© IKS-Medienarchiv 2023
Facing Britain brings together for the first time almost all important representatives of British documentary photography since the 1960s in the largest survey exhibition outside the UK.
Corinna Denzer-Schmidt, Niederrhein Nachrichten
Long forgotten and only recently rediscovered positions such as John Myers, Tish Murtha or Peter Mitchell are shown alongside works by world stars such as Martin Parr and David Hurn.
The show thus offers a unique insight into the developments in the field of photography in the United Kingdom, which are interwoven with continental Europe and North America, but also independent of them. The documentary aspect proves to be one of the great strengths of British photography, which is capable of depicting a part of Europe in transition in a multifaceted, surprising and artistically original way.
Facing Britain was therefore deliberately chosen as a temporal bracket for the period of Britain’s membership of the European Union and their forerunners between 1963 till 2020. Particularly in view of the current Corona pandemic, the exhibition proves to be a break in the artistic development of an entire nation.
Facing Britain describes the various epochs from the decline of the coal industry, the Thatcher era with the Falkland conflict, the Brexit that split the island into two parts. A special focus is on the 1970s and 1980s, which were influenced by David Hurn, Tish Murtha, Daniel Meadows, Peter Mitchell, Tony Ray-Jones and Martin Parr, when artistic documentary photography gained an importance worldwide.
Martina Conrad, SWR 2
Patrick Bahners, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
This late tribute to the pioneers of British documentary photography also demonstrated the difficulties of photography in Britain. British photography – apart from its established Magnum photographers such as David Hurn or Martin Parr – had difficulties to assert itself on the international market, not least because of its socially critical or political content and socially critical approaches, which are unmistakable in the work of Ken Grant, Tish Murtha, Homer Sykes, Paul Reas or Anna Fox.
Facing Britain presents a portrait of the unique foreignness of Great Britain – divided, unequal and interspersed with classes, but marked by deep affection, humanity and humour. The photographs speak for themselves, bear witness to artistic concepts and attitudes and convey historical contexts. They call for a view of today’s United Kingdom beyond the clichĂ©s. Inequality and identity are still the key concepts that dominate the nation and define what makes the exhibition more relevant than ever. Previously virulent themes such as youth unemployment, the decline of the mining industry or protest and demonstration against the policies of Margaret Thatcher are historically illuminated in the exhibition and critically questioned by the participating photographers.
Recent works by Kirsty Mackay, Paul Reas, Robert Darch, Roy Mehta or Niall McDiramid also reflect current issues on topics such as gender justice, diversity, consumer society, Brexit or migration.
Facing Britain presents for the first time the development of British photography in the UK over the past 60 years including the influence of photographers of colour, female photographers and the young generation. To present and to understand the significant shift from social documentary to artistic photography will give a new perspective on British photography!
Chritsian RiethmĂĽller, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
And with up to 450 works and 60 participating photographers this exhibition is a one of it’s own presentation of the media of photography and the vibrant UK photo scene.
Mike Abrahams, Meredith Andrews, James Barnor, Rob Bremner, Rachel Louise Brown, John Bulmer, Tessa Bunney, Elaine Constantine, Thom Corbishley, Robert Darch, John Davies, Craig Easton, Anna Fox, Ken Grant, Judy Greenway, Mohamed Hassan, Paul Hill, David Hurn, Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen, Kalpesh Lathigra, Barry Lewis, MarkĂ©ta LuskaÄŤová, Kirsty Mackay, Fran May, Stephen McCoy, Niall McDiarmid, Daniel Meadows, Roy Mehta, Sandra Mickiewicz, Margaret Mitchell, Peter Mitchell, David Moore, Tish Murtha, John Myers, Mark Neville, Kevin O’Farrell, Martin Parr, Mark Pinder, Yan Wang Preston, Ryan Prince, Kavi Pujara, Tony Ray-Jones, Paul Reas, Sophy Rickett, Simon Roberts, Michelle Sank, Arpita Shah, Syd Shelton, Hazel Simcox, Dave Sinclair, Homer Sykes, Alys Tomlinson, Jon Tonks, Dan Wood, Tom Wood and others.
FACING BRITAIN was produced by the IKS, DĂĽsseldorf and it's new photo department IKS PHOTO.
Curated by Ralph Goertz who is specialized in American, British, Italian and German photography since the 1960s. In 2019 his "Martin Parr Retrospective" was named as "one of the nine best exhibitions in Europe" and the exhibition "Subject and Object. Photo Rhine Ruhr" at the Kunsthalle DĂĽsseldorf was named as the "best exhibition of the year 2020" in DĂĽsseldorf.
All original works are framed and stored in DĂĽsseldorf, ready to go!
All prints are made by the artists, most of them are originals and signed by the artists. Some vintage prints need special technical requirements in terms of light.
Best curatorial excellence by Ralph Goertz, director of the IKS.
Best public performance, press critics and all time best visitors at most venues.
High quality selection of internationally renowned photographers.
Covers all important and major themes of our time.
Please ask for the full list of works.
2020, 3 month, Goch – Germany
2021, 4 month, Darmstadt – Germany
2022, 3 month, Goslar – Germany
2022, 3 month, Krákow – Poland
2022, 2 month, Hannover – Germany
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