Join us at The Hatton Gallery to meet John Darwell to discuss his current exhibition ‘After Schwitters.’
The ‘Reading Group’ format invites informal discussion, reflections and refreshments.
John Darwell has travelled to sites particularly relevant to the life and work of Kurt Schwitters including Elterwater, the Isle of Man, Hanover and Norway to produce his own photographic responses to these places. The results are exhibited at The Hatton Gallery until 20 April 2013.
The Hatton Gallery is home to Kurt Schwitters’ Merzbarn wall, which is on permanent display at the gallery. The event is programmed in partnership with The Hatton Gallery.
John Darwell is an independent photographer working on long-term projects that reflect his interest in social and industrial change, concern for the environment and issues around the depiction of mental health.
To date he has had seven books of his work published, of which the most recent are ‘Dark Days’ (Dewi Lewis Publishing 2007) documenting the impact of foot and mouth disease around his home in north Cumbria, and a twenty five year retrospective ‘Committed to Memory’ (Tullie House Museum & Art Gallery 2007).
Previous books include ‘Legacy’ (Dewi Lewis 2001) an exploration of the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, and ‘Jimmy Jock, Albert & the Six Sided Clock’ on the Port of Liverpool (Cornerhouse 1993).
His work has been exhibited, and published, widely both nationally and internationally, including numerous exhibitions in the UK, the Netherlands, Italy, the USA, (Houston Foto Fest, New York and San Francisco) Mexico, South America and the Canary Islands, and is featured in a number of important collections including the National Museum of Media/Sun Life Collection, Bradford; the Victoria & Albert Museum, London and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
In 2008 he gained his PhD for research into the visualisation of depression for his work entitled ‘A Black Dog Came Calling’. He is currently Senior Lecturer in Photography at the University of Cumbria in Carlisle.