Trish Morrissey: Front

Front brings together three new artworks exploring the beach, family photography and motherhood. This solo show by Trish Morrissey, comprising photographs, video and a sound installation, receives its international premiere at Impressions Gallery.

Front, from which the exhibition takes its name, is a series of large scale colour photographs of very different groups of families and friends at various beaches around Britain and Australia.  At first glance they appear to be commonplace holiday snaps from any family album, but on closer inspection, one figure re-appears in every image: that of Morrissey herself in different guises. Working in collaboration with the groups she encounters, Morrissey usurps the mother figure, after whom each image is titled, to explore group identity and the conventions of family photography.

Ideas of Refinement, Principles of Taste
is an enigmatic video work made on location in Australia and shows Morrissey picnicking in a grassy setting, apparently idyllic, but disturbingly fly-infested. The title comes from the obituary of Georgiana McCrae, the wife of a nineteenth century settler, who overcame profound hardships to become the ‘founding mother’ of Melbourne’s cultural community.

There’s You is a sound installation inspired by memories of family holidays on the west coast of Ireland, where Morrissey’s family stayed for the same two weeks in July for twenty years. Upon entering a specially made structure, reminiscent of a life-size beach hut or fisherman’s hut, visitors are immersed in an atmospheric soundtrack of overlapping reminiscences prompted by holiday photos. In this way, the artist invites us to conjure up our own mental images, and explores how the medium of sound can be associated with the photographic image.

An Impressions Gallery Touring Exhibition curated by Anne McNeill and Pippa Oldfield.

Trish Morrissey: Front — Impressions Gallery
Racheal Hobson, September 2nd 2007 from Front © Trish Morrissey
Trish Morrissey: Front — Impressions Gallery
Hayley Coles, June 17th, 2006 from Front, 2005-2007 © Trish Morrissey
Trish Morrissey: Front — Impressions Gallery
Chloe Gwynne, May 30th, 2005 from Front © Trish Morrissey
Trish Morrissey: Front — Impressions Gallery
Still from Ideas of Refinement, Principles of Taste © Trish Morrissey

Artist

  • Trish Morrissey: Front — Impressions Gallery

    Trish Morrissey

    Trish Morrissey (born Ireland 1967) is a London based artist working with photography, film and video, and related media. Morrissey has exhibited internationally with solo shows at Pumphouse Gallery, London; Gallery of Photography, Dublin; Yossi Milo Gallery, New York; and Elaine Levy Projects, Bruxelles. Forthcoming exhibitions include a major solo show at Centre for Contemporary Photography, Melbourne. Her work is part of the permanent collection of the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, Texas; the Victoria and Albert Museum, London; the National Media Museum, Bradford, and the Wilson Centre for Photography, London. (Photo credit: Pete M Boyd)

Trish Morrissey: Front — Impressions Gallery

What our visitors say...

“Very interesting re-framing of personal experiences. Makes me feel anonymous.”

“Beautiful images, really liked the concept. Also loved listening to the holiday memories. Couldn’t bear watching the flies…”

 “I was wondering what Trish felt as she ‘posed’ as another person in another context.”

 “A quirky and beautiful photographic reaction to womanhood & motherhood.”

Trish Morrissey: Front

This 48 page publication features colour reproductions of all 12 photographs from the series Front. Edited and fictional short story by co-curator Anne McNeill, essay by co-curator Pippa Oldfield.
Published by Impressions Gallery and available to buy from our Bookshop for £10

Buy now
Front by Trish Morrissey

Funders and supporters

Trish Morrissey: Front — Impressions Gallery
Trish Morrissey: Front — Impressions Gallery