Talks

Wednesday 19th January   

Thursday 20th January

Friday 21st January

Saturday 22nd January                                               
                                                         
 

Image Fatigue: Can photographs still be a catalyst for positive social change in a world saturated with images?
In association with PhotoVoice

Leading photography professionals discussed past and present campaigns that use socially driven imagery and ask whether they still have an impact in today’s media, and if so what makes these images successful in driving social change. The discussion was led by Marc Schlossman (PhotoVoice Trustee and photographer) with Monica Allende, (Picture Editor, Sunday Times Magazine), Liz Orton, (PhotoVoice), Adam Hinton (Photographer and Photo50 artist) and Jessica Crombie (Film and Photography Manager, Save the Children).
 

Boaz Aharonovitch/ Eden 2/ Image courtesy of the
artist

On The Ephemeral in Photography
In association with Hotshoe and ORDINARY-LIGHT Photography

A panel discussion considering the etymology and characterisations of the ephemeral in photography and the wider concept of the ephemeral as it appears in culture and the arts. This session was led by Daniel Campbell Blight (Director, Hotshoe Gallery) with Rut Blees Luxemburg (artist), Julian Stallabrass (Reader, The Courtauld Institute of Art) and Douglas Murphy (author of The Architecture of Failure, forthcoming from Zero Books).

Politics in Photography
In association with Photoworks

This session focused on contemporary photography concerned with the current socio-political climate in the UK. It considered the artists position in providing an important commentary on social change, political unrest and challenging political conventions. Speakers included: Anna Fox (artist and Professor of Photography, University of the Creative Arts), Lisa Barnard (artist, exhibiting in Photo50 at London Art Fair), Steve Edwards (Senior Lecturer in Art History, Open University) and Gordon MacDonald (Photoworks Head of Publications, Editor of Photoworks).
 

Collecting Contemporary Art
In association with the Contemporary Art Society

Now celebrating its centenary year, the Contemporary Art Society is the UK's leading authority on contemporary collecting. Over the last 100 years they have purchased the work of seminal artists early in their careers - Paul Gauguin, Pablo Picasso, Francis Bacon and Damien Hirst.

Presenting Photography
In association with John Jones

Matthew Jones (Managing Director, John Jones) and Tim Blake (Senior Frame Consultant)  discussed maximising the longevity of different print types as well as frame design and trends in presenting photography. The differences between Museum Standard, Conservation and Archival Framing were also discussed, looking at each element of the framing process and how it can be designed with both impact and protection in mind.

Presenting Art for Interiors
In association with John Jones

The team from John Jones  discussed recent projects and trends, focussing on the impact that artwork has on an interior environment and how the creative presentation of the work can help to incorporate art within an interior or create a statement piece. As well as frame designs and finishes, the installation of the work will be discussed, particularly the aesthetic considerations such as height, position and vista.

The Artist Edition with Iwona Blazwick, Director of Whitechapel Gallery

From Marcel Duchamp’s moustached Mona Lisa to Joseph Beuys’s wooden postcards to Bridget Riley’s Op Art silkscreens, great artists often make their work in editions. The print and the multiple give artists a way of democratising their ideas. They also give us an affordable way of collecting their work. Iwona Blazwick, director of the Whitechapel Gallery, gave a potted guide to the art edition, outlining how they support arts institutions and why they are the ideal way of starting a collection.

Vegas Gallery presents The Hand with the Golden Ring - performance by the provocative Norwegian artist Morten Viskum with an introductory talk by curator Pier Vegner Tosta

The Hand with the Golden Ring’ is one of Morten Viskum most outlandish and challenging performances; whereas the display of human parts is still perceived as bizarre and outré’, he admonishes that throughout art history artists have visited mortuaries and autopsies to paint and draw the human anatomy.

By way of preternatural sensibility Viskum extends this tradition further and uses a dead hand like an unforeseeable artistic tool, drawing the attention of the viewers towards the work process. The remains of this unusual performance become paintings of undeniable abstract and serene beauty, reminding us that there is nothing fictitious about Death, neither about Nature.

The Art Fund Talk
In association with The Art Fund

Simon Martin is Head of Curatorial Services at Pallant  House Gallery in Chichester, which boasts one of the best collections of Modern British art in the world. In 2007 the gallery won the Gulbenkian Prize (now the Art Fund Prize for Museums and Galleries) following the opening of its contemporary wing. In addition to its permanent collection, the Gallery has a strong contemporary programme with artists such as Andy Goldsworthy, Langlands & Bell and Wendy Ramshaw. Simon discussed the challenges and possibilities of collecting and showing conceptual art versus more traditional work.

The Scottish Colourists
In association with The Fleming Collection

Selina Skipwith, Keeper of Art for The Fleming Collection, will give a talk on The Scottish Colourists.

The Fleming Collection is widely regarded as the finest collection of Scottish art in private hands and the gallery is now recognized as An Embassy for Scottish Art in London. Selina Skipwith writes and lectures extensively on Scottish art, is author of A History of Scottish Art (Merrell, 2003) and has curated numerous exhibitions in the UK and abroad.

The Future of Modern British Art
In association with Apollo

The panel discussed what the future holds for Modern British Art examining how and where the market will grow. How will international critics, museums, and collectors treat this material in the next decades and who are artists who remain undervalued or overlooked? The panel included: Oscar Humphries (Editor, Apollo Magazine), Robin Katz (Art Collector and Dealer in Modern British Art), Marco Livingstone (art historian and independent curator).