Category: London
October 11, 2013 — November 2, 2013
In this exhibition, we are thrilled to present a selection of new works on paper by the inimitable Neal Fox, co-founder of London art collective Le Gun. Hierarchies are reversed in a show that embodies the spirit of the Ancient Roman festival Saturnalia: slaves became rulers, sitting at banquet tables, exempt from punishment on festival days. The carnivalesque atmosphere of the feast of fools, brimming with libations, gambling and debauchery, of liberation through absurdity and chaos, becomes formal and symbolic material for Fox’s psychedelic and transgressive drawings. Citing a range of influences from cartoonist Robert Crumb to painter Hieronymus Bosch to novelist William S. Burroughs, anachronisms become a signifying feature of the artist’s work.
Drawing upon motifs from the collective unconscious, and with a cast of pop culture figures ranging from Hunter S. Thompson to Ziggy Stardust, Fox employs his iconoclastic touch and unravels – with great humour – the grotesque in a world turned upside down.
September 7, 2013 — October 5, 2013
John H. White (*1945) is a renowned American photojournalist. His photography documents everyday lives and political events in American cities, particularly Chicago. He was a staff photographer on the Chicago Sun-Times for 35 years, and won a Pulitzer prize in 1982. Our exhibition concentrates on photographs depicting life for families living in Chicago housing projects in the 1980s.
The controversial dissolution of the Sun-Times photography department earlier this year stirred up much debate regarding the significance of photojournalism. We are therefore particularly pleased to present this exhibition of works by one of the world’s most influential photojournalists as a testament to the enduring importance of this occupation.
Blitz Photographers: Cecil Beaton, Bill Brandt and George Rodger
Hilary Roberts is Head Curator of Photography at Imperial War Museums (IWM) in Britain. A specialist in the history of war photography, Roberts works with collections of historic war photography around the world. She also works closely with civilian and military photographers covering current conflicts.
This talk is free and open to the public.
The event runs from 7:00 pm on Wednesday June 19th 2013 at 51 Hoxton Square, London N1 6PB and will last for approximately an hour.
Our talks are open to everyone. We recommend arriving promptly as seating is limited.
July 5, 2013 — July 31, 2013
Daniel Blau is pleased to announce the five winners of the gallery’s first annual Young Photographers’ Competition:
Marianne Bjørnmyr / Madoka Furuhashi / Andi Schmied /
Tereza Cervenova / Lara Morrell
We are delighted to present a selection of work by these talented photographers in a group exhibition here in London this July.
Please join us for the opening on Thursday 4th July from 6 – 9 pm!
April 19, 2013 — May 25, 2013
In response to the British Museum’s major exhibition “Life and Death in Pompeii and Herculaneum”, Daniel Blau is pleased to present an exhibition of original nineteenth century photographs of Pompeii alongside images documenting other archaeological sites and art and architecture in Italy.
In 79 AD Mount Vesuvius erupted, burying Pompeii and Herculaneum beneath lava and ash. The ash protected these ancient towns for centuries, to be later uncovered, yielding unparalleled insight into Roman civilisation and culture and a deepened appreciation of the art of Roman Antiquity.
Photography has further preserved Italy’s ruins, and our exhibition portrays the country’s landscapes, art and architecture as perceived in the eighteen hundreds. The photographs vary from depictions of exquisite buildings in ruins and excavated artefacts to studies of the nude female figure.
May 31, 2013 — June 29, 2013
“The glare of many fires and sweeping clouds of smoke kept hiding the shape. Then a wind sprang up. Suddenly, the shining cross, dome and towers stood out like a symbol in the inferno. The scene was unbelievable. In that moment or two, I released my shutter.” Herbert Mason on his iconic 1940 photograph of St Paul’s Cathedral.
In this exhibition of vintage photographs from the 1940s, Londoners salvage their possessions from the rubble of their homes and take refuge in the city’s underground stations. Walls crumble, buildings open like dollhouses, and families go about their errands wearing gas masks. Many of these photographs were used for press purposes and are unique historic documents as well as important works of art.
The Blitz lasted from 7 September 1940 to 21 May 1941. In this time, Germany attacked London 71 times, rendering more than 1.4 million people homeless. The main air offensive against British cities diminished after May 1941, but sporadic and lethal raids continued for several more years, with the V-1 and V-2 rockets deployed between 1944 and 1945 killing nearly 9,000 civilians.
Although evidence of WWII persists in this historic city, the majority of bomb sites remain unmarked and unremembered, and it is difficult to imagine what it must have been like to experience such destruction. As the number of people who remember the Blitz dwindles, we hope to reignite awareness of this significant time in London’s history.
Please join us for the opening of this very special exhibition on Thursday May 30th, from 6-8pm.
