In one of the petite pitches in the revamped industrial complex of Oxo Tower Wharf, Colin Pearce’s six framed photographs took centre-stage for three weeks, displayed on the main wall of artist-led Skylark Gallery. The six were selected from his past work (and available for sale in A1-A5) for the curation of Dark Side – an exhibition considering his fondness for using the colour black. The mostly black and white photographs were thoughtful and serene in the way they manipulated raw texture with light. Though all categorically dark, this selection showed a variety of work, with visually or symbolically abstract subjects situated in the studio, the environment or unidentifiable locations.
When welcomed into darkness, what kind do we find? Capturing a lonely drink-can camouflaged against burnt terrain, isolated and mysterious natural objects, anthropomorphised animal relationships and graphics of dynamic energy: his photographs inquire into the emotional properties of these natural or man-made subjects. In the descriptions accompanying each piece (Dark Side, Invisible to Prey, Mirrorball, Private View, A Little Death, Wisdom), Pearce poses that they draw out thoughts on sugar-free sexuality, bleakness involved in both positive or negative processes and striking energies of the misbehaving unconscious.
Though the selection was clearly presented as a loose curation on a retrospective theme – rather than being produced for the theme – it was too varied in both its aesthetic and thematic delve into darkness for the images to support each other together under this heading. Perhaps the title ‘Dark Side’ oversimplifies the complexities of the photos’ lightness. The individual photographs were symbolically heavy which made the variety instead disconnected and random, having a poetically reductive effect. Each image could have either done with breathing space (indeed, they were being sold separately) or continued with rigorous exploration of its particular theme in order to better reveal the artist-photographer’s tenderness of thought. Some photos felt as thought their darkness could have been let loose had they escaped the prettiness of his strong technical ability and presentational style into more of an installation-type setting.
Overall, Dark Side was a collection of strong individual images pointing towards intriguing insights, a generous invitation into personal observations.
By Lily Glasser
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