Futureland Now

Reflections on the post-industrial landscape

What role can contemporary photographic practices play in reflecting the issues of our time? FUTURELAND NOW is an exhibition of the photography of John Kippin and Chris Wainwright which will address key issues in our current society whilst reflecting on the unresolved issues of the past. The world recession and banking crisis has created a loss of job stability with the possibility of potentially seismic change. The large scale photographic landscapes of Kippin and Wainwright invoke the language of the sublime to explore this postmodern period of uncertainty and change.
FUTURELAND NOW contains some of the finest photographic artwork to have been shown in Newcastle this year. Not only can one be mesmerized by the sublime aesthetics of the photographs, but also captivated by the serious undertone addressing the political and economic uncertainty of the times.

Created by the artists John Kippin and Chris Wainwright, the exhibition is showing at the Laing Art Gallery until the 20th January 2013.

On the 17th of November, Chris Wainwright will be holding a conference at the Laing Art Gallery to which the general public is invited as well. He told The Courier about the ideas behind the exhibition:

“John Kippin and I first made Futureland in 1989, also shown at the Laing Art Gallery. It was an exhibition that we both felt captured the mood of the Thatcherite policies of the time and the effects they were having on the North East. It also was timed to coincide with the 150 anniversary of the birth of photography. We were looking for new ways to use photography and also to represent the North East. FUTURELAND NOW takes similar themes and we have returned to make images that put the current issues facing the region into a wider national and international context. We both are still looking to use photography in an unconventional way.

Laing Art Gallery
New Bridge Street
Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, NE1 8AG

15 September until 20 January 2013