Lost and Found | The Obscure Camera Photography Exhibitions

Lost and Found Community Photography Exhibition &

The Obscure Camera Abstract Photo Exhibition

Exhibitions open Wednesday, 11 December - Tuesday, 31 December 2013

Open: Tue - Fri 10.30 - 2, 3.30 - 6, Sat 11 - 6

26 Church Street, Abertillery. NP13 3HD

"Lost and Found” and “The Obscure Camera” are the sixth and seventh photography exhibitions organised in Abertillery, Wales by the*kickplate*project.

“Lost and Found” features copies of analogue photographs submitted by the members of our local community, including Abertillery, Six Bells and Brynmawr. In the times of omnipresent digital photography we wanted to remind everyone about the importance of physical prints that don’t get deleted easily and that can last for generations. We asked people to have another look at their photo albums, that all of us used to have and fill up with memories of holidays, celebrations and snapshots of everyday life. We discovered some real treasures, accounts of both people’s past and the past of photographic and printing techniques that are no longer used on a mass scale. We’d like to thank everyone who trusted us with their photographs and thus gave us an insight into their lives and artistic endeavours.

“The Obscure Camera” is an exhibition of abstract photography featuring German photographer Florian Schmidt. We decided to present these two contrasting types of photography – the very well-known scenes from family albums and a selection of abstract work that many of our viewers may not be familiar with. We’d like to show that abstraction is not necessarily inaccessible to an average viewer and to show that photography can be used to create an aesthetic or emotion and not just record the real world as it is. 

Jacob Aue Sobol - Close to You

Jacob Aue Sobol - Close to You

Exhibition opens Saturday, 14 December 2013, 7pm

Artist talk and book signing Friday, 10 January 2014

Third Floor Gallery, 102 Bute Street, Cardiff, CF10 5AD

"When I photograph, I try to use my instincts as much as possible. It is when pictures are unconsidered and irrational that they come to life; that they evolve from showing to being. In this process I will not only use my camera to take pictures, but also as an instrument to create intimacy and closeness in a poetic, direct and unsentimental way. In spite of photography’s seemingly concrete form I hope to expose layers in people that are not immediately visible, but nonetheless shape who we are and give meaning to our lives. I believe this way of working will bring me closer to a feeling of what the term home means to myself and the people I photograph."

In the exhibition “Close to you” we encounter photographs from various projects Jacob has worked on over the past decade. The majority of the works are from the famous series I, Tokyo; but there are also pictures from Bangkok Encounter, Home, Copenhagen, as well as Arrivals and Departures. Common to the photographs is his unique, expressive style of black-and-white photography, giving the photographs a distinctive materiality.

3AM: Wonder, Paranoia and the Restless Night

3AM: Wonder, Paranoia and the Restless Night

Exhibition open: Saturday 14 December 2013 - Sunday 2 March 2014

Chapter, Market Road, Canton, Cardiff, Wales CF5 1QE

Francis Alÿs, Tonico Lemos Auad, Jordan Baseman, Sandra Cinto, Dorothy Cross, Dornith Doherty, Anthony Goicolea, Marc Hulson, Rachel Kneebone, Nathan Mabry, Michael Palm & Willi Dorner, Hirsch Perlman, Ed Pien, Lucy Reynolds, Sophy Rickett, Paul Rooney, Anj Smith, Fred Tomaselli, Danny Treacy, Bettina von Zwehl and Tom Wood

Bleary-eyed sleepers woken up to be photographed, prowling coyotes caught on specialist digital cameras, and a helicopter spotlight searching the night time waters for a missing person. These are just some of the highlights of this exhibition curated by Angela Kingston and toured from The Bluecoat in Liverpool this autumn.

The exhibition features 22 UK and international artists, including Francis Alÿs, Sophy Rickett, and Fred Tomaselli, and includes paintings, drawings, sculpture, photography and video, some made especially for the show.

The exhibition demonstrates how this particular nocturnal hour has captured the imagination of artists. They explore various themes – psychological, sociological, natural and astronomical – to capture something of the strangeness of the night and the extraordinary range of emotions, states and experiences it witnesses.

