Output details

Futureland Now - A photographic exhibition and book

This research was supported by Arts Council England, to revisit an important photography exhibition from 1989, Futureland by John Kippin and Chris Wainwright, with both artists developing new works which reposition the subject area explored in the original exhibition, held at the Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne.

Much of the rhetoric framing the exhibition links the aesthetic imperatives of the work with earlier artists such as John Martin in their exploration of the industrial and cultural sublime. The project contains key (reworked) images from the original exhibition together with relevant developmental material made by both artists in the interim period together with new works. Kippin presented many reworked pieces as well as 13 new photographic works (2008-2012) and a new HD video projection ‘Ark’.

The original Futureland exhibition set out to engage with and to reflect key issues and concerns current within the contemporary Britain of the 1980s. The use of large-scale colour canvasses together with the use of texts provided a challenging and innovative new format which contributed to a re-evaluation of the aesthetics of contemporary fine art photography. The impact of this development and the accessibility of the medium ensured that the exhibition engaged a broad public audience and was influential in a broad historical context.

An accompanying book, Futureland Now, was published by University of Plymouth Press (2012) with texts by Liz Wells (also Editor), Mike Crang, John Kippin, Chris Wainwright and Julie Milne (Curator), ISBN: 978-1-84102-323-6.