When all the words are put to one side I hope the project will instigate a new curiosity for the people who live and work around the River Tees and rekindle a pride in this remarkable asset that has served them so well over hundreds, even thousands, of years.
- David George
MMX Gallery is delighted to present East of Eden, a solo exhibition by David George.
David George has been exploring photographic representations of the contemporary British landscapes for forty years and has incorporated themes prevalent in nineteenth century painting practice and aesthetic, to aid this exploration. He has appropriated the sublime, melancholy, the romantic, the pastoral and the uncanny to create something that not only represents the contemporary landscape in a pictorial way, but also making work that can be still viewed as documenting the landscape.
An exhibition showcasing David's most recent series of photographs (2018-2025) that document the Rivers Tees,Tyne and Wear as they traverse the topography of the North East.
It uses the landscapes that have been created by the ever changing industrial, economic, political, and sometimes social needs and interventions along their course, from their source in the High Pennies on Cross Fell to their meeting with the North Sea on the Northeast coast of England .
The intention of this series was to document, using both analogue and digital photography, how these rivers cuts a deep, visible, timeline through the landscapes that have been formed by man's use of the land over millennia. This occurs in a multitude of ways and the photographs show the evolution and adaptation the topographies have undergone as our industries and societies needs have changed, engaging with a landscape that constantly reinvents itself.
The "East of Eden" series derives its name from its geographical location high in the Pennines to the east of the Eden Valley where these three rivers first rise. In the Book of Genesis, the area east of the Garden of the Eden was known as the Land of Nod. Significantly 'Nod' is the Hebrew root of the verb 'to wander' and David George thought it was an apt way not only to describe the movement of a river through the landscape but also chimes with the way he undertook the project. This exhibition considers two strands of the project. The first looks at work made as David followed the River Tees from its source to the sea on a 10-day 200km walk in June 2018 which was to follow the river on foot from its source to its mouth .The second strand is a series made from an eight day, 180km walk in September 2020 starting at the mouth of the River Tees following the coastline north to Scotland to connect the mouths of the three rivers.
The exhibition will present a selection of colour night work and photogravures. David wanted, somehow, for the 'cinematic-romantic' element to the project to co-exist with the more documentary black and white daylight work, which was shot on film and rendered as photogravure. Again, this was to develop both classical and romantic ideas about the river and to get the two styles in opposition to come together and to create something whose sum was much greater that its parts.
David George's interest in British landscape began under the tutelage of John Blakemore at Derby University and continues to be a major part of his practice, now mainly concerned with ideas of classical and romantic visual semantics in the contemporary British landscape.
His work looks at the decline of traditional industries, incorporating his interest in 19th century European landscape painting.
David lives and works in east London and in 2009 he co- founded the Uncertain States project which championed contemporary thinking and practice in UK photography by means of a quarterly broadsheet, artists' talks and exhibitions. The project ran for ten years and incorporated over 250 artists, writers and academics into the project.
David exhibits nationally and internationally and is an associate lecturer at London Metropolitan University and visiting lecturer at Norwich University of Arts. His work is in many private and institutional collections.
PV: Thursday, 27th Feb, 6-9 pm
Artist Talk, 8th March, 2.30 PM. David George in conversation with Zelda Cheatle
