OFW2014 Photography Exhibition: Fashion Stories
Exhibition open: 04.03.14 – 09.03.14
An exhibition of photography that showcases fashion in an unexpected setting and which, in various ways, can challenge our conceptions about fashion.
The way we present ourselves to the world tells a story. A story about how we see ourselves, how we want others to see and how we feel. Oxford Fashion Week presents an exhibition of photography and sculpture that invites the viewer to journey into that story.
The Exhibition will run in the O3 Gallery in the Oxford Castle Quarter from 3rd-9th March as part of Oxford Fashion Week 2014, with a special event taking place on Tuesday 4th March at 6pm where the featured exhibitors will be present to talk through their exhibited pieces. All exhibition pieces will be available for sale.
Exhibiting artists include: James Sutton
Romain Reglade
Maciek Tomiczek
Norman Rukwava
Tony Presland
Claire Williams
Phillipa Jolley
Unnatural Causes exhibition
By Clair Chinnery
Exhibition open: 22.01.14 – 09.02.14
Clair Chinnery’s work stems from an interest in the roles that institutions have to play in our existences and experiences. Themes such as ‘the gendered experience’, ‘memory’, ‘cultural identity’ and ‘belief systems’ permeate her entire practice, she explores these themes through the careful construction and juxtaposition of objects and images within defined spaces. Her recent projects have focused on issues of language/communication, cultural and natural migration and globalisation. Amongst other things, these works retrospectively re-interpret the writings and images produced as a direct result of European exploration of the New World. Through the use of biological data and historic documents, the artist explores issues such as the ecological marking of geographical boundaries, and of ‘loss’ in relation to imperialist expansions into the New World.
For her exhibition at the O3 Gallery, Chinnery will be showing – for the first time – the original completed 81 drawings that form part of her ongoing project -The Feral Memorial.
The Feral Memorial seeks to explore human attitudes towards certain animals that have come to exemplify the ‘shaped’ ecologies of contemporary, post-colonial global environments. The ‘Brumby’ represents one such animal and has undoubtedly left its mark on the landscape and ecosystem/s of Australia. The Brumbies, which are feral descendents of horses brought to Australia by the English in 1788 and 1795, divide opinion. Seen by some as a pest (damaging natural flora, creating habitat loss for indigenous species, causing soil erosion, and damaging farmland), Brumbies are seen by others as a symbol of national identity and cultural heritage: like the Mustangs of the USA, deserving of a rightful place in the landscape of Australia. Brumbies, therefore, represent societal ambivalence toward an animal that has adapted well to an environment in which it did not evolve.
‘The brumbies were pests, sweeping past and carrying tame horses off with them… “a very weed among animals.” […] In the 1930s when bounties were offered for horse ears … one man shot 400 horses in a single night.’
Alfred W. Crosby, extract from Ecological Imperialism: The Biological Expansion of Europe, 900-1900. Cambridge, 1986.
The chapter containing the above extract from Alfred Crosby’s Ecological Imperialism had a palpable effect on the artist, who tried to envisage not only what 400 pairs of feral horse ears would look like, but also to imagine the mass of carcasses left by one man’s act of slaughter. The Feral Memorial is a work in progress. When exhibited, it usually consists of 400 A5 size cards hung in eight rows of 50. The cards have thick black borders, reminiscent of funerary stationery from the 19th and early 20th centuries. Eighty-one of these cards contain a printed reproduction of a portrait drawing of the ears of a different horse. The time consuming process of making these drawings is ongoing. For the artist this activity represents a form of ‘atonement by proxy’ through which wider thoughts and legacies of colonial history are filtered.
The Isles of Colour
Exhibition open: 28.09.13 – 27.10.13
The Isles of Colour is an exhibition of work that celebrates the beauty and variety of the landscape of the British Isles and Ireland by Oxfordshire artist Anna Dillon. From the windswept and breath-taking shores of the Hebrides to the green and rolling hills of West Ireland, The Isles of Colours presents a visual feast of colour with some familiar Oxfordshire landscapes contributing to the collection.
Anna’s practice and paintings are grounded in notions of landscape and place; her passion for walking and hiking expressed in the undulating contours of her meticulously crafted topographies. Traversing counties across the UK and Ireland, Anna’s paintings document the contours of ancient and natural landscapes such as the Uffington White Horse Hill and Wittenham Clumps. In this her work echoes and is influenced by 20th century British landscape painting characterised by the work of Paul and John Nash, John Piper and Peter Lanyon, whilst her evocation of pattern in natural forms reflects the influence of contemporary land artist Richard Long. Her exuberant use of colour calls to mind the bold and dramatic work of Friedrich Hundertwasser.
“As a painter I have developed my style using bold and strong colour which reflect the form, contours and light of the land. I paint with thin layers of oil paints, built up gradually and slowly. This technique produces a rich deep colour.”
Anna Dillon
Anna has exhibited extensively across the South of England and her works can be found in private collections across the world from Australia to Finland.