A quick update to post information about my new Photography page. This will be regularly updated with images and news about exhibitions and print sales. I hope you will take a look and please 'like' if you want to be kept informed about shows and other events.
May 2012
Have spent the last couple of months shooting and editing a lot of new material. There are several photography and video projects in production and I hope I'll have an opportunity to show some of them later in the year. It's been great having the extra time to experiment with ideas and develop new themes - and interesting to see how these new themes have become catalysts for some very different projects.
Some of my photographs from the Before series, 2012, were recently featured on Landscape Stories. I really like this photography site that is based in Italy. They are generous with their exposure of photographers and the selected work is frequently different and evocative.
I was really pleased that my short film, Inside, was recently selected for the Gaze film season opening programme at Artists' Television Access, San Francisco. ATA is an artist-run, non-profit organization that cultivates and promotes culturally-aware, underground media and film and its Gaze film series is dedicated to screening independent film and video made by women. The seven selected films for the opening programme all address the subject of 'home' from 'the experimental unearthing and reassembly of family history to the voyeuristic gaze into the bedroom windows of strangers to the dreamlike Turkish beach resorts that offer a "home away from home". It's a diverse and interesting examination of home - if you're in San Francisco it takes place on 17 May.
Feb 2012
Before (C) Mandy Williams 2012
At the beginning of January I took part in a large benefit for Visual Aids in New York. Called Postcards from the Edge, it's an annual event which attracts a lot of artists and buyers. It took place at Cheim & Read this year, and raised over $82,200 making it the most successful Postcards benefit ever. I was delighted that my contribution, Totem, was sold and only wish I could have been there myself to have seen the work, which included images from William Wegman, Yoko Ono and John Baldessari.
One of my aims for this year is to focus on creating new work. I've been shooting with a specific theme in mind, though this will develop more fully over the next few months. As a side project I documented a local housing estate at the start of the year, photographing the windows of the abandoned flats as the site awaits demolition. I've initially set some of those images to a soundtrack and uploaded it to vimeo, but will revisit the idea later as the main project advances.
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Dec 2011
Immerse 2011 (c) Mandy Williams
A quick post before the year slips away. 2011 has been memorable and I feel lucky to have been involved with some excellent exhibitions this year at MASS MoCA, RWA, Bristol, and at Raven Row and Bearspace Gallery in London. The Bearspace show, Print & Design Now! has just finished this weekend. I went to the private view in Deptford back in November and there was a lot of interesting work on display.
Over the last couple of months I have been trying to see more exhibitions in London. There have been some inspiring shows and I have come away with a desire to spend 2012 creating a lot of new work. Ideas have been building up throughout the year and it’s time to explore where they might lead. I’ve been experimenting with sound, video, photography and text.
For this year’s Photomonth, I re-visited the place where I had grown up, photographing the landscape in a visceral way to evoke emotion and memory. As part of the project, I wanted to add a short video. Finally complete, it’s now on Vimeo: http://vimeo.com/artphotofilm/immerse
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Sept/Oct 2011
A quick update leading into October. My feature in Printmaking Today magazine (Autumn 2011) is out now - it was part of my award from the RWA show in February this year. It's a great magazine, full of information about printing techniques and current exhibitions, along with generous profiles on contemporary artists. It's not available online, so I've scanned part of it here. Check it out if you see it in the bookstore!
(c) Printmaking Today, Autumn 2011
Also this week I found out that my photograph, Totem, is a winning image in the Artslant 5th 2011 Showcase. Last year House #6 also won in this category.
Have spent much of September finishing off a project for Photomonth 2011. Immerse is now live on the web and tries to capture the sea where I grew up in a visceral way that evokes emotion and memory. It was a surprisingly difficult project but hopefully I've succeeded in my intentions. Ideally, I'd like to add video as well.
(c) Mandy Williams 2011
At the start of November, ASC are holding open studios again and I'll be taking part - it's the same weekend that Print & Design Now 2011 opens at Bearspace Gallery.
