Exhibiting photography : a practical guide to choosing a space, displaying your work, and everything in between

272 Pages·2008·3.96 MB·english

by  Shirley Read

Exhibiting Photography
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Exhibiting Photography
A P R A C T I C A L G U I D E T O
C H O O S I N G A S P A C E ,
D I S P L A Y I N G Y O U R
W O R K , A N D E V E R Y T H I N G
I N B E T W E E N
Shirley Read
AMSTERDAM (cid:129) BOSTON (cid:129) HEIDELBERG (cid:129) LONDON
NEW YORK (cid:129) OXFORD (cid:129) PARIS (cid:129) SAN DIEGO
SAN FRANCISCO (cid:129) SINGAPORE (cid:129) SYDNEY (cid:129) TOKYO
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Contents
Introduction vii
1 Background 1
Case Study One: Leila Miller: The Degree Show 43
2 Finding an Exhibition Space 53
Case Study Two: Esther Teichmann Photodebut: The
Collective as a Site for Independent Collaborative Exhibiting 89
3 Planning and Research 93
Case Study Three: Sian Bonnell: TRACE: An Initiative by
and for Artists 127
4 Text, Printed, and Publicity Materials 135
Case Study Four: Andrew Dewdney: The Digital Gallery 173
5 Preparing to Install the Exhibition 183
Case Study Five: Katrina Sluis: Exhibiting Your Work Online 211
6 Hanging the Exhibition and the Follow-Up 219
Bibliography 247
Glossary 249
Acknowledgments 255
Index 257
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Introduction
This book originated in workshops taught initially at the
University of Westminster and subsequently at Photofusion
and the City Lit. The aim of the workshops was to empower
students by opening up the processes and practices of exhib-
iting. What the workshops taught me was that, although
students are increasingly working towards a career aim of
exhibiting their work, they too frequently leave college with
inadequate exhibition experience or the knowledge to be
ready to start showing their work professionally.
My aim, then, has been to write a book that can be used
as a guide to exhibiting so that any potential exhibitor can
take some control of the process. Providing an overview of
this kind inevitably means that the process can be oversim-
plifi ed; it suggests there is a right and wrong way to approach
exhibiting, that all exhibiting photographers will follow the
same route and that all photographs are part of a single dis-
cipline with standard methods of presentation. Of course
none of this is true and I have attempted to include enough
dispute and contradiction to make it clear that the photogra-
phers or artists have to make the choices that suit them, their
work, and their showing circumstances.
I have used the terms photographer and artist fairly
interchangeably here and I make no apology for it. Debate
about the terms rumbles on and the use of one or other
usually owes as much to educational background, personal
preference, and the gallery context as to ideological
concerns.
It may be useful for the reader to be aware of the differ-
ences between English and American English in gallery prac-
tice. For example:
(cid:129) “Marking” in English is “grading” in American English.
(cid:129) “Private view” is not an expression used in the USA. “Showing” or “opening recep-
tion” might be used instead.
viii Introduction
(cid:129) “Plans chest” is an English term for a chest with shallow drawers used for the fl at
storage of photographs, prints, and architectural drawings.
(cid:129) English people say “specialist” while Americans say “specialty.”
(cid:129) English people say “invigilation” for the specifi c job of being in the gallery during
opening hours. There is no direct parallel in America where “attendants,” “security
personnel,” or “gallery staff” might all cover this role.
(cid:129) English people say “fi xings” while Americans say “installation hardware.”
(cid:129) An Allen key in English is an Allen wrench or hex key in American English.
(cid:129) A spirit level in English is a bubble level in American English.
Background
FIGURE 1.1 “These images are from a series I made over the period of a year or so when I was
interested in rootlessness and the transience of urban life. Subsequently, editing them into a
sequence opened up the signifi cance of the piercing red, which, in an urban environment, stood
for ideas of instruction and protection. Sometimes the process of editing means I rethink what I
have done and start taking pictures again; sometimes it confi rms my original idea.” Tim Youles.
Image © Tim Youles
Exhibitions have become the medium through which most art becomes known.
Not only have the number and range of exhibitions increased dramatically in recent
years but museums and art galleries such as the Tate in London and the Whitney
in New York now display their permanent collections as a series of temporary
exhibitions. Exhibitions are the primary site of exchange in the political economy
of art, where signifi cation is constructed, maintained and occasionally decon-
structed. Part spectacle, part socio-historical event, part structuring device, exhibi-
tions—especially exhibitions of contemporary art—establish and administer the
cultural meanings of art.
From Thinking about Exhibitions (Greenberg et al. 1996)