Sarah Ball 'Accused Part 2'
Publication for 'Accused Part 2' by Sarah Ball at Anima Mundi
Publication for 'Accused Part 2' by Sarah Ball at Anima Mundi
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S a r a h B a l l | A c c u s e d Pa rt 2
Introduction<br />
What does a portrait represent? Can a portrait ever claim to capture the identity<br />
of the sitter beyond the superfiscial? Albert Einstein once stated; “A human<br />
being is a part of the whole, called by us Universe... We experience ourselves,<br />
our thoughts and feelings as something separate from the rest. A kind of<br />
optical delusion of consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us...”<br />
So how can the artist hope to represent that which remains out of reach? A<br />
portrait therefore can only represent an attempt to breach ones own prison. It<br />
can inspire a glimpse out (of ourselves) and propel us towards a glimpse in (to<br />
another). This attempt to connect paints a picture in part of disconnection; the<br />
bridge to cross is one of empathy. <strong>Sarah</strong> <strong>Ball</strong>’s paintings taken from mug shot<br />
photographs enforce this notion in an intriguing way.<br />
Photography creates an immediate perception of character and so the identity<br />
of the object is a product of that instant perception. With mug shot’s there<br />
are relatively few ‘tells’ due to an insisted inherent expressive blankness on the<br />
face of the accused. They are not memorabilia, not sentimental, not imbued<br />
or weighted by emotion, they are the opposite of what photographs often<br />
represent – What do we notice in the absence of such freighted theatricality<br />
– isolation, defiance, vulnerability, truth? The only clue, the only other thing<br />
that we have to make our judgment on this person is that they are perhaps a<br />
criminal – in the absence of all else it is the sum of who they are – is this<br />
enough to complete our picture? This is frequently the case for <strong>Ball</strong> also,<br />
who often knows little else of the subject or their fate, so unlike the painter<br />
who can sit with the subject and attempt through discourse or familiarity to<br />
reveal a truth, all <strong>Ball</strong> has is the silent engagement with her own processes of<br />
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sympathetic identification. She claims that the objective is not simply in<br />
searching for a figurative likeness, but the essence to make the painting right.<br />
This exhibition is a continuation of a body of work, the first part of which<br />
was exhibited at Millennium last year. It focuses more specifically on groups<br />
of people; from civil rights movement activists, fire raisers (members of the<br />
KKK) and poisoners alongside people whose crimes were suspicious, dangerous<br />
or simply unknown. Some of the crimes are despicable whilst others may have<br />
been heroic. The collective creates a very human portrait, of the shifting nature<br />
of right and wrong. Enforcing the changing subjectivity of judgment - these<br />
portraits challenge us to move beyond our own positive or negative judgments,<br />
if that is possible?<br />
Controversial film maker David Cronenberg stated; “As an artist you look into<br />
yourself to understand the human potential to be all kinds of things that are<br />
not necessarily pleasant but are real - a criminal, a murderer, a sadist, a rapist;<br />
to be all of these things that many people are. You can’t allow yourself to say,<br />
‘I’m a different species from those people.’ Because you aren’t. The criminal as<br />
monster is kind of common. That’s very convenient because you can then say,<br />
‘Of course I’m not a monster, therefore I’m not a criminal therefore I have no<br />
potential in tern of criminality.’ And that lets you off the hook. That gives you<br />
a nice wall between yourself and them.” <strong>Sarah</strong> <strong>Ball</strong>’s greatest achievement with<br />
these intimate works is to effectively break down walls and create bridges – for<br />
me the function of art itself.<br />
Joseph Clarke . 2013<br />
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Activist<br />
oil on gessoed panel | 18 x 13 cm<br />
3
Activist<br />
oil on gessoed panel | 18 x 13 cm<br />
4
Activist<br />
oil on gessoed panel | 18 x 13 cm<br />
5
Activist<br />
oil on gessoed panel | 18 x 13 cm<br />
6
Activist<br />
oil on gessoed panel | 18 x 13 cm<br />
7
Activist<br />
oil on gessoed panel | 18 x 13 cm<br />
8
Activist<br />
oil on gessoed panel | 18 x 13 cm<br />
9
Activist<br />
oil on gessoed panel | 18 x 13 cm<br />
10
Activist<br />
oil on gessoed panel | 18 x 13 cm<br />
11
Activist<br />
oil on gessoed panel | 18 x 13 cm<br />
12
Activist<br />
oil on gessoed panel | 18 x 13 cm<br />
13
Activist<br />
oil on gessoed panel | 18 x 13 cm<br />
14
Activist<br />
oil on gessoed panel | 18 x 13 cm<br />
15
Activist<br />
oil on gessoed panel | 18 x 13 cm<br />
16
Activist<br />
oil on gessoed panel | 18 x 13 cm<br />
17
Activist<br />
oil on gessoed panel | 18 x 13 cm<br />
18
Activist<br />
