OUTDOOR EXHIBITIONS
Over the Summer we are presenting three outdoor exhibitions, staged across Barrow-in-Furness and Whitehaven. Philip Green recreates Chris Killip’s Boy With Pigeon, a classic image taken in the region; Ivor Nicholas depicts a 1960s carnival in Whitehaven, and Phoebe Kiely finds fleeting moments of reflection along the coast.
Fri 4 June — Fri 9 July
Cooke’s Studios Barrow-in-Furness
Boy with Pigeon / Man with Pigeon
Chris Killip / Philip Green
In 1982 Chris Killip captured Boy with Pigeon while in Askam-in-Furness, a classic work depicting a young boy proudly clutching a bird, looking up and above the camera lens. Chris Killip sadly passed away last year; for this show, local photographer Phillip Green revisits the image, echoing Chris’s tender visual sensibility across the years. The new work depicts the same boy — now a man — once again holding a pigeon.
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About Chris Killip
Chris Killip was born on the Isle of Man in 1964, a place he returned to throughout his life. He shot in black-and-white, starkly capturing the lives and livelihoods of the working class throughout Britain and beyond. His work is featured in the permanent collections of major institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art, New York; George Eastman House; Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco; Museum Folkwang, Essen; the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; National Gallery of Australia, Canberra; and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. In October 2020 he passed away, aged 74.
About Philip Green
Philip Green is a photographer from Barrow-in-Furness. As an environmentalist, he loves the natural state of wild places. Philip interprets and reflects on human interaction with the landscape from these wild places. In contrast, the other half of his practice casts an eye on the societies that the natural environment opposes. Alongside West Coast Photo Festival, Philip is exhibiting in Rotterdam Photo Festival 2021.
Sat 5 June — Fri 9 July
Whitehaven Harbour
Phoebe Kiely / Ivor Nicholas
Excerpts from two projects rooted in the landscape, spanning generations. Ivor Nicholas captures the vividness of a carnival in the 1960s as it makes its way through Whitehaven. In contrast, Phoebe Kiely invites people to pause with her meditative work on fleeting West Coast moments.
The man featured in drag is Stephen Stuart, better known as Stiven. One of Whitehaven’s legendary character’s, Stiven led carnivals all over the west of Cumbria including Flimby, Maryport and Whitehaven as well as at other local events for many years. He passed away a few years ago and we are delighted to be able to honour him through this installation on the harbour of his hometown.
About Phoebe Kiely
Phoebe Kiely’s freshly commissioned series About takes a different approach, opting instead for quiet meditations on a stark landscape. Shot over the course of three weeks, the project moves along the coast, finding a frail peace in moments of calm and clarity. The full series will launch in Chapter II in October, showing alongside new work from Vanessa Winship.
About Ivor Nicholas
Ivor Nicholas has been described as ‘one of the custodians of Cumbria’s history’. Responsible for producing one of the most vast and remarkable image archives of the West Coast, Ivor was born in Cockermouth in the early 1930’s and began his career as a freelance photojournalist in 1955, following two years national service in the RAF. From his base within the area, Ivor worked for many decades to capture the daily events of the West Coast for numerous local and national newspapers, as well for local industrial businesses. As a photojournalist in the region, he is a major driver of the region’s visual architecture. Here, he presents a work from the 1960s, capturing the raucous energy of a carnival jubilantly making its way through Whitehaven.
Cooke’s Studios Windows, Barrow-in-Furness
West Coast Windows: A rotating programme of exhibitions by artists, local practitioners and residents that explore and reveal the West Coast of Cumbria.
Thur 3 — Wed 23 June
Labouring the Landscape
A participatory photography project by people from West Cumbria, here showing still life photography by the Barrow-in-Furness group. The one-day session revolved around creating a narrative using items that were personal to the people involved. In doing so memories were shared, ideas evolved, stories intertwined and a series of images were produced completely collaboratively with the group. Featured photographers: Jim Gleeson, Anita Driscoll, Kamil, Jane, Michael Bull, Marie Broaders, Andrew & Robert Parkinson.
Thur 24 June — Wed 14 July
Hats Off, Run Free
By Danielle Chappell Aspinwall
Fri 15 July — Thur 16 September
Exhibition in an Envelope
A group exhibition by members of the Seeing the North with Sankey’s Behind the Postcard group: Mohamed Raafat El-Demerdash, Enid Milligan, Marina Hodgson, Hannah Stratton, Kieran Bennett, Lucy Sherwood, Derek Bradley, Charlotte Davies
Thur 7 Oct — Sun 7 Oct
Barrow Pride of Place
A photography exhibition by The Caravan Gallery.