Alison Jackson - Seeing is Deceiving    Apr 16 - May 23, 2008

Seeing is Deceiving

HAMILTONS Press Release
Contact: Christina Richardson

HAMILTONS is delighted to announce Alison Jackson’s first solo UK exhibition since 2003. A series of newly executed, unpublished paparazzi-style photographs of look-alikes posing as celebrities will be shown alongside images from her book ‘Confidential’ published by Taschen 2007. These images present the viewer with an intriguing puzzle, whilst Jackson further questions the authenticity of the ubiquitous fly-on-the-wall images of ‘celebrities’ that have infiltrated contemporary media.

“The phenomenon of celebrity, as we know it today, with its dazzling omnipresent stars, is inconceivable without photography. We live in the image. Thanks to photographs, still or moving, the faces of a Paris or a Britney, a Di or a Camilla, are seared into our minds; they are the brands, and we are the branded.” William Ewing, Director of Musée de l’Eysée, Lausanne.

New technology has made images more accessible than ever before. Images dominate our world, although we have not yet fully comprehended the impact of this invasion as the boundaries between fantasy and reality becomes increasingly blurred. In the last century film, television and photography bombarded us with images. Now we have the phone camera, Webcam and Internet, which have opened up a Pandora’s Box of voyeuristic fantasies and experiences. Anyone can become a film director, paparazzo, author, TV star or unveil to the world images of questionable authenticity. How do we quantify the truth of these images? The contemporary phenomenon of gossip magazines and websites filled with paparazzi snaps, Blogs, reality TV and YouTube entice us into a virtual world of questionable morality and authenticity. Photographs of airbrushed celebrities present unattainable perfection, whilst paparazzi shots of our idols caught in intimate or mundane situations, reveal every flaw and expose them as ‘real’, vulnerable people just like us. Tiny fragments of ‘reality’ are given authenticity. The photograph becomes more real than the real.

Celebrities are modern-day heroes and villains upon which we project our own fantasies. Relating to Beckham entirely through images we can make him into sex god, family man, gay icon, football hero or lad. Celebrities are the icons of contemporary folk religion; The Royal Family, Madonna, Posh and Becks, Paris, Elton, Jagger and Bush fascinate and intrigue. Contemporary portraits of celebrities and Royals correspond to the religious iconography of the past. We ‘believe’ these pictures portray the whole ‘truth’ about the subject: Marilyn Monroe’s legacy is as the naïve sex goddess whereas Britney Spears is portrayed and perceived as white trash.

Jackson’s work is about simulation: her images are not fakes; they momentarily substitute the ‘real’. These simulations examine the difference between ‘true’ and ‘false, ‘real’ and ‘imaginary’, rendering the ‘real’ subject redundant. The objective person pales into insignificance compared to the power of the subjective image. Jackson deliberately creates a temporary confusion with the use of look-alikes. We are convinced by the image that we see something real as opposed to a construction. The use of celebrity or look-alike becomes irrelevant to the viewer, since the photographs reflect a mental picture that already exists in the public imagination.

“The images highlight the difference between what we see and what we imagine. We are driven by our inherent voyeurism and our need to believe in simple truths to accept the image’s violent demands.” Alison Jackson.

Jackson studied Fine Art Sculpture at Chelsea College of Art, and Fine Art Photography at The Royal College of Art in London. Jackson has exhibited extensively both in the UK and internationally. Selected exhibitions include: Confidential at M+B Gallery, LA, USA (2007); Paris Photo, Paris, France (2007); All tomorrow’s pictures, ICA, London, UK (2007); Superstars. Von Warhol bis Madonna, Kunstforum, Vienna, Austria (2005/6); About Face: Photography and the death of the portrait, Hayward Gallery, London, UK (2004). Forthcoming exhibitions in 2008 include the 5th Liverpool Biennial (20 September – 30 November) and Starstruck at the New Art Gallery Walsall (18 April – 15 June). Publications include: Confidential (Taschen 2007) and Private (Penguin 2003).

For further information and images please contact Christina Richardson on + 44 (0) 20 7499 9494 or christina@hamiltonsgallery.com. Or contact Lee Johnson, Alison Jackson Project Manager on + 44 (0) 7814 862 834 or lee@alisonjackson.com.