Memories, ‘over sharing’ and Family Politics

Making the private public, a new photography show celebrates the charged subject of family politics.

Nikolai Ishchuk, Offset 484, 2012
Nikolai Ishchuk, Offset 484, 2012

The exhibition, which opens at London’s Jerwood Space this week, marks the launch of the first Photoworks Annual, a publication by curatorial and publishing group Photoworks. The annual will show work by photographers, artists and writers, all based on the Family Politics theme.

False Assumption 2, 2013
False Assumption 2, 2013

Work by six artists will be on show, including invited artists Claudia Sola and The Photocopy Club; and artists selected from an open call, Jonny Briggs, Robert Crosse, Nikolai Ishchuk and Joanna Piotrowska.

Photocopy Club
Photocopy Club

The styles of the artists vary hugely, with some, like Amsterdam-based Claudia Sola, taking a collage approach:

Claudia Sola, Being There (collage), 2012.
Claudia Sola, Being There (collage), 2012.

This cute snap by Slade graduate Rob Crosse, however, has a rather more traditional feel:

Rob Crosse, Family Coffee, 2012
Rob Crosse, Family Coffee, 2012

The gallery says, ‘The majority of family pictures serve essentially private functions, accruing meaning through their relationship to the memories, experiences and histories of individuals.

‘However, the family is also the subject of public photographic representation and contestation largely through digital media and ”over sharing”.’

VI from FROWST, Joanna Piotrowska
VI from FROWST, Joanna Piotrowska

Family Politics runs from 6 November – 8 December at Jerwood Space, 171 Union St, London SE1

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