’21st Century’ is the new exhibition of work by William Eggleston, one of the most influential photographers of the last half-century. His ability to find beauty in the banal has changed the way we look at the world. He has remained working in his hometown of Memphis, Tennessee where he photographs the everyday: parking lots, diners, hotel rooms, anything that is seen and accessed by everyone living in his environment. It is from these ‘ordinary’ documents of life that the powerful significance is revealed. It’s great to see what Eggleston visions as ‘photography’ in the 21st century. It’s an interesting collection (saying that I am a much bigger fan of his older work!) and really shows what it is that makes Eggleston’s work so profound. What’s more, it’s also showing in New York! Yey!
The exhibition runs through until the 27th February at the Victoria Miro Gallery, London and is also showing at Cheim & Read, New York until the 13th…So be quick!!
The East London nightlife is a super way to experience all night dancing and having lots of fun! Saturday night I went to a club on Kingsland Road called ‘Say No More’ which presents the best electronic music of the moment. It’s also a great place to get your photo taken (mostly to set as your new facebook ‘default’ photo the next day) and meet new people.
‘Say no more’ @ On the rocks, Kingsland Road.
I woke up today not really remembering what or how I had gotten home…I remember a lot of rum and a lot of crying (the crying was clearly un-intentional!) I got called up from work saying that I was needed to do a closing shift leaving the rest of my Saturday free to do whatever I wanted…Unfortunately the hangover seemed to be controlling my brain, and all I really managed to get up and do was to eat! Luckily I got a call from my friend, Rosie, who had also participated in similar drinking/crying activities, and she accompanied me on the hunt to find some tasty winter warming food.
We headed into town and as if by magic we discovered ‘S&M’, a traditional English cafe, famous for is sausage and mash (explains the cafe’s name pretty well!) As we sat patiently (as patient as you can be with a hangover DYING for anything solid to ram down your gob) we noticed how good their mugs were! I made Rosie get a hot drink just so I could photograph one of them. Annoyingly they gave us ‘sip’ which was the worst word out of all the mugs. I wanted ‘gulp’ or ‘slurp’…something that was a bit more disgusting, yet realistic to emphasize a Saturday morning hangover.
Melanie Manchot’s new exhibition ‘Celebration’ explores individual and collective identity. Manchot is a London based artist working with photography, film and video.
Manchot worked with residents living on a selected street in East London over a 6-month period culminating in a day-long party and the making of a new film. She documents the event with a single tracking shot, capturing residents as they gather in front of the camera. The film bridges still and moving images to look at the process of forming and dissolving a group project. It’s an interesting show that asks what is it like to be part of a community and how is it formed.
The exhibition also includes a series of portraits of individuals that form part of this community. The exhibition is part of Gallery’s education programme which looks at how the gallery communicates with the public and its community.
(Whitechapel Art Gallery, East London)
