CORY REYNOLDS | DATE 2/1/2017

Mark Neville in conversation with Adam Bell

Thursday, February 16, from 7-9PM, renowned photographer Mark Neville will appear in conversation with Adam Bell, discussing Neville's first major monograph, Fancy Pictures, just out from Steidl.

In order to highlight social issues ranging from PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) among veterans to toxic waste disposal, Neville generally disseminates his photo books free of charge, to the communities he photographs, or to authorities and government policy makers, making Fancy Pictures Neville's first commercially available book.

Neville works at the intersection of art and documentary, investigating the social function of photography. He makes lens-based works which have been realized and disseminated in a large array of contexts, as both still and moving image pieces, slideshows, films, and giveaway books. His work has consistently looked to subvert the traditional role of social documentary practice, seeking to find new ways to empower the position of its subject over that of the author. Often working with closely knit communities, in a collaborative process intended to be of direct, practical benefit to the subject, his photographic projects to date have frequently made the towns he portrays the primary audience for the work. Points of reference for his practice might include the ideas of Henri Lefebvre, or the art works of Martha Rosler, John Berger, or Hans Haacke.

This event is free and open to the public but space is limited so please RSVP here.

In 1966, MARK NEVILLE studied at Goldsmiths, London, and the Rijksakademie, Amsterdam. In 2013 his project “Deeds Not Words” was shown at The Photographers’ Gallery London, and his work in Helmand as an official war artist was shown at the Imperial War Museum London in 2014. Neville’s photographs are held in many public and private collections, including the Arts Council of England, Kunstmuseum Bern, the National Galleries of Scotland, the Imperial War Museum, the Flemish Community, and Scottish Parliament. He has exhibited at Modern Art Oxford; Haus der Kunst, Munich; Jeu de Paume, Paris; and Tate Britain.

Neville’s forthcoming exhibition and book project Child’s Play, opening at the Foundling Museum in February 2017, features new and previous images of children at play, and seeks to focus attention on attitudes how the conditions for children in the UK can be improved, urging for the re-introduction of a new national play policy.

ADAM BELL is a photographer, writer and educator. His work has been widely exhibited, and his essays and reviews have appeared in numerous publications, including Afterimage, The Art Book Review, The Photobook Review, The Brooklyn Rail, fototazo, Foam Magazine, Lay Flat, photo-eye and Paper Journal. His books include Vision Anew: The Lens and Screen Arts and The Education of a Photographer. He is currently on staff and faculty at the MFA Photography, Video and Related Media Department at the School of Visual Arts.

Thursday, February 16, 2017
7 - 9PM
Big Room 120 @ SVA MFA Photography, Video and Related Media
214 East 21st Street New York, NY, 10010