oil on gessoed panel | 18 x 13 cm<br />
19
Activist<br />
oil on gessoed panel | 18 x 13 cm<br />
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Activist<br />
oil on gessoed panel | 18 x 13 cm<br />
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Fire Raiser<br />
oil on gessoed panel | 18 x 13 cm<br />
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Fire Raiser<br />
oil on gessoed panel | 18 x 13 cm<br />
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Fire Raiser<br />
oil on gessoed panel | 18 x 13 cm<br />
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Fire Raiser<br />
oil on gessoed panel | 18 x 13 cm<br />
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Poisoner<br />
oil on gessoed panel | 18 x 13 cm<br />
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Poisoner<br />
oil on gessoed panel | 18 x 13 cm<br />
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Poisoner<br />
oil on gessoed panel | 18 x 13 cm<br />
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Poisoner<br />
oil on gessoed panel | 18 x 13 cm<br />
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Poisoner<br />
oil on gessoed panel | 18 x 13 cm<br />
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Suspicious and Dangerous Person<br />
oil on gessoed panel | 18 x 13 cm<br />
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Suspicious and Dangerous Person<br />
oil on gessoed panel | 18 x 13 cm<br />
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Suspicious and Dangerous Person<br />
oil on gessoed panel | 18 x 13 cm<br />
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Suspicious and Dangerous Person<br />
oil on gessoed panel | 18 x 13 cm<br />
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Suspicious and Dangerous Person<br />
oil on gessoed panel | 18 x 13 cm<br />
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Unknown<br />
oil on gessoed panel | 18 x 13 cm<br />
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Unknown<br />
oil on gessoed panel | 18 x 13 cm<br />
37
Unknown<br />
oil on gessoed panel | 18 x 13 cm<br />
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Unknown<br />
oil on gessoed panel | 18 x 13 cm<br />
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Unknown<br />
oil on gessoed panel | 18 x 13 cm<br />
40
Unknown<br />
oil on gessoed panel | 18 x 13 cm<br />
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Unknown<br />
oil on gessoed panel | 18 x 13 cm<br />
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Unknown<br />
oil on gessoed panel | 18 x 13 cm<br />
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Biography<br />
<strong>Sarah</strong> <strong>Ball</strong> grew up in South Yorkshire and studied at Newport Art College.<br />
After working in London throughout the late 80s and 90s, she returned to Wales<br />
to concentrate solely on painting and complete an MFA at Bath Spa University<br />
in 2005. She is represented by Millennium.<br />
<strong>Ball</strong>’s most recent works are intricate and diminutive painted portraits taken<br />
from police ‘mugshots’. These delve into ideas surrounding 19th Century<br />
physiognomy - which was a widely explored and believed notion that there<br />
was a connection between an individual’s outward appearance and their inner<br />
character - in essence good people ‘looked good’ and bad people ‘looked bad’.<br />
This research progressed to include Alphone Bertillon’s identification system.<br />
Bertillon was a French police officer and biometrics researcher who applied the<br />
anthropological technique of anthropometry to law enforcement, creating an<br />
identification system based on physical measurements.<br />
Acclaim for <strong>Sarah</strong> <strong>Ball</strong> continues to grow with two recent pieces selected and<br />
curated by Edith Devaney the Curator of Contemporary projects in the new<br />
portraiture room at the RA Summer Show, 2013. The work was shown alongside<br />
artists such as Frank Auerbach, Gavin Turk, Gary Hume, Julian Opie, Elizabeth<br />
Peyton, Alex Katz and Michael Craig Martin.<br />
<strong>Ball</strong> is currently Weslh Artist of the Year, having been shortlisted in 2007 and<br />
2009. She also recently one The Best of Wales prize at The National Open Art<br />
Competition, 2012. <strong>Sarah</strong> was also shortlisted for the Threadneedle Prize in<br />
2009 and has again been shortlisted this year.<br />
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Published by Millennium to coincide with the exhibition ‘Accused <strong>Part</strong> 2’ by <strong>Sarah</strong> <strong>Ball</strong><br />
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted<br />
in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior<br />
permission of the publishers<br />
Publication produced by Impact Printing Services (www.impactprintingservices.co.uk)<br />
Interview Film by Alban Roinard and Joseph Clarke<br />
ISBN 978-1-905772-63-7<br />
M I L L E N N I U M<br />
Street-an-Pol<br />
St. Ives<br />
Cornwall<br />
01736 793121<br />
mail@millenniumgallery.co.uk<br />
www.millenniumgallery.co.uk