Jane and Louise Wilson : The Toxic Camera

Jane and Louise Wilson,Maureen Paley

Maureen Paley presents a new exhibition The Toxic Camera by Jane and Louise Wilson presented across its two London spaces. The Wilson twins have been working together for over 30 years. From early on their work often examined liminal zones of exclusion, abandoned military sites and buildings. Working within an expanded field of photography, their work has dealt both directly and indirectly with the ways populations and governments impact the environments we live in. This exhibition will mark the 10-year anniversary of their film The Toxic Camera (2012).

The Toxic Camera (2012)
video for projection, mirror, 21 minutes

At Three Colts Lane, the film installation The Toxic Camera (2012) revisits the narrative of the Ukrainian filmmaker Vladimir Shevchenko’s Konvas Avtomat: the Russian 16mm camera he had used to document the clean-up operation in the immediate aftermath of the Chernobyl nuclear meltdown in 1986. One of the most significant ecological catastrophes humankind has ever seen, Chernobyl is also one the greatest nuclear disasters to date, followed years after by the explosion at the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan in 2011.

Alongside The Toxic Camera, Jane and Louise Wilson will present Konvas Avtomat, The Toxic Camera (2012), a bronze cast edition and replica of Shevchenko’s 16mm film camera and a series of collages entitled Imperial Measure that use the recurring motif of a yardstick placed within each of the images. These collages are based on archive images of the once thriving community that lived and worked within the Chernobyl exclusion zone.

At Studio M, works from their most recent photographic series continue their exploration of the fragile interaction between human and natural environments, from the ‘wedded rocks’ of Futamigaura, Japan to the lava stones in Jeju, South Korea.

Also on view at Studio M, Rochelle School, 7 Playground Gardens, London E2 7FA

Duration 29 April 2022 - 05 June 2022
Times Wednesday – Sunday, 11 am – 6 pm
Cost free
Venue Maureen Paley (Three Colts Lane)
Address 60 Three Colts Lane, London, E2 6GQ
Contact 4402077294112 / info@maureenpaley.com / www.maureenpaley.com

Tags