PM Gallery Ealing, London Architecture Exhibition, News, Design

PM Gallery Exhibition Ealing, London

Upcoming Architecture Event at the PM Gallery, England, UK

10 Jan 2011

The Witching Hour Exhibition

Darkness and the Architectural Uncanny Intimidating Buildings and Art of Darkness at PM Gallery & House

21 Jan – 12 Mar 2011

A NEW EXHIBITION OF WORK BY RICHARD BILLINGHAM, GRAHAM CHORLTON, TOBY DE SILVA, RAVI DEEPRES, CHRIS KEENAN, IDRIS KHAN, SALLY PAYEN, GED QUINN, DAVID ROWAN AND GEORGE SHAW

A new exhibition exploring the power of buildings to unsettle or intimidate opens in January at PM Gallery, the extension to architect Sir John Soane’s home, Pitzhanger Manor in Ealing, west London.

The exhibition takes inspiration from a variety of buildings, architectural forms and unusual and everyday locations, presenting photography, painting and film of sites as varied as a shadowy cemetery, looming industrial gasholders, underground tunnels, deserted homes after a hurricane, melancholy housing estates and the London streets where Jack the Ripper murdered his victims. The Witching Hour: Darkness and the Architectural Uncanny runs from 21 January – 12 March 2011.

Untitled from the series Black Country Jack (Martha Turner) Pacha Kuti (RR1) by Richard Billingham by Toby de Silva by David Rowan The exhibition explores how buildings can carry the weight of their own histories, sometimes becoming saddled with an affecting atmosphere due to events which have taken place within or around them. It peers into the disconcerting darkness that we can encounter daily, whether in the unnerving quality of architectural at night-time, in the darkened, neglected corners of towns, or beneath the city itself. The collected works are imbued with a sense of ‘the witching hour’, a time of night when peculiar things can occur.

David Rowan’s photography investigates an abandoned newspaper factory and scarcely seen underground tunnels, charged with cinematic suspense, while Richard Billingham’s images from the series ‘Black Country’ include a view of a cemetery and its carved headstones at night.

TWH7 – David Rowan – Pacha Kuti (RR1) 2006, C-type photographic print, 87 x 121 cm (framed) Artist’s proof

Courtesy the artist

Toby de Silva presents images from ‘Jack’, a series of urban street scenes, each a location of one of the Jack the Ripper murders in Whitechapel, east London, while Graham Chorlton’s paintings depict places largely unknown yet strangely familiar, such as a streetlamp by night or a continental modernist hotel beneath a dark sky.

TWH4 – Toby de Silva – Jack (Martha Turner) 2006, Giclee print on Hahnemuhle pearl paper 25.4 x 30.5 cm (image size), 40.6 x 50.8 cm (framed)

Courtesy the artist

Ravi Deepres’ film (made in association with Michael Baig-Clifford) was shot in HD, but employs the 500-year old techniques of the camera obscura. By following figures around a dark and beautiful smoke-filled house, the work examines the idea that classical paintings often highlight a selected moment from a larger story, exploring the actions which take place before that chosen point.

Chris Keenan presents works from ‘9th Ward Scars’, a series of photographic prints focusing on the destruction and abandonment of architecture, specifically from the impact of Hurricane Katrina on the houses of the 9th district in New Orleans. Idris Khan presents ghostly, layered images of industrial gasholders, while Sally Payen’s paintings explore the relationship between the built environment and our subconscious.

Sir John Soane

Pitzhanger Manor

photo from architects

London Architect

London Buildings

Sir John Soane’s House

PM Gallery Ealing – Visitor Information

The Witching Hour: Darkness and the Architectural Uncanny

PM Gallery & Pitzhanger Manor, Walpole Park, Mattock Lane, Ealing, London W5 5EQ

Exhibition Dates: 21 January – 12 March 2011
Admission is free to all visitors
Opening Times: Tue-Fri 1-5pm; Sat 11am-5pm; Closed Sun & Mon
Further visitor information www.ealing.gov.uk/pmgalleryandhouse 020 8567 1227
Travel: Trains & tube to Ealing Broadway. Buses 207, 65 & 83

The Witching Hour: Darkness and the Architectural Uncanny is the second part of an exhibition originally devised by Matthew Collings and Matt Price at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery’s Waterhall in November 2010 as part of Art of Ideas, an Arts Council England initiative led by Arts & Business to promote contemporary art from the West Midlands and encourage market growth.

Pitzhanger Manor is the ‘dream house’ designed by Soane as a place to entertain his friends and display his collection of art and antiquities. Sitting in Walpole Park, central Ealing, Pitzhanger Manor and PM Gallery are owned and run by Ealing Council, which is planning a major development project that will see further rooms restored and improved gallery, visitor and education facilities.

Location:Walpole Park ‘