Now & Then will be Dick Jewell’s most significant solo exhibition in recent years, bringing together a wide range of works produced over a 30-year period. Working across film, photography and photo-collage, Jewell has inhabited both gallery and commercial contexts, exhibiting his work internationally at institutions including the Stedelijk Museum (Amsterdam) and Serpentine Gallery (London). He has also produced music videos and promos for musicians including Neneh Cherry and Massive Attack.
As the title suggests, Now & Then chronicles progression: both from a technological perspective through the shifting media across Jewell’s work, and also in regards to people, as demonstrated by Jewell re-visiting his seminal 1989 film Headcases (shot on Super 8) whereby he has repeated the same set of questions to the same subjects 30 years on.
Other key works that will be on display include The Box, a huge bank of 200 framed photographs that Jewell took from four TVs over seven days in 1980; Four Thousand Threads, which presents a ‘Chinese Whispers’ version of a Google image search; and an audience participatory work entitled War & Peace, in which visitors are encouraged to take selfies against a backdrop and disseminate them online.
In a world bombarding us with millions of images, Now & Then is just presenting a few thousand.
Installation view. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Julian Lister.Installation view. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Julian Lister.4000 Threads, 2015. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Julian Lister.War & Peace, 2019. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Julian Lister.The Box, 1980 (detail). Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Julian Lister.Installation view. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Julian Lister.Head2Head, 2019. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Julian Lister.The Box, 1980. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Julian Lister.Installation view. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Julian Lister.Installation view. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Julian Lister.Installation view. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Julian Lister.Installation view. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Julian Lister.Found Photos, 1978-1980. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Julian Lister.Katherine Griffiths 1973-….Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Julian Lister.Installation view. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Julian Lister.Dermot & Natasha, 2005. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Julian Lister.The Box, 1980. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Julian Lister.War & Peace, 2019 (detail). Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Julian Lister.War & Peace, 2019 (detail). Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Julian Lister.The Box, 1980 (detail). Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Julian Lister.The Box, 1980 (detail). Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Julian Lister.Katherine Griffiths 1973-….Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Julian Lister.Dermot & Natasha, 2005. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Julian Lister.
Installation view. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Julian Lister.Installation view. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Julian Lister.4000 Threads, 2015. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Julian Lister.War & Peace, 2019. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Julian Lister.The Box, 1980 (detail). Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Julian Lister.Installation view. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Julian Lister.Head2Head, 2019. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Julian Lister.The Box, 1980. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Julian Lister.Installation view. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Julian Lister.Installation view. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Julian Lister.Installation view. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Julian Lister.Installation view. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Julian Lister.Found Photos, 1978-1980. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Julian Lister.Katherine Griffiths 1973-….Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Julian Lister.Installation view. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Julian Lister.Dermot & Natasha, 2005. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Julian Lister.The Box, 1980. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Julian Lister.War & Peace, 2019 (detail). Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Julian Lister.War & Peace, 2019 (detail). Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Julian Lister.The Box, 1980 (detail). Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Julian Lister.The Box, 1980 (detail). Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Julian Lister.Katherine Griffiths 1973-….Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Julian Lister.Dermot & Natasha, 2005. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Julian Lister.
