Tom Hunter: 'Contemporary Narratives' at Mint Museum of Art

Wednesday, 11 October 2006 13:55

CHARLOTTE, N.C. − Tom Hunter creates contemplative photographs which often depict the travelers and squatters inhabiting his community of Hackney, a Borough of London. Utilizing the sprawling post-industrial relics of Hackney—its untamed landscape, abandoned dwellings and warehouses—Hunter creates striking images that reference paintings of the past, including those by 17^th century Dutch master Johannes Vermeer and 19^th century Pre-Raphaelites, such as John Everett Millais among others.

VantagePoint VI Tom Hunter: Contemporary Narratives, will present the first international artist to be featured in the Mint Museum of Art’s ongoing series of contemporary art.  Ten large-format photographs from 1997 to 2005 will be shown in the exhibition.  Curator of Contemporary Art, Carla Hanzal has selected photographs from three of Hunter’s photographic series: Persons Unknown, Life and Death in Hackney and the most recent Headlines project.  On exhibit December 23, 2006 through July 8, 2007.

A narrative quality is apparent in each of the three series presented in this VantagePoint exhibition.  Hunter’s Persons Unknown series depicts individuals in interiors, but through dramatic settings draws the viewer into the lives of the people portrayed.  His arresting Woman Reading a Possession Order shows a young mother reading the document that will evict her from her home.  This photograph won the prestigious Kobal Photographic Portrait award in 1997.  The Way Home, from Hunter’s Life and Death in Hackney series, is a portrait that references Millais’ painting Ophelia (1851-52).  Hunter’s most recent series, Headlines, is inspired by lurid headlines found in the London Gazette.  Like the Victorian author Thomas Hardy, Hunter brings to life narratives pulled from contemporary society.

Though refracted through historical antecedents, Hunter’s photographs directly engage with the modern (or postmodern) world.  His photographs walk the fine line of documentary anthropology and sensuous beauty.

Visit The Mint Museums website at www.mintmuseum.org. For more information about the exhibition.