I visited the Whitechapel Gallery this afternoon to see the new Paul Graham show, "Paul Graham: Photographs 1981 - 2006" and after the previous John Stezaker show, this had a lot to live up to, but of course it did. The exhibition brings together many bodies of work, and is a truly delightful insight into Graham's eyes, his world and his work over the last twenty-five years.
The Whitechapel describes the exhibition as "Graham’s photographs transform the banality of a social security office or a suburban lawn into compelling scenes. Yet for all the immediacy of his saturated colours and large formats, these pictures are also about what cannot be seen. ‘I realised that concealment… has run through… my work, from the landscape of Northern Ireland, and the unemployed tucked away in backstreet offices, to the burdens of history swept under the carpet in Europe or Japan. Concealment of our turmoil from others, from ourselves even’."
For me, the work that deeply inspires and touches me is the series "A shimmer of possibility" not only are the images and installation stunning, but the books produced by Steidl are expectional. This body of work brings together the banaiity of everyday life, interjected with moments of the sublime. This really is a great exhibition and is definitely worth a visit, it finishes on the 19th June 2011.
Image copyright Paul Graham, courtesy of Anthony Reynolds Gallery.
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