Only the Sunny Hours
13th Jun 2018
Kodak Brownie 127 cameras – made between 1952 and 1963 – were used by millions of families to record outings and picnics on sunny days. The Brownie 127 is a simple camera with a fixed shutter speed, focus and depth of field, and no flash or tripod attachment. The film is loaded in a darkened room and wound on by hand.
Curator Cally Trench invited twenty artists to work with this sixty-year-old technology in Only the Sunny Hours. Some have chosen to explore aspects of the past. Others have recorded contemporary technology, poses and behaviour. The work in the exhibition includes sculpture, films and a sound piece, as well as black-and-white and colour photographs, some printed in the darkroom.
ARTISTS: Marco Calí, Alex Dewart, Peter Driver, Barbara Dyrschka, Linda Francis, Judy Goldhill, Jane Grisewood, Hepzibah Hill, Ingrid Jensen, Lydia Julien, Philip Lee, Sophie Loss, John McDowall, Steve Perfect / Jennifer Partridge, Roger Perkins, Ann Rapstoff, Guy Tarrant, Roxana Tohaneanu-Shields, Cally Trench, and Nick Trench.
The exhibition at Openhand Openspace, Reading, Wednesday 20, Thursday 21, and Friday 22 June: 3-7pm; Saturday 23 June: 12-6pm; and Sunday 24 June: 11am-5pm. On Saturday 23 June, there will be performances, short films, talks, discussions and readings by the artists, plus a Brownie 127 studio where you can be photographed, and an indoor picnic.
Image: Of time fermata, John McDowall, courtesy Cally Trench