PRESS RELEASE

Paul Reas “Day Dreaming About The Good Times?”

From The Valley’s Project, 1985 © Paul Reas

22 March – 10 May 2014 Preview: Friday 21 March, 18.00 – 20.00 Artist talk: Wednesday 2 April 18.30 – 20.00 Turner House

Cardiff resident Paul Reas is one of the most significant photographers to emerge from the new wave of British colour documentary of the mid-1980s. Spanning thirty years from Thatcherite Britain to today’s recession, and encompassing themes of class, consumption, work and leisure, this is the international premiere of Reas’ first major retrospective.

A contemporary of , Paul Reas is part of the pioneering generation of photographers who revealed and critiqued British class and culture in the 1980s and 90s. Strongly influenced by his working class upbringing in , Reas used humour and sharp observation to comment on a new corporate and commercial world epitomised by heritage industry sites, retail parks, and supermarkets.

I Can Help (1988), Reas’ seminal body of work, explores the consumer boom of the eighties with its American-style out-of-town shopping malls. Depicting employees and shoppers of the new middle class, Reas offers an acerbic re-visioning of Britishness to create a powerful portrayal of Thatcherite Britain.

Flogging a Dead Horse (1993) presents a nationwide survey of the emergence of the ‘heritage industry’: museums and theme parks such as Beamish Open Air Museum that offered a nostalgic and often commercialised version of the past in the wake of the collapse of heavy manufacturing and industry.

The Valleys Project (1985) depicts the impact of the decline of steel and coal industries in Wales and the emerging workforce of women in ‘New Technology’ industries, undertaking deadening work assembling electro-components in factories. Reas’ most recent work, From a Distance (2012/13) documents today’s property development boom and the changes facing the traditionally working class and culturally diverse neighbourhood of in South London.

“Day Dreaming About The Good Times?” also features rarely-seen early black and white photographs made in Wales and Bradford; never-before-exhibited work from Flogging a Dead Horse and I Can Help; as well as vintage material from Reas’ personal archive including contact sheets, magazine spreads of editorial work, and examples of his award-winning and subversive advertising campaigns for Nissan, British Telecom and Volkswagen.

An touring exhibition, curated by Anne McNeill.

All images © Paul Reas / courtesy Impressions Gallery

VISITOR INFORMATION

Ffotogallery, Turner House, Plymouth Rd, Penarth, CF64 3DH Exhibition Dates: 7 February – 8 March 2014 Preview: Thursday 6 February 2014, 7 – 8.30pm Artist Talk: Thursday 6 February 2014, 6 – 7pm Admission is free to all visitors

Opening Times: Tuesday – Saturday, 11am - 5pm

Tel: 029 2070 8870 Email: [email protected] www.ffotogallery.org

Notes to Editors:

1. The Artist Paul Reas (born Bradford, West Yorkshire (1955) has exhibited at numerous international venues and festivals including Photomonth, Krakow; Rencontres d’Arles, France; Foto International, Rotterdam; Jeu de Paume, Paris; and The Photographers’ Gallery, London. His work has featured in many major survey exhibitions of photography, including How We Are: Photographing Britain at Britain, London (2007) and Who’s Looking at the Family at Barbican (1994). His photographic series I Can Help and Flogging A Dead Horse were both published as monographs by Cornerhouse, and his editorial and commercial work has garnered awards including the Cannes Lion (Gold and Bronze) and D&AD Award (Gold). His work is held in a number of public and private collections and is represented by James Hyman Gallery in London. Reas is currently Course Leader in Documentary Photography at the University of South Wales, Newport.

2. Ffotogallery As the major force for contemporary photography in Wales, Ffotogallery is recognised as the forum for contemporary debate and a focus for new developments in British and international photographic art. As a national organisation, its view is naturally outward looking, with an exhibition programme featuring photographers from Wales and the rest of the world. Ffotogallery seeks to widen its range of influence through touring exhibitions, collaborations with other organisations and galleries, through publications, and an expanding education programme. www.ffotogallery.org

ENDS

Ffotogallery’s exhibition programme is supported by the Arts Council of Wales