ZEITGEIST | ART PREVIEW
Ffotogallery, Penarth
Until Sat 31 Mar
Over 40 years, Ffotogallery have established themselves as the leading agency for photography in Wales. The organisation is celebrating this milestone with a special exhibition in response to Diffusion 2017’s open call. Showcasing throughout March, Zeitgeist will commentate, criticise, and challenge the current social climate, one constantly exposed to issues such as Brexit, Donald Trump, poverty, climate change and attitudes towards race and immigration.
The exhibition will feature work by 10 emerging artists from five continents, including 2017’s Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize winner, Cesar Dezfuli. His award-winning collection Passengers took audiences by storm, compiling striking portraits of migrants who were rescued from a rubber boat drifting in the Mediterranean Sea. This collection of striking images polarises debates surrounding the recent migration crisis, adding a sense of compassion and humanity that is often left absent from intense sociopolitical dialogue.
Another artist whose work is being displayed is Marta Mak, whose Value collection challenges audiences to consider how society’s views on the value of disposable everyday objects such as packaging and recycling can change. Is it possible that everyone can become alchemists in transforming waste into a useful social resource? How much power do we have as a species in influencing the environment around us?
Also on display will be Russian photographer Alexander Anufriev’s 2017 collection, Russia Close-Up, which examines the political climate of the Motherland 100 years after the Russian Revolution that ultimately saw the rise of the Soviet Union. Inspired by the works of Aaron Siskind, Ralph Gibson, and Martin Parr, the collection visualises trends and events throughout Russian history that Alexander feels are most important to document. Russia Close-Up analyses the volatile and controversial politics in the country and how state propaganda influences extremist nationalist beliefs – an observation that certainly mirrors those of the rising prominence of right and left-wing extremism in 2017/18.
A moving and insightful showcase of important and topical image art, celebrate the 40-year history of Ffotogallery by commemorating the very best artists to look out for in the future.
Admission: free. Info: 029 2034 1667 / www.ffotogallery.org
words ROSS DAWSON
photos CESAR DEZFULI (top) and JAMES A HUDSON (bottom)