Seen Fifteen and South Kiosk are pleased to present a collaborative curatorial project bringing together the work of artists Ciarán Óg Arnold and Ryan L. Moule. Dark Adaptation is an exhibition in two parts that will be staged across two venues as part of Peckham 24. Taking its title from the process by which our eyes adjust from sunlight to darkness, the exhibition will explore darkness in both subject and experience.
Ciarán Óg Arnold is an Irish photographer who makes work at night. In images taken over the course of several years in recession-hit Ireland, he depicts a shadowy cinematic world of dark alleyways, bars and nightclubs. In 2015 Arnold won the Mack First Book Award with, I went to the worst of bars hoping to get killed, but all I could do was to get drunk again. For this exhibition the artist will present a selection of works from the book, alongside recent work made in 2016. Blurring the lines between fact and fiction, a bespoke nocturnal narrative has been created for Dark Adaptation where the viewer is invited to take centre-stage as the protagonist.
Ryan L. Moule’s series Divisible Remainder considers the collapse of the photographic medium. In an age dominated by digital systems that are seemingly able to guarantee permanence, Moule challenges this facility by reinstating the importance of disappearance and forgetting. His is a collection of light damaged and unfixed analogue photographs that slowly erode as the images are reclaimed by silver halide. As a consequence of his intentional omission of the final stage of the printing process, Moule forces the viewer into a losing battle against light and time. The original exposure progressively decays, eventually existing only as memory devoid of any visible trace.
Two parts of Dark Adaptation will open in successive weeks in Peckham. Part 1 will open in the Seen Fifteen and South Kiosk gallery space in the Bussey Building on Wednesday 11th May. Part 2 will be an immersive installation in Copeland Gallery for Peckham 24, from Friday 20th to Saturday 21st May.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Ciarán Óg Arnold is Seen Fifteen’s selected artist for Dark Adaptation. Arnold is an Irish photographer who studied at the University of Ulster (MFA Photography, 2012). His work was included in ‘An Irish View’ at Les Rencontres d’Arles in 2009, and has featured in Source magazine and The Guardian. As winner of the 2015 First Book Award, I went to the worst of bars hoping to get killed, was published by MACK and the work exhibited at Media Space, London. Arnold is also one of seven winners of the Solas Ireland Awards 2015 with accompanying exhibitions in The Gallery of Photography, Dublin (2015) and Fotohof, Salzburg (2016).
Ryan L. Moule lives and works in Swansea. He trained at Swansea College of Art and Royal College of Art London (MA). Divisible Remainder was the Jane Phillips Award Exhibition 2015; Mission Gallery’s Swansea International Festival’s Exhibition 2015 and coincided with Ffotogallery’s Diffusion International Photography Festival in October 2015.
ABOUT PECKHAM 24
Peckham 24 is a new festival of contemporary photography and video art taking place for 24 hours during Photo London week in May 2016. The festival brings together a community of local Peckham artists and art spaces, as well as a number of invited guests from the UK and Europe.
Friday 20th May at 6pm to Saturday 21st May in various venues.
Wednesday 11th May, 6pm to 9pm
Thursday to Sunday, 11am to 6pm
And by appointment