Fish

Gunn, Rosie (1993) Fish. [Exhibition/show, Photography]

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Fish

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Fish Triptych

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Clam

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Oyster

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Crab Restricted to Registered users only Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives.

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Creators:

Gunn, Rosie

Description/Abstract:

Through the 90s Gunn was keen to discuss her photography of the male body with students. 'Annette’s expertise in food styling with fish had led to her become interested in photography hence she was studying with me. We decided a fish and men series would be humorous on one level but also create some ironic and thought provoking images around the notion of masculinity. We had a lot of fun making the series. Annette’s husband was the model.’
The main image in the series, Fish, is the hand tinted, toned silver gelatin print and this was reproduced as a postcard for the Photographers Gallery. It was also printed as a poster on number 38 and 73 London buses and as a magazine cover for Dutch magazine, Homologie, to accompany the Exposures exhibition at the Melkweg (Milky Way) in Amsterdam. Another image from this series, a large blue crab strategically placed around a flaccid penis, was Rosie’s first photographic private sale. Gunn says, ‘I was told that a woman bought the image to hang in her first apartment after leaving the family home - a sort of ‘right of passage’ image for her. However a male journalist reviewing the same image in the Melkweg exhibition described the 'violence against men' that was signified by the threat of the sharp claws near the vulnerable body part. He claimed my photography was motivated by ‘revenge’. Maybe that was a small part of it – pay back for what male artists and photographers have done with the female form - but it was about many, many other things too – particularly the power to be gained as a woman being seen to use the camera to look back at men.’

Item Type:

Art/Design Item

Date:

1993

Material:

Silver Gelatin & Cibachrome Prints

Measurements or Duration:

Various

Locations / Venues:

Location

From Date

To Date

Melkweg, Amsterdam, Holland

1994

Truth or Illusion, 73 & 38 London Transport Buses

1995

Me Masculine, Kings College, London

2010

Related Exhibitions:

Anonimato, All Saints Road, London W10, Revelations, John Jones Gallery, London, NW1

Additional Information:

During the early 90s Rosie Gunn’s video and photography established the male body as a site of female erotic fascination and explored a range of emotions; sometimes sensuous, sometimes humorous and often confrontational.

In 1993 Rosie Gunn co-founded Exposures (with Grace Lau, Del La Grace Volcano and Robin Shaw), an association of women photographers where she made her own photography and led a number of workshops including the popular Women Photo Men. Her photography was discussed and published in Emmanuel Cooper’s Routledge publication Fully Exposed as well as many regional and national publications such as the Sunday Times Culture Supplement and Time Out and international publications from Norway to Brazil. BBC2’s ‘ethical’ programme, Everyman, also featured Rosie Gunn, her photography and the Exposures workshops in ‘Sauce For The Goose’. In 1994 Rosie Gunn took Exposures' photography and workshop programme to the Melkweg in Amsterdam. She has been interviewed on radio and TV in Britain, Germany, Holland and the World Service.

In 2009 Exposures archive was accepted into the collection at the Women’s Art Library at Goldsmiths University of London and various works from this period continue to be shown regularly.

Uncontrolled Keywords or tags :

feminist art, male body, photography

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