February 22, 2013 — April 13, 2013
Daniel Blau is pleased to present an exhibition of affordable vintage 20th century American photojournalism. From traditional Americana – classic iconography including flags and road imagery – to gritty visions of the realities of mid-century American culture, “Happy-Go-Lucky” explores the complex history of America in the 1900s.
Post-war America was a place of euphoric positivity and untamable determination, fueled by winning World War II, reaching the moon and taming the atom. Despite this, the American Dream – the notion that all people are entitled to “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” – remained a distant dream as it was punctured time and time again by war, economic instability and civil rebellion. The show incorporates photographs of life in inner-city Chicago housing projects, scenes of social unrest and defunct industry, fish-eye views of Manhattan and reportage that captures the zeitgeist of the era.
Many of these original photographs are press prints, which often carry ink stamps and news clippings on the back and touch-ups or crop marks on the front, adding to their historical significance. This exhibition presents a new way of looking at and collecting 20th Century American pictures.
January 11, 2013 — February 16, 2013
“Night and day, he prowled the streets and tall buildings of Manhattan…”
Wanda Rickerby
Daniel Blau is delighted to present an exhibition of vintage prints by renowned American photographer Arthur B. Rickerby (1921 – 1972). Best known for his depictions of New York life and organised sport, Rickerby also covered World War II events in the Pacific under Edward Steichen.
A native New Yorker, he photographed the city all his life – as a United Press employee, a freelancer, and later as one of the prestigious LIFE magazine staff photographers. The variety of subjects he covered is remarkable, from street scenes to union strikes, to President Kennedy and happenings abroad.
This is the first time that these rare vintage prints will be shown in a solo exhibition in Europe, representing the discovery of a historically important photographer who bore witness to many of the great events of the Twentieth Century.
Arthur Burroughs Rickerby was born in New York City in 1921. He began his photographic career while a student at Duke University (Durham, North Carolina), where he documented the campus sports to sell his images to local newspapers. Acme Newspictures (now UPI) noticed him and offered him a job in New York after his graduation. As this coincided with the Second World War, however, he was sent to the Pacific to cover the events under Edward Steichen.
Upon the end of the war, he returned to his job as a photojournalist in New York, recording every aspect of the city and always testing new photographic equipment, such as 35 mm film. He was nominated for a Pulitzer prize for his leadership in the world of news photography. He left United Press to become a freelancer, and as he became better known, was hired by the prestigious LIFE Magazine, with which he shot exclusive stories about president Kennedy. He continued photographing a wide variety of subjects throughout his life.
A retrospective of Rickerby’s work, entitled “The Photography of Arthur B. Rickerby, The UPI and LIFE years, 1941-1971”, toured the USA in the 1990s.
November 9, 2012 — December 22, 2012
After last year’s successful exhibition of affordable photography, the gallery is pleased to present a show of vintage photographs in time for Christmas.
Photography is about collecting. Sometimes the gallery may seem like a museum space, but nevertheless the works on the wall are for sale. This gives visitors the opportunity to participate in the great adventure that is collecting photography. Now more than ever before we have the possibility of finding great works of art at affordable prices. We should remember that the last time such an opportunity arose was in the 1960s, and subsequently the market for 19th Century photography flourished. This time it is the shift to digital photography that brings 20th Century prints to light out of various archives.
It takes foresight to recognise a great work of art as a piece of history when the price tag is only a few hundred pounds. But here in East London the gallery encourages people of every generation to have a look at these one-of-a-kind pieces and develop or begin their own collections.
October 5, 2012 – November 3, 2012
“In ’74 I photographed the cannibals in New Guinea. They treated me OK but they didn’t make you feel relaxed…I managed to escape unscathed though, I’m pretty good at that.”
A visit to Bailey’s studio. A treasure! A box of Polaroids from 1974.
When visiting an artist as versatile as Bailey, one should always expect the unexpected. Despite this, it was a great surprise to discover a box of Polaroids taken in Papua New Guinea in 1974, fascinating for their subject matter as well as for their artistic merit.
What followed was a happy-dance and a handshake confirming the opening of “Papua Polaroids” on October 4th.
In 1974 David Bailey visited the New Guinea wilderness and pointed his Polaroid camera at the bow and arrow carrying people, resulting in photographic portraits that have been hidden from view in his archive ever since.
Today indigenous peoples are gazed at and possibly even envied by us for the seemingly simpler and more understandable world they inhabit. The nostalgic aura of Polaroid film intensifies this sense of longing for a more natural and primal way of life.
Daniel has long been interested in Oceanic Art. It is therefore a particular pleasure to find this interest mirrored in Bailey’s work of the 70s.