Crane Kalman Brighton

^{New Landscapes}

18 May -31 May 2009

Online gallery

Click on the thumbnails to enlarge and see the full image. Please do contact us if you are interested in purchasing any of these works – price details are included with the enlargement. Please note prices are subject to change dependent on works sold – please check with gallery to confirm prices.

Thomas Ball

Ellie Davies

Hannah Guy

Wendy Pye

Toby Smith

Chloë Sylvestre

Crane Kalman Brighton is very pleased to present New Landscapes – a collection of work from alumni of the MA Photography Degree at LCC (London College of Communication) – a course fast gaining a reputation as one of the leading postgraduate awards in photography; with 2007’s Jerwood Prize featuring all five winners from LCC Photography MA Courses, and five students being awarded the Pavillion commission in both 2007 and 2008.

Landscape photography is currently undergoing a renaissance and many photographers are turning their backs on conventional interpretations of nature. In the face of looming global political and environmental politics, landscape photographers are increasingly showing places that are changing, endangered, threatened or just hold a simple metaphor beyond the physical.

All of the photographers featured in the exhibition graduated from LCC in 2006/08 and are engaged in subtly exploring the idea of 'landscape' as not just a rustic, rural idealised space anymore. They convey a more constructed, illusive and even a slightly sinister response to the land that not only creates a new approach to landscape but also a new sense of beauty.

The private view for this exhibition will be held on Thursday 21st May 2009 / 6-9pm

Thomas Ball – ‘Athabasca’ focuses on the boom in the oil sands industry and the devastating effect it is having on the fragile boreal forest and the population of Northern Alberta, Canada. The work is part of a long-term project called ‘Engineered Destruction’, which looks at the increased use of these unconventional dirty energy sources and at sites of excessive energy useage. Thomas’ work has been published in The Guardian, Creative Review, The Irish Times and The British Journal of Photography and a selection of his images from ‘Athabasca’ was recently exhibited in The Royal West of England Academy in Bristol. He has recently been accepted into the LPA Futures agency in London.

Ellie Davies – ‘Silent, Dark and Deep’ explores forests and heath-land whilst reflecting on the growing distance between urban living and the natural world, and how, for the city dweller, the natural environment has become strange and otherworldly. Ellie’s work has been awarded at The New York Photo Awards 2008 and PX3 Prix de la Photographie Paris 2007/2008.

Hannah Guy – ‘Oikos’ is a series of composite photographs constructed in the clear cuts of Western Canada. Made by tracing journeys around what are termed ‘burn piles’, these constructed images are layered with both pattern and meaning. The work expands on themes explored in her previous work ‘Staccato’, in which using the emblem of the tree she investigated the relationship between the experience of photography, the environment and our collective attachment to nature. Her work has been exhibited internationally and in the UK, and she is currently undertaking a residency at the Banff Centre, Alberta, Canada.

Wendy Pye – ‘Beachy Head’ is a photographic project that sensitively responds to the suicide phenomenon of Beachy Head, Britain’s highest cliff edge and one of the most popular suicide spots in the world. The first series of the photographic project titled ‘In Memory Of…’ sensitively documents the floral memorials found at Beachy Head from day through to night, exploring notions of memory, loss and death. Wendy’s work has been acquired by UAL Arts Collection and has been selected for The Otter Gallery – Photo Open in October 2009. This project has also recently been reviewed in Hotshoe and Source magazines.

Toby Smith – ‘Light After Dark’ visits all 32 power stations of England at night. The images aim to illustrate the relationship of the stations with light itself via the subtle and varied colouring of the night sky or simply the hues of the structures themselves. Toby was a winner of the LCC Nikon Discovery Awards 2008 & was shortlisted for The Danny Wilson Memorial Prize at The Brighton Photo Fringe 2008. His work has recently been featured in the The Guardian and The Saturday Times Magazine, and has been nominated for the Prix Pictet Award 2009 Award.

Chloë Sylvestre – ‘Grey Sky’ investigates the intimate relationship between the individual traveller and their visited surroundings, as well as the traveller and himself. The series explores the delicate yet profound intimacy between the tourist and his confronted landscape. Her work was an award recipient in the FOCUS exhibition at the Toledo Museum of Art, Ohio.

New Landscape: runs from 18th May until 31st May 2009 at Crane Kalman Brighton, 38 Kensington Gardens, North Laine, Brighton BN1 4AL. For further information, please call 01273 697096 or visit www.cranekalmanbrighton.com.

Crane Kalman Brighton is a member of the Own Art scheme run by the Arts Council. The scheme provides interest-free loans of up to £2,000 to buy contemporary art work.

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