Abstract

Michael Daglish
Seen/Unseen (2/6), 2017
Colour inkjet prints

Daglish’s photographic practice is centred around the human condition and its interconnected relationship to land and water.

Second in a series of portraits examining people and the spaces they seek to offer them a means of escape - a way of disconnecting from busy worlds and becoming more present in their bodies and environments. Each diptych in the series is a depiction of the sitters attempts to achieve a meditative state of mind through connection with ‘place’. All the while questioning whether it is less and less possible to disconnect from the problems we now carry or whether a call back to a simpler way of life is an answer to modern lives in a state of persistent distraction.

Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art Collection

Part of a group show The Skin We Live In 23/11/2024 - 02/03/2025

The Skin We Live In is the inaugural exhibition of artwork from Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art’s collection brought together in a group show exploring contemporary portraiture through photography, painting, sculpture, film, and printmaking.

The exhibition features artwork by 29 contemporary artists and photographers who turn the tables on historic associations and practices of portraiture to go beyond ‘skin deep’ delving further into our shared human condition.

Portraiture’s origins trace back to ancient Egypt and until the invention of photography in 1822, painting, sculpture and drawing were utilised to provide a record of the ‘sitters’ appearance or capture a significant moment in time. Portraiture was initially the reserve of the rich and powerful who sort to display their importance, virtue, wealth, taste and power. Tending to flatter, the primary concern of portraitists was to capture the likeness of the sitter, bringing forth their character through distinctive features like their hands and face.

The artworks on display in The Skin We Live In move away from a focus on the individual to reveal a collective experience. They provide visibility and voice to marginalised communities and uncover aspects of our human experience such as loss, isolation, abuse and sexuality often held within ourselves. In many of the artworks, the face is abstracted, obscured, or masked to focus instead on the body incorporating performance, pose, clothing, personal effects or narrative construction to connect with the viewer, not through stare, but instead through honesty, humility and humanity.

Since 2006 Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art has acquired over 500 artworks by more than 50 artists or artist collectives with a focus on, but not limited to, lens-based media and the North East of England. Today the collection continues to grow and is widely loaned across the North East of England and United Kingdom.