The featured artworks show teenagers running wild and free, a woman’s rapture at the cosmos, a man quite alone and afraid, the steely imaginings of a frightened child, and an emboldened fox.

A 100-page anthology for insomniacs, featuring contemporary and historic night-related material and illustrations of artworks has been produced to accompany the exhibition and is available for purchase from the Gallery and Box Office.

3AM is a Bluecoat touring exhibition.

November FORUM - Pop Up Exhibitions

FORUM/ Pop-up exhibitions + pop-up photocopy exhibition

Thursday 28 November 2013, 6.30 pm

Ffotogallery's new meeting room in Chapter, CF5 1QE

Ending on a high this year, we discuss the 'pop-up' exhibition, looking at its strengths as a new venue, fresh and exciting; as a temporary venue for temporary projects, the grassroots aspect and DIY ethic of organising and curating your own space and the pragmatics of doing so. Leading the informal discussions will be: Cat Gardiner, Gallerist and Curator for gallery/ten, specialing in contemporary art design, representing some of the very best emerging established artists designers with a Welsh connection. In December 2012 the gallery opened on Windsor place, Cardiff after operating as a pop-up gallery from 2010 - 2012. Also leading the discussion will be Dafydd Williams and Zosia Krasnowolska, two artists who founded and run the*kickplate*project, a photography-focussed project space starting off as a pop-up gallery in a former barber shop in Abertillery, Wales, to bring international fine art photography to communities that are not the usual target audience of art galleries.

Alongside FORUM we will be holding a pop-up photocopy exhibition in ffotogallery's new meeting room in Chapter! All are welcome and encouraged to get involved, to do so, bring a black and white photocopy of your work to exhibit, any size!. Refreshments will be provided and we will be able to end FORUM for the year on a high note!

g39 have a photocopier that all are welcome to use, just contact Bob at intern@g39.org if you would like to use it.

October FORUM - Threats To Art Practice

Thursday 31 October 2013

6.30pm 

g39, Cardiff CF24 3DT

Appropriately falling on Halloween, we'll be talking about the difficulties and pitfalls of maintaining an art practice, the trials and tribulations that come with developing your work, and alongside discussing and evaluating the main three threats; time, space and money, this evening will be an opportunity to discuss and hopefully remedy some problems artists might be having. A ghoulish antidote to the threats to art practices! Threat themed refreshments will be provided.

This Weekend: Cognition Exhibition at The Atrium

Sophie Simon, Chelsea Edwards, Nia Manning, Alexandra Robbins, Bill Bryant, Heidi Smith, Katie Graham, Sammy Hamilton, Amy Shorter & Brittany Sims

Open 11am - 5pm Until 22nd October.

A series of personal projects by thirteen third year BA(Hons) Photography students at the ATRiuM: Cardiff School of Creative and Cultural Industries.

An eclectic mix of genres including fine art, natural history, documentary, wildlife and more. Showcasing a range of styles and techniques; from traditional and experimental darkroom imagery, to more contemporary and very sharp, precise digital work.

These differences in style and personal interest within the imagery is particularly thought-provoking as the students have been together learning and practicing over the past two years and finally coming into their own in terms of where they want to go within their practice. The differences bind the work together in unison, as this is a first time exhibition for many of the students involved.

Contact Sophie Simon at sophiebsimon@gmail.com for more details.

£30k Bursary Opportunity!

Photography students and alumni will be interested to know that Sky Arts and IdeasTap are giving away five bursaries of £30,000 each to emerging artists aged 18-30.

The bursaries are designed to help talented individuals from a range of creative disciplines focus on their creative practice for a whole year. In addition to the funding, winners are paired with creative and business mentors to support their development.

The Futures Fund is open to UK and Irish applicants working in the following fields:

· Visual art including painters, photographers, animators, digital artists

· Creative producing for people who bring together different artists

· Creative writing including playwrights, novelists and poets

· Performing arts theatre-makers including directors, producers, puppeteers

· Dance including dancers and choreographers

· Music including composers, conductors, musicians and songwriters

The deadline for applications is 5pm on Friday 6 December
Find out more and apply at www.ideastap.com/sky