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September 2011
Summer is definitely over but it's been one to remember. To begin with, it was such a pleasure taking part in the Resonance Open at Raven Row. The exhibition lasted for six weeks and received good reviews. One of my exhibits, Lost Voices, was referred to as 'a techno-echinoderm hybrid from some nightmarish Lovecraftian rock pool' on the Sparks in Electrical Jelly blog review - a truly imaginative description.
Totem (c) Mandy Williams 2010
Before the show ended I was notified that I was a PX3 Prix de la Photographie Paris Official Selection 2011 for my submission, House #6, and also had a work, Totem, chosen for Print & Design Now 2011, a touring exhibition presented by Bearspace Gallery, selected by Julia Alvarez, Owen Ward (SW1 gallery) and Mary Alice Stack (Own Art). Although I had shown Totem at House Gallery in early 2010, this version is quite different.
Private view at SW1 Gallery
The show opened in late July at SW1 Gallery with a busy private view - it was a chance to see some wonderful work from a large number of artists. It's a touring exhibition, and will be on view in Deptford at Bearspace in November before going on to other venues.
There'll be other news in late September/early October so will post again soon.
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June 2011
I recently had some of my photography from 'Re-Collect' featured in Slightly Lucid, a lovely blog from Montreal, written by photographer Aislinn Leggett. The blog is always highlighting work I find interesting, so it was great to be included. The images are from 2009 and 2010; the series is ongoing.http://www.slightlylucid.com/mandy-williams-re-collect/
Friday (c) Mandy Williams 2010
I was also very happy to have two pieces of work selected for Resonance Open, a sound art exhibition curated by Ed Baxter, Director of Resonance104.4fm. The Open features contemporary sound art from local and interational artists and is part of a larger exhibition, called Gone with the Wind, which highlights seminal sound art pioneers Max Eastley, Takehisa Kosugi and Walter Marchetti. The exhibition is running at Raven Row, one of my favourite London galleries. It's a non-profit exhibition space spreading across 4 floors of two conjoined Georgian houses in Spitalfields. I recently saw Hilary Lloyd's exhibition there which looked wonderful in that space and there is a continued focus on showing experimental and improvisatory work. The two pieces I am showing are The Space Between, a lightbox with sound featuring words from Kobe Abe's Face of Another (2001) and Lost Voices, a sound work made of blow-torched mobile phones (2010). This last piece was exhibited at House Gallery in 2010 but I have recently re-mixed the sound. The show runs from 9 June to 17 July 2011.
The Space Between (c) Mandy Williams 2001 and Lost Voices installed at Raven Row (c) Mandy Williams 2011
A short video of the Resonance Open can be seen here: http://vimeo.com/25623681
I shall also be participating in the Parallax Art Fair, La Galleria, Royal Opera Arcade, Pall Mall, London from 1 - 3 July 2011.
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Recent
It has been a busy start to 2011. I'm currently showing work in two group exhibitions including 'An Exchange with Sol Lewitt', a two-part exhibition organised by Cabinet magazine in collaboration with MASS MoCA, curated by Regine Basha. My photographic piece, 'Conversations' is part of the large group show on view at MASS MoCA. 
Conversations (c) Mandy Williams
I also have two photographs, 'Parade' and 'House #6', in 'Open Photography 2011' a juried exhibition, showing at the Royal West of England Academy in Bristol. It was great to visit Bristol and attend the opening and I was excited to discover that 'House #6' had won the Printmaking Today magazine award for best original print. A feature in the magazine will follow.
June 17 from 'Inside' (c) Mandy Williams 2010
My small video, 'Inside', that I finished at the end of last year has also been screened - recently in London at an International Women's Day celebration with a selection of short films and improvised music and later this month at Lightworks 2011 where it was selected as part of a festival of film, sound, installation and new media. Unfortunately I won't be able to attend Lightworks but I did go to the London screening and was pleased to have been a part of the celebratory event.
The last couple of months I've also been developing ideas for some new work which will include photography and text and am looking forward to immersing myself in this project next month.
