About The Exhibition
Belfast Exposed is delighted to present the second Jerwood / Photoworks Awards exhibition. Following our involvement as a touring partner for the first JPA exhibition, we were pleased to be invited to take part in the prestigious programme again in 2017-2018. Works presented by the awardees Alejandra Carles-Tolra, Sam Laughlin and Lua Ribeira explore themes such as belonging, fragility of the natural world and death.
Alejandra Carles-Tolra is interested in the relationship between individual and group identity and how one identity influences the other. In Where We Belong she explores themes of belonging, femininity and escapism by following a group of Jane Austen devotees.
Sam Laughlin’s series A Certain Movement is a meditation on the state of the natural world and our place within it. His work focuses on patterns of animal behaviour and intricate natural processes occurring all around us. Close observations of various species and the signs suggesting their presence in the landscape, allow us to enter intimate and fragile spaces which are increasingly marginalised by human activities.
Lua Ribeira’s constructed series Subida al Cielo (heavenly ascent) is a personal visualisation, built on the fear of dying. Motivated by escape from reality and the longing for mythological significance in contemporary life, the work is an allegorical exploration of the inevitable decay of the human body, in relation to classical mythology and religious symbols of mortality.
Following a national call for entries, the three Awardees were selected from over 350 artists by Celia Davies - Director of Photoworks, Sarah Williams - Head of Programme at Jerwood Visual Arts, Anna Fox - photographer, Ori Gersht - photographer and Mark Durden - writer and photographer.
With a bursary of £5,000 each and access to a significant production fund to make new work, the artists underwent a year of developmental support from specialist mentors such as Mitch Epstein, Michael Mack and Maureen Paley plus the teams at Photoworks and Jerwood Charitable Foundation. The artists were also involved in regular conversations and in-depth critique sessions with representatives from each of the partner venues: Photoworks, Jerwood Charitable Foundation, Impressions Gallery and Belfast Exposed Photography Gallery.
Hannah Watson, Curator & Exhibitions Manager, states, “Belfast Exposed is delighted to have been involved in the Award programme, as part of our long-term commitment to mentor and support early career photographers.”
The call for entries for the third Jerwood/Photoworks Awards is open now until 5 November 2018 at 5pm, for full details please visit photoworks.org.uk
The Artists
Alejandra Carles-Tolra Sam Laughlin Lua RibeiraAlejandra Carles-Tolra (b.1988, Spain) received a BA in Sociology from the University of Barcelona and a Photography MFA from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design. Alejandra’s work has been published and exhibited internationally, most recently at Vice, The Huffington Post, Gup Magazine, World Photography Organization, The Independent, Circulation(s) Festival in Paris, Getty Images Gallery in London and Wuhan Art Museum in China. She has taught photography at The University of New Hampshire and Massachusetts College of Art and Design, among other institutions. Alejandra currently works with non-profit organisations as an art workshop facilitator using art and education to empower vulnerable communities.
alejandractr.com
Sam Laughlin (b.1990, U.K.) studied Documentary Photography at the University of South Wales, Newport. He has exhibited widely both in the UK and internationally, including at the Regency Town House for Brighton Photo Fringe 2016 where he was awarded the Danny Wilson Memorial Award. He works mainly on artistic commissions, most recently for John Hansard Gallery, Southampton.
samlaughlin.co.uk
Lua Ribeira (b. 1986, Galicia, Spain) studied Sciences of Information at University of Vigo and Graphic Design at Bau, Escola Superior de Disseny, Barcelona. She graduated in Documentary Photography from the University of South Wales, Newport in 2016. Lua’s work has been awarded the Firecracker Grant 2015, and shortlisted for the 2016 Bar Tur Photobook Award. Lua has participated in The Independent Air Residency, Denmark 2015 and group exhibitions in the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy and Germany.Her work was selected by Susan Meiselas for Raw View Maga-zine’s Women looking at Women, and features in Firecrackers, Female Photographers Now, published by Thames & Hudson in 2017. Her work has been showcased by Photo España 2014, British Journal of Photography’s Ones to Watch 2017, Ian Parry Scholarship 2016, Gazebook Photobook festival, and A Fine Beginning: Contemporary Welsh Photography. Her first solo show and accompanying publication Noises in the Blood launched at Fishbar Gallery, London in 2017.
luaribeira.com
Events
Thursday 1 November | 6-9pm | Belfast Exposed
Free AdmissionFriday 2 November | 1:00pm | Belfast Exposed
Free AdmissionSaturday 17 November | 11:30am-4pm | Belfast Exposed
£3 per appointmentThursday 6 December | 6-9pm (Curators Tour at 7pm) | Belfast Exposed
Free AdmissionAcknowledgements
Jerwood/Photoworks Award at Belfast Exposed is generously supported by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and Belfast City Council. The Jerwood/Photoworks Awards are a collaboration between Jerwood Charitable Foundation and Photoworks, supported by official print partner Spectrum Photographic.