Peckham 24: Martin Seeds at Seen Fifteen

17.05.2019

Metro is pleased to have supported Seen Fifteen and photographer and previous Metro Mentorship Winner, Martin Seeds, for the presentation of his solo exhibition ‘VIOLENCE RELIGION INJUSTICE DEATH’.

The northern Irish artist Martin Seeds grew up in Belfast at the height of the civil conflict, The Troubles, in the 1970s and 1980s. Through his practice, he engages with the conflicting experiences of Northern Irish identity, politics and culture.

The exhibition displays new works from the series Disagreements, part of a long-term project made in the grounds of the Stormont Estate, home of the Northern Ireland Assembly. The issue of dysfunction at Stormont had rarely been covered in the British media until the recent death of journalist Lyra McKee.  Seeds’ Disagreements works – which fuse positive and negative images of the same subject – are an allegorical response to the fragility and vulnerability of Northern Ireland politics.

The centrepiece of the exhibition is a large scale installation of Seeds’ latest body of work, Masks – comprised of over 190 unique silver gelatin contact prints of balaclavas, which he hand-printed himself in the darkroom with the screen of an iPad.  This new body of work marks a departure in the artist’s practice driven by the fact that Northern Ireland and the “Irish Question” has been thrust into the centre of the political discourse surrounding the Brexit negotiations.  The Masks are an overt symbol of terrorism and an expression of the artist’s darkest fears that Brexit could lead to a return to the sectarian violence that was the backdrop to his early life.

Metro Imaging worked closely with Martin to produce all the new work from the series Disagreements on Fine Art Giclée paper, that was then mounted and framed by our experts at the Finishing department.

 

Exhibition Details:

Open until 1st June 2019

Seen Fifteen Gallery, Unit B1:1, Bussey Building, 133 Rye Ln

Friday to Sunday 12-6pm
And by appointment

The exhibition is also part of PECKHAM 24:

Friday 17th May, Late Opening 6-9pm
Saturday 18th May, 3-4pm. In Conversation: Martin Seeds and Sarah Allen

 

IMAGES:

1. Martin Seeds, From the series Masks. Unique silver gelatin print (2019)

2. Installation View, Martin Seeds, Violence Religion Injustice Death. Photograph courtesy of Deniz Guzel, Guzel Photography (2019)

3. Martin Seeds, From the series Disagreements, Stormont Estate, Belfast (2018)