sao Paulo Biennial, Brazil (2010); Tate Britain, London, England (2009) and Documenta and the Venice Biennials, amongst others. In 2001 Raqs co-founded the Sarai (www.sarai.net), a program of the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, New Delhi. They work and live in New Delhi. www.raqsmediacollective.net

Raqs Media Collective is supported by the Columbia Foundation
Raqs Media Collective are represented by The Frith Street Gallery, London

Running alongside the Raqs Media Collective display is a series of talks and events organised by The Photographers’ Gallery

Press information
For further press information and to request images please contact:
Inbal Mizrahi on +44 (0)20 7087 9333 or email inbal.mizrahi@photonet.org.uk

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From 19 May 2012 The Photographers’ Gallery will present Burtynsky: Oil, a major solo exhibition of works by renowned Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky. A decade-long survey on the subject, Burtynsky: OIL reveals the rarely seen mechanics of the manufacture, distribution and use of one of the world’s most highly contested resources, while exploring its impact on our lives, culture and the environment.

Invisible, for the most part, in the visual landscape of our everyday lives, we are nonetheless surrounded by it. From the fuel that runs our cars to the synthetic fibres found in our clothes, oil is everywhere. Bridging the disconnect between our consumer world and that of the oil industry, Burtynsky’s large-scale photographs, rich with detail and transfixing in their clarity, take us on a journey. Starting at the source Burtynsky shows us international drilling sites and refineries, then continues to distribution methods and the motor culture of freeways, eventually, leading us to the inevitable end of oil at scrap-yards, recycling grounds and abandoned oil fields.

Showcasing over thirty images the exhibition will be divided into three sections:

Extraction and Refinement describes the process of distillation via aerial views of oil fields, drills and rigs spread across miles of land, networks of pipelines travelling through the countryside and factories constructed as mazes of metal tubes.

Transportation and Motor Culture, as made possible through petrol, is depicted in complex images of highway interchanges and connections, panoramas of endless rows of vehicles lined-up in vast parking lots and of car enthusiasts gathered in masses to take part in related events and sporting competitions.

The End of Oil displays the consequences of its use as considered by the artist. Burtynsky transforms this unprepossessing subject matter into skilfully composed photographs of industrial and manmade landscapes. Epic scenes of demolition document derelict oil tankers split apart while disturbing images of the toxic recycling grounds in Bangladesh reveal the dangerous conditions in which workers operate.

Edward Burtynsky said: In 1997 I had what I refer to as my oil epiphany. It occurred to me that the vast, human-altered landscapes that I pursued and photographed for over twenty years were only made possible by the discovery of oil and the mechanical advantage of the internal combustion engine...These images can be seen as notations by one artist contemplating the world as it is made possible through this vital energy resource and the cumulative effects of industrial evolution.

Burtynsky: OIL was organised in close collaboration with Huis Marseille Museum for Photography in Amsterdam, Nicholas Metivier Gallery in Toronto and the artist himself.

Notes to Editors
Edward Burtynsky is one of Canada's most respected photographers. Born in 1955 of Ukrainian heritage at St. Catharines, Ontario, Burtynsky is a graduate of Ryerson University (Bachelor of Applied Arts in Photography) and studied Graphic Art at Niagara College in Welland. His masterful photographic depictions of global industrial landscapes are included in the collections of over fifty major museums around the world, including the National Gallery of Canada, the Bibliotèque Nationale in Paris, the Museum of Modern Art and the Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Reina Sofia Museum in Madrid, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in California. Edward Burtynsky’s distinctions include the TED Prize, The Outreach award at the Rencontres d’Arles, The Flying Elephant Fellowship, Applied Arts Magazine book awards, and the Roloff Beny Book award. In 2006 he was awarded the title of Officer of the Order of Canada and holds four honorary doctorate degrees. He currently lives and works in Canada. www.edwardburtynsky.com

Burtynsky: OIL at The Photographers’ Gallery coincides with Edward Burtynsky’s latest series, Dryland Farming at Flowers, London. Dryland Farming depicts the agricultural region of Monegros, Spain and will be on display from 23 May – 23 June 2012

The Photographers’ Gallery opened in 1971 in Great Newport Street, London, as the UK’s first independent gallery devoted to photography. It was the first public gallery in the country to exhibit many key names in international photography, including Juergen Teller (fashion), Robert Capa (photojournalism), Sebastião Salgado (documentary) and Andreas Gursky (contemporary art). The Gallery has also been instrumental in establishing contemporary British photographers including Martin Parr and Corinne Day. In 2009 the Gallery moved to 16 – 18 Ramillies Street, the first stage in its plan to create a 21st century home for photography. The building on 16-18 Ramillies Street is currently undergoing a transformation and will reopen to the public on Saturday 19 May 2012. The renovated building will feature three floors of new galleries, a floor dedicated to learning for all, an improved Bookshop and Print Sales space, a brand new street level Café, and a new lift. www.photonet.org.uk

The exhibition is accompanied by a major catalogue, OIL, published by Steidl and is available to buy for £85.00 through The Photographers’ Gallery Bookshop. For enquiries and purchases please call +44 (0) 20 7087 9323 or email bookshop@photonet.org.uk

Burtynsky: OIL is supported by Stanley Thomas Johnson Foundation, Canada House Arts Trust Running alongside Burtynsky: OIL is a series of talk and events organised by The Photographers’ Gallery

The Photographers’ Gallery opened in 1971 in Great Newport Street, London, as the UK’s first independent gallery devoted to photography. It was the first public gallery in the country to exhibit many key names in international photography, including Juergen Teller (fashion), Robert Capa (photojournalism), Sebastião Salgado (documentary) and Andreas Gursky (contemporary art). The Gallery has also been instrumental in establishing contemporary British photographers including Martin Parr and Corinne Day. In 2009 the Gallery moved to 16 – 18 Ramillies Street, the first stage in its plan to create a 21st century home for photography. The building on 16-18 Ramillies Street is currently undergoing a transformation and will reopen to the public on Saturday 19 May 2012. The renovated building will feature three floors of new galleries, a floor dedicated to learning for all, an improved Bookshop and Print Sales space, a brand new street level Café, and a new lift. www.photonet.org.uk

Image: Raqs Media Collective, An Afternoon Unregistered on the Richter Scale 2011 video projection of treated and animated archival photograph. 3' 35

Press information
Inbal Mizrahi on +44 (0)20 7087 9333 or email inbal.mizrahi@photonet.org.uk Catherine McClelland or Anna Jones on + 44 (0)20 7183 3577 or email catherinem@suttonpr.com / anna@suttonpr.com Catherine McClelland or Anna Jones on + 44 (0)20 7183 3577 or email catherinem@suttonpr.com / anna@suttonpr.com

Opening Saturday May 19

The Photographers' Gallery
16-18 Ramillies Street, London W1F 7LW. Nearest London
Mon-Sat, 10am – 6pm, Thu 10am – 8pm, Sun 11:30am – 6pm
Admission free

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