The Sainsbury Centre Exhibits Photography from the V & A Collection

Friday, 25 May 2007 08:00

Norwich, UK - Something That I’ll Never Really See, an exhibition featuring some of the most innovative works acquired for the V&A’s collection of contemporary photography during the last 10 years, at the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts. The Centre will be the first venue to host this touring exhibition, which runs until Sunday 24 June. The exhibition features the work of over 30 artists including Frances Kearney, Sarah Jones, Hannah Starkey, Corrine Day, Cindy Sherman, Richard Billingham, and Huang Yan. Something That I’ll Never Really See runs until Sunday 24 June 2007.

Comprising of 44 images by both well established and emerging talents, the exhibition covers a period during which photography has taken centre stage in the world of contemporary art. Something That I’ll Never Really See provides the visitor with a unique opportunity to explore a diverse range of contemporary art photography, spanning many genres and techniques.

Frances Kearney, Sarah Jones and Hannah Starkey all construct scenarios that appear spontaneous, but are fictitious and highly designed. Both Jones and Starkey focus on the restlessness and anxiety of young women, whereas Kearney produces subtle portrayals of everyday experiences and observations in the private domain.

Like Mother, Like Daughter, III (2000), Frances Kearney’s photograph featured in the exhibition, was made at her family home in Cley next the sea on the North Norfolk coast. Kearney works with people she knows, or with people she meets on the streets of Norfolk.

“I spend a lot of time walking and roaming in the Norfolk fresh air,” said Frances Kearney. “I am always searching for locations where I can compose a fictitious story and enjoy creating images that slightly jar with the stillness of the landscape, generating narratives which have multiple readings.”

This use of tableau to explore fictional narratives is in stark contrast to the frank insights provided by the works of artists such as Nan Goldin and Richard Billingham. These images offer an intimate glimpse into the real lives of the artists, and that of their friends and families.

The stunning photograph, Plum (2004), from the series 'Face' by Huang Yan, combines the traditional iconography and philosophy of classic Chinese landscape painting with the contemporary mediums of photography and performance art. For Yan the act of painting these flowers on the models’ faces communicates the oneness of man and nature - enlivening the plants with the models’ eyes.

The title of the exhibition, Something That I’ll Never Really See, was inspired by Gavin Turk’s Portrait of Something that I’ll Never Really See (1997).

“We worked closely with the V&A to arrive at the title of the exhibition. Our final choice, Something That I’ll Never Really See, plays upon the notion that the photographer sees his subject through a lens, the idea that the photographer captures an image at a specific point of time that cannot be re-gained, and that the subjects of the photographs are of places and people that visitors to the show are unlikely ever to see in real life.” – Amanda Geitner, Head of Exhibitions and Collections, Sainsbury Centre.

The Sainsbury Centre is supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and The Gatsby Charitable Foundation. Visit : www.scva.org.uk/