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View
Nearly 2011 - wonder what the year ahead will bring? 2010 has been a really good year in many ways - some great exhibition experiences including Art Projects at the London Art Fair in January, two group shows at the Museum of New Art Detroit (the 'Saatchi 10' and the hugely popular 'Facebook show'), plus several really enjoyable group shows in London. The last two group exhibitions - at Strand Gallery and Viewfinder - were both photography shows but looking back on 2010 one of the most exciting things for me has been working in different media and completing two very different pieces of work. 'Lost Voices', shown at House Gallery in March, was a mixed-media sound work, and more recently I've just finished the short video, 'Inside', which I began over the summer. The video can be seen on vimeo at http://vimeo.com/artphotofilm. It's experimental and true to my original intentions. It's inspired by Bachelard's 'Poetics of Space' and the lit house as a beacon, hut, and refuge, and Derek Jarmans' video 'Journey to Avebury' where his use of static camera shots and uncompromising editing highlights the mystical and ritual elements of place. The opening and closing frames were filmed at Dungeness, one of my favourite places.
Still from 'Inside' (C) Mandy Williams 2010
Earlier this month, I had some work of mine represented at the Aqua Art Fair in Miami, as part of the Golden Frame Awards. The end of this month is going to be spent in the studio - uninterrupted time to experiment and shape new work.
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Live
(c) Mandy Williams
A quick update as my photography book is now published. It's called Inside and you can see a 15 page preview of it at: http://www.blurb.com/books/1630424
The photographs focus on the home and represent different bodies of work produced and exhibited between 1998 and 2010. It includes images which will be shown at the 'Home' exhibition opening this week at the Viewfinder Gallery.
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What's On
It's been a few months since the last blog and a busy period - I've been producing a lot of new work and it's been an interesting process switching between different media. I'm currently editing the video that I began shooting in May and it should be completed soon - next month twelve stills from it will be exhibited as part of this year's Photomonth festival. I've also begun looking through my photographic work since 1997 and selecting images for publication. I was inspired by a friend who had produced a book but it also seemed like a good idea to gather images together and see what connections there were. It's surprising in some ways to see how consistent the interests and explorations of themes have been even when the execution and style has become quite different. The first proof has come back for editing and I hope the final book will be ready next month.
l-r (c) Mandy Williams 1997/2010; (c) Mandy Williams 2010
October is looking busy with a couple of other shows in London and an artists open studio event. One of the exhibitions is at Viewfinder, a photographic gallery that was based in Greenwich but recently relocated to Brixton. It's a 3 person show called Home which was curated by Louise Forrester and I'll be exhibiting with Bill Jackson and Marysia Lachowicz. This is the first time I'll have shown this work, which is black and white infra-red photography inspired by the JG Ballard story, The Enormous Space, and the film, Home, written and directed by Richard Curson-Smith. It's less about horror though and more to do with exploring the boundaries between retreat, refuge and withdrawal. The second show is the annual exhibition organised by London Independent Photography. This year the selectors were Paul Ellis from Photofusion and Lucinda Chua from Proud Galleries and I have two works in the show. The exhibition will be at the Strand Gallery.
Our open studio weekend will be a great opportunity to meet with other artists in the building and see different work. I'm really pleased it's been organised and hope it will become an annual event. It was about 3 years ago that they ran the last one and on that visit I thought it was a fantastic location, with studios looking out over the river - I didn't know then that I would be in one of them! Far away from London, but also in October, MONA Detroit will be exhibiting an extended version of their Facebook show with many more artists and I'm happy to be included a second time.
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Bite-size
Since the group exhibition at House Gallery in March I've been developing new video work. I began shooting in early May and hope to be finished by the end of June - most of it is taking place in London. I'm excited by the project - which includes several of my favourite recurring themes - and also to be working with video again. I feel like I've captured some good stills from the footage and will plan to show those later this year. I'm hoping that the video will be completely edited by the end of July. The initial idea was to maybe show it with the photographs for the Viewfinder Gallery show, but it's developing a separate identity as the project gets more advanced.
(c) Mandy Willliams (2003)
Another video still - this time from Filler (2003) - was recently requested for an exhibition called The Facebook Show at the Museum of New Art, Detroit. The Director, artist Jef Bourgeau, contacted artists and those working in the arts to contribute their Facebook profile to the exhibition. There are over 100 artists included - many whose work I particularly like including photographers Vik Muniz, Catherine Opie and Larry Clark. The show opens Saturday 19th June - I wish I could be there in person.
