Neon colour and geometric shapes light up the work of photographer Jessica Eaton (b.1977) in her debut London exhibition, Ad Infinitum, on display at The Hospital Club Gallery in collaboration with Print Sales at The Photographers’ Gallery from 24 January to 8 February. Comprising new works from her acclaimed series Cubes for Albers and LeWitt (cfall), which began in 2010 and has been recognised by Hyères, Photography Jury Grand Prize, 2012 and the Magenta Foundation Bright Spark Award for photographers, this show captures how Eaton’s practice interrogates and then deconstructs the making of photography.
In her pivotal cfaal series, Eaton uses analogue techniques such as the additive system of colour, by photographing a series of wooden cubes painted various shades of white, grey and black against a monochrome background. Filtering and exposing these cubes “in camera”, these shapes then suddenly morph into technicolour graphic images, which are strikingly bright and layered with boggling optical effects.
Aiming to challenge classical definitions of film-based photography, Eaton reveals the illusions built into the medium of photography whilst drawing attention to the complexity and limitations of the viewer’s perception, which automatically fabricates 3D made-up worlds from the two-dimensional canvases. From Russian doll style boxes to kaleidoscopic patterns, textured weaves of colour to refracted cubes of light, Eaton constantly beckons in the viewer to trick and test their eyes on her vibrant and playful shots.
In addition to the display in the Hospital Club Gallery, The Photographers’ Gallery also presents Eaton’s cfaal 312 as part of its Touchstone programme: a quarterly show of a single photograph intended to encourage viewers to spend an extended amount of time with a work, engaging with and responding to it through writing or drawing. The exhibition also supports Art for Care, a project that aids hospitals around the UK including The Royal Free London, The Chelsea and Westminster and Great Ormond Street to provide artwork and art kits to children patients.
Jessica Eaton: Ad Infinitum, 24 January- 8 February 2014, The Hospital Club Gallery http://www.thehospitalclub.com/, 24 Endell Street, London, WC2H 9HQ.
Credits
1. Jessica Eaton, Cubes for Albers & LeWitt #078, 2010.