New Exhibitions at the National Media Museum
Bradford Fellowship: Neeta Madahar
Gallery One
National Media Museum, Bradford
16 October 2009 – 21 February 2010
Free entry to exhibitions
Information: 0870 70 10 200
www.nationalmediamuseum.org.uk
On 16 October, 2009, Neeta Madahar’s latest photography project will be unveiled to the public in a free-to-enter exhibition at the National Media Museum in Bradford.
Flora is a series of highly conceptual and stylised images exploring the dynamics of portraiture within the contexts of femininity, beauty and nature. Ten new photographs will be displayed, alongside a selection from the artist’s earlier works - Sustenance (2003), Falling (video and photographs, 2005), Cosmoses (2006 – 07) and Solstice (video, 2008).
The exhibition marks the end of Neeta’s tenure as the 14th Bradford Fellow of Photography (2008/09). Inaugurated in 1985, this prestigious award is a partnership between the Museum, the University of Bradford and Bradford College. The Fellowship allowed Neeta to begin making Flora, a project which has been in development since 2004.
Flora evokes the style of Hollywood glamour photography from the 1930s – 1950s and draws inspiration from the society photographs of Cecil Beaton and Madame Yevonde. Neeta collaborated with a number of female friends to create painstakingly staged and detailed photographs that feature these friends alongside plants and flowers whose names have been adopted as women’s, such as Holly and Jasmine.
Each distinctive, ultra-stylised image investigates notions of drama, reality, allure and female representation, and is underpinned by Neeta’s subjective relationship with the models. Over weeks and months Neeta spent time with each sitter, discussing how they would be photographed; from the look of the clothes, hair and make-up, to the lighting and posture, to the individual, often very personal, ideas they wished to portray within the finished works.
Curator Greg Hobson said: “Neeta’s practice is consistent in its creativity and we have been especially excited to see how she has drawn inspiration from our collection for this engaging new work.”
Neeta explained that while offering something obviously new and different from previous works, Flora displays a clear progression of ideas: “Elements of the real world appear unreal and vice versa, and viewers are transported into an imaginary, fantasy realm.”
Neeta Madahar was born in London in 1966. In 2000 she was awarded a full graduate scholarship to study a three year Master of Fine Art degree at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts and Tufts University in Boston, Massachusetts. She came to prominence in the photography world in 2004 when Sustenance was selected by Martin Parr for the Recontres d’Arles Photography Festival in Arles, France.
She was awarded the Bradford Fellowship in 2008, a biennial award given to mid-career photographers showing exceptional achievement, which began as a partnership between Bradford College and the National Media Museum (formerly National Museum of Photography, Film & Television) in 1984 – with the University of Bradford joining in 1990.
The artists work with photography students from both educational institutions over the course of a year and the Fellowship culminates with an exhibition at the National Media Museum.
On 15 October Neeta will be a guest panellist at Mediafest, the Museum’s annual industry conference, which this year is looking at women in the media.
She is represented by Purdy Hicks Gallery in London, Howard Yezerski Gallery in Boston and Julie Saul Gallery in New York.
Drawings that Move: The Art of Joanna Quinn
Gallery Two
National Media Museum, Bradford
16 October 2009 – 21 February 2010
Free entry to exhibitions
Information: 0870 70 10 200
www.nationalmediamuseum.org.uk
From 16 October, 2009, to 21 February, 2010, a free exhibition at the National Media Museum in Bradford is celebrating the career of one of Britain’s foremost independent animators, whose films and commercial work have won her renown and acclaim around the world.
Over the past 25 years Joanna Quinn’s love for drawing and movement has been the driving force behind a beautifully distinctive body of animation – all hand drawn on paper and cells. It includes her signature character; Welsh housewife, Beryl; an Oscar-nominated and BAFTA and Emmy-winning film based on Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales; and the Charmin Bears, whose adverts for toilet paper are recognised all over the globe.
The first-ever gallery retrospective of Joanna’s work is being created at the National Media Museum in Bradford. Audiences will be taken on a journey starting with the artist’s early drawings and animations to some of her very latest, gaining an insight into Joanna’s and her producer/writer partner Les Mills’ witty take on life, alongside the creative and business processes involved in running a successful animation studio.