More locally I was part of a large exhibition of women artists at the Bankside Gallery in April organised by SLWA. The gallery is on the river near Tate Modern, so a great location, and there was a fantastic crowd for the opening night and some interesting work on display. Linda, who I've shown with many times, was also exhibiting along with other local artist friends. I had House #6 selected for the show.
In the last two months I've had photographic work featured in a couple of magazines - some new images in Flip (the newly relaunched magazine for London Independent Photography) and work from 'Re-Collect' in London-based magazine, the Transmitter, which ran a series of artists' profiles.
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New Now
Our group show, Suspended, opened this Wednesday at House Gallery, London and runs until the 16 March. The four of us only see each other's work completed when the show is hung, but once again the ideas and execution complement one another. This time - our third shared project - there is audio work, ceramic installation, painting and photography. The individual narratives capture a particular moment in time that accumulatively suggest states of loss and estrangement. I have photography in the exhibition but also an audio installation. It was fun to be mixing sound again and good to be creating unfamiliar work, trying something new.
(c) Mandy Williams, 2010
Today is the last day of the Saatchi 10 show in Detroit. The show was consecutively shown at two different MONA venues and it was good to hear that both opening nights attracted large crowds. Closer to home, following on from the show at the London Art Fair, Bearspace have just opened Print Now (Part 2) at their Deptford Gallery. The show looks really good, seems larger than the first installation, and it is great to see so many prints have sold.
Installation detail MONA, Detroit
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Current
Thought I'd quickly post up some info before the end of 2009. It's been a really interesting couple of months since the last two shows. In October I was very surprised to find out I'd been selected as one of the top ten artists of the week on Saatchi Online. What made it particularly good was the curator who made the selection, Charlotte Bonham-Carter, works at the ICA, a place that I've always loved and she'd worked on their exhibition about concrete poetry, Poor Old Tired Horse, which I'd seen and really enjoyed. The strangest thing was that amongst the 10 artists was someone that I knew and have worked with in the past. Jef Bourgeau is an artist and director of the artist-run museum MONA in Detroit. Back in 2002 I had a video screened there during their video festival and at the end of last year we'd got back in contact. Jef decided he would get in touch with the other artists and invite them to show at MONA and this is now going to happen in February. I'll be showing one work which is an adaption of a piece recently shown at the Jago Gallery in East London. Here is a link to the show: http://www.detroitmona.com/Exhibits/2010.html
(c) Mandy Williams, 2009
Have been going down to the studio and have ideas for the group show in March. If it works out I'll be showing medium-format photography with an installation piece - lots to get done to make it happen. It's still connected to the theme of home but off on a slightly different tangent. The four of us will be meeting at the venue in January - it will be good to catch up and hear everyone's plans.
Also in January, I'll have work at the London Art Fair as part of Arts Projects . It's a new print from the 'Re-Collect' series - one that hasn't been exhibited or published before. Very happy to have work selected for this - it's part of a show organised by BEARSPACE gallery called 'Print Now'. Looking forward to 2010!
(c) Mandy Williams, 2009
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Fresh
Last night was the opening of Photomonth and the private view for our group show, Inter, at Jago Gallery, Redchurch Street. The 4 of us - Linda, Dolores, pi and I - are all showing new work and it's hard to believe it's 18 months since we last worked together. I like what each of them have brought to the show. It's about place as memory, how social or domestic environment is shaped by its physical and emotional interactions. I've produced a series of small paper houses, each with a story to tell. It draws on an idea I had a while ago, but takes it further. It's quite different work to what I've been showing lately but so far the reaction has been positive. The show will be running until 2 November.
