Clarisse d’Arcimoles @ The Photographers' Gallery, London

Clarisse d’Arcimoles: A Forgotten Tale
The Photographers' Gallery, London
19 August - 24 September 2016

A Forgotten Tale is presented as an immersive installation conceived for Print Sales Gallery. Using photography, set design and painting, Clarisse d’Arcimoles meticulously creates a life size, three-dimensional, black and white model of a room in a Spitalfields home as documented in a 1902 photograph.

Found in London’s Bishopsgate Institute archive, the photograph depicts a poverty stricken family of a mother and her six children in a common lodging house, located in what was once known as one of the most notorious slums in London. The image is a record of destitution, labour and hardship but also one of working pride and familial tenderness.

With great care and attention d’Arcimoles reconstructs the small and subtle marks which allude to the lives and experiences shared in the space. Often lost in the flat composition of an image, these details help transport visitors back to the Victorian East End and invite them to contemplate the circumstances and long forgotten stories of the picture’s subjects.

Also included in the exhibition are prints from d’Arcimoles’ celebrated series Un-possible Retour (2009) in which old childhood photos from the artist’s family album are presented alongside a contemporary restaging  of each original image. Prices start from £600 + VAT for framed works. A Forgotten Tale is supported by Arts Council England.

The Photographers' Gallery
16 - 18 Ramillies St, London W1F 7LW
http://thephotographersgallery.org.uk