Unit 2 Gallery

LOCALE
Peter Bobby, Mika Sellens, Matt White

New and recent work in photography, video and sound 7 October – 11 November 2005

Private View: Thursday 6 October 2005 6-8pm

Settings that are at once familiar to us form the backdrop to the works in Locale. Peter Bobby’s photographs capture the idealized world of the showroom apartment, where the promise of style and perfection exist in environments seemingly untouched by and devoid of human presence.

A residential street by night is the more mundane setting for Matt White’s video, The Argument (2001/02), in which a series of events involving a number of characters slowly unfold. As we observe what initially appears to be the surreptitious filming of a dispute between a man and woman, the narrative begins to unravel in particular and unexpected ways. In Mika Sellens’ new work, Circular Walk 1 (2005), a recording of the artist walking a circular route in the east end of London is the starting point for her sound installation which utilises both the gallery and the immediate street surroundings.

In different ways, the artists in Locale explore the nature of consumerism, aspiration and illusion. However, their respective insights not only observe but are also, through their particular constructions, interwoven to these acts of scrutiny, providing the show with further narrative twists.

The exhibition is accompanied by an illustrated brochure featuring a newly commissioned essay by Paul Kilsby.

Artist Talk: Monday 10th October 2-4pm (The talk is free but booking is advised) London Metropolitan University, 41 Commercial Road, 1st Floor Lecture Theatre. Organised in collaboration with the Fine Art Department.

Peter Bobby was born in 1975 and teaches Photography at the University of Wales, Newport. Recent shows include: Inner Space, Focal Point Gallery, Southend-on-Sea; Reception, Ffotogallery, Cardiff, 2003; Carte Blanche, Nouvelle Gallerie, Grenoble, France, 2002; Interni, Plastica Gallery, Bologna, 2002.

Mika Sellens trained as an acoustic and electroacoustic composer. She collaborates regularly, and has worked extensively with dance and with physical and devised theatre. Recent works include: Beagle Travels into the Abyss, 2004; The Argument, with TheatreO, BITE 2003; And Between Two, with dance, The Place Theatre, and Laban Theatre, 2004.

Matt White was born in 1968 and lives and works in Bristol. Recent shows/screenings include: Staged, Focal Point Gallery, Essex; Axes Through Europe, Ludwigsburg, Germany; Golden Cow award for best film at GSTAADFILM, Gstaad, Switzerland, 2004; Afterlife, Chapter Arts, Cardiff, 2003; Disparations, UWIC, Cardiff, 2002.

Gallery opening hours: Tuesday - Friday 12-6pm and by appointment