Down in SE London, I've currently got work in the dna show, Alchemy, which is part of Deptford X and mid October there's the London Independent Photography exhibition. It's an annual event and the work is selected externally. I'm happy to have had 3 works selected from the 'Re-Collect' series for this and am looking forward to seeing the other work in the exhibition. Here's a link to the exhibition on their website: http://www.londonphotography.org.uk/exhibitions/LIP21Annual/ There are a couple of other shows on the horizon too so a busy time ahead - both continue the Home theme. The first one will be with Linda, Dolores and pi - very different work from Inter - more photo-sculptural and installation. The gallery has a really good lay-out, so it'll be interesting to see how the work develops. The second exhibition, scheduled for later next year, is with 3 other photographers - I like the look of their work and it'll be good to show in this space as the curator seems really well organised and I've liked the focus of their previous exhibitions. I'll post up more info about it nearer the time ...
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More News
Since the last blog I've been working in the studio on a number of different ideas - one of which will be part of the group show for Photomonth during October. Have also been extending ideas for the Memento Mori series and more general ideas on themes of Home and Memory. It's been great going down there and the end of August/beginning of September will be an intensive period.There was an arts festival in July near to where I live so I participated in the Visual Arts weekend - was good to meet the other artists and also to show new work for the first time and get positive feedback. Some photographs from the same series were recently published in the London Independent Photography Magazine's 'Collections' issue. I'm feeling encouraged to continue building on this work.
All images (c) Mandy Williams, 2009
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Taster
Today I took over a new studio. Having been used to working from home this is an exciting change for me. The building is nearby and has over 40 studios - mine is small, but with great natural light and views.
A few essentials got moved in today but not too much - it's going to be a place for experimenting and trying new things and I'll need all the space there is.
Have been framing some work for a group show in Hull - three photographs will be going into a text based exhibition next month which has been curated to coincide with the Humberside Literature Festival.
(c) Mandy Williams, 2008
It's good to be showing new work and it'll be interesting to see what else is in the show. I'm also working with Linda, pi and Dolores on a show for the autumn - it's a different venue to the one we had originally planned. We're now in a space in East London which we'll have for a whole month, and we've postponed showing in the other gallery in South London until early 2010. Both shows will be mainly photography but with 3D work as well. Lots of other ideas being talked about - more to follow ...
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Small bites
A small update. It's been a busy start to 2009 - more photography and more project ideas. In early January I was contacted by the director of a gallery in west London and offered representation which was a nice surprise. They had seen some of my work on the South London Women Artists website. It's not an exclusive contract which appeals right now and they seem to be friendly and proactive in how they run their business so it will be interesting to see what happens.
Linda, Dolores, pi and myself have also been meeting up and working on ideas for a group exhibition this autumn as well as some other projects. We are combining our interests in photography, sculpture and installation. We were pleased to have a positive response to our proposal from a gallery that we had contacted and it's an interesting space. We plan to create new work in response to the space as we did with Forensic.
Here's an installation shot from Forensic which was in a massive warehouse in South London.
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The latest now
Welcome to the news blog - a tiny look at what's coming up as well as a small review of recent events. These posts are likely to be random depending on what's new and blog-worthy, so if it's quiet for a while, have a look at the web-site instead - www.mandywilliams.com.
The last week has been interesting. First of all I found out on Saturday that a photograph of mine had been published in the Guardian Weekend magazine. The In Pictures section had asked for images of Twins, and I had one which I'd taken some years ago for an exhibition. Alex and Alan da Silva were identical twins, but I couldn't help looking for things that made them physically different from one another. 
(c) Mandy Williams
There are identical bar codes of blood, teeth, hair at the top of the photo - at the time the image was taken it was thought that identical twins had the same DNA, now apparently there can be slight variations.
Then on Monday night an exchange of emails from London to Vancouver Island revealed that I had two photographs in the Comox Vallery Art Gallery's permanent collection. Found out just by chance - they'd been there quite some time following a group exhibition curated by Third Avenue Gallery. I never made it to Comox but it's supposed to be a great place. The curator is originally from Brixton - once again, I'm reminded it's a small world.
On Friday night there was another interesting meeting in town with Linda, Dolores and pi to discuss some collaborative projects - lots of research is needed. We worked together on the Forensic exhibition in March which Linda curated. It was a great show and a fantastic space, but pretty much under the radar. We've now come back together again with ideas for future work.
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