Outdoor exhibitions
Photo|Frome is delighted to present yet another first – outdoor exhibitions. These are imagined and curated by T House, a travelling collective of photographic exhibition curators from Milan, Italy. The group consists of Hugo Weber, Alex Zoboli and Angelo Leonardo, joined by Frome photographer Tim Gander.
The work you see here presents one image from each of four projects by T House’s members and Tim Gander. Many more images will be on display on the Saxonvale hoardings on Garsdale in Frome (BA11 1RX). We’re delighted that Frome Library, led by Liz MacNeil-Stone, and Somerset Council have agreed to allow their building to be used as the site for one installation.
Each of these projects documents people and places on the margins of what the majority of people accept as ‘normal’ within Western society. And each of the four projects uses a different approach to reveal how their subjects live on the margins of ‘normal’ society and the impact such societies have on both the built and natural environment. Taken together, they also prompt us to think about our own positions in the world as individuals and how we shape and are shaped by where we live. It is an exchange which we cannot break, each constantly informing the other.
Frome Library | Justice Lane, Frome BA11 1BE
Saxonvale Hoardings | Garsdale, Frome BA11 4RX
All exhibitions are outdoors and of course FREE to visit.
HUGO WEBER
Monika des Granats
Hugo Weber’s ‘Monika des Gravats’ chronicles the daily life of a transgender painter who fled to France from the communist Czech Republic to escape persecution for her anarchist politics and gender identity. Monika lives an existence which questions our relationship with consumption, relying as she does on recycled materials for shelter and recovered food for sustenance.
ANGELO LEONARDO
Le Monde Ou Rien
Angelo Leonardo’s ‘Le Monde Ou Rien’ focuses on the lives of young people drawn together from across the globe by common disadvantages (unstable family life, poverty, lack of opportunity). The margins they live on are both mental and physical as they seek their own identities amongst the concrete suburbs of Milan. Each neighbourhood develops its own ‘tribe’ identified by shared experience, fashion styles, musical tastes and rituals, coalescing into an existence which sits outside the standard rules of society.
ALEX ZOBOLI
In Limine
‘In Limine’ by Alex Zoboli explores various themes such as conquest, returning home,struggle, and how cities can be transformed into spaces for meaningful experiences. The heart of the city’s story lies in the lives and experiences of its residents, who in turn define its shape and distinct character. In sharing their memories and personal narratives through Alex’s photography, he is able to return agency to the participants while illustrating the reality of living in a modern Italian city.
TIM GANDER
What Happened Here
Tim Gander’s ‘What Happened Here’ covers the life of Saxonvale in Frome between 2017 – 2019 before the site was acquired and subsequently shut off by Mendip District Council (now Somerset Council). Using expired analogue film, ‘What Happened Here’ illustrates the unseen life of a brownfield site left derelict for an extended period of time. This project reveals a picture of environmental harm, wasted resources as well as an impression of the lives of the homeless people and travellers who temporarily made it their home and community.