IN CONVERSATION with Black Box Projects

In Conversation with Black Box Projects welcomes experimental photographer Liz Nielsen to discuss her unique colour photograms and her exhibition – Liz Nielsen (small) – currently showing with Black Box Projects. Liz Nielsen's work is a contemporary application of one of the best-known avant-garde photographic processes - the photogram - which was first mastered by Man Ray and Maholy-Nagy at the beginning of the twentieth century. Each unique image is created without a camera in the artist's studio using handmade negatives and 'found' light sources. She calls her work 'painting with light' referring to the performative nature of its creation.Liz NielsenNielsen is part of this new generation of photographic artists that have returned to the essential elements of analogue photography and its processes as subject matter, reimagining the abstract and painterly potential of the medium. Nielsen's work has been exhibited extensively in solo and group shows in London (Black Box Projects), Chicago (Zolla/Lieberman Gallery), New York (Danziger, Laurence Miller, Yossi Milo and David Zwirner Galleries), Berlin, Dublin, Budapest, Paris (NextLevel Gallery). Nielsen has works included in the JPMorgan Chase Art Collection. Nielsen's exhibitions have also been reviewed in the New York Times, the New Yorker, the Guardian, Artslant, the Wall Street Journal and Libération, among others. Kathlene Fox-DaviesKathlene Fox-Davies is a photography expert, art-historian and curator, with over 17 years' experience in the art world in galleries in London, New York, Memphis and Dallas. In 2017 Kathlene co-founded Black Box Projects. Kathlene has special interest in community engagement through the gallery and arts programming, transparency in business, a desire to connect clients to the art, artists and art world, as well as providing a more personal collecting experience through the gallery. Kathlene is also a frequent contributor to Monocle Radio as a guest art expert, offering a commentary on the current arts headlines as well as reviews of gallery shows and art fairs.Anna KirrageAnna began her career at The Fleming Collection before working for The London Original Print Fair. She was then appointed Account Director at the arts consulting agency, Cawdell Douglas, where she managed clients including The Grosvenor House Art & Antiques Fair, the BADA Antiques & Fine Art Fair, TEFAF Maastricht, Masterpiece London, and The Fine Art Society amongst others. Following this, Anna worked as a freelance consultant and was instrumental in the merger between two consultancies, Muse and Cawdell Douglas to create a new arts agency, Golden Squared Consulting, where she worked as Associate Director before co-founding Black Box Projects. Black Box ProjectsBlack Box Projects specialises in contemporary photography and contemporary art that is created using photographic materials. The gallery is committed to working with artists who push the limits of traditional photographic practice. The gallery does not keep a permanent space, instead it arranges  temporary project-based exhibitions in order to tailor the experience to the individual needs of the artist and the work to be shown.  It aims to be a pioneer of the changing gallery model, as well as presenting a transparent working model with artists, clients and other gallerists that fosters community, creativity and collaboration. Black Box Projects is a founding member of Cromwell Place, the new arts hub which will open in South Kensington in Autumn 2020.Support the show

Join us for our second episode of In Conversation with Black Box Projects where we welcome Danish contemporary artist Adam Jeppesen to chat about his Flatlands Camp Project series, his new book Error, Object, Structure and his travels as a wandering artist. Adam Jeppesen is arguably best-known for his Flatlands Camp Project series which was born out of an epic 487-day journey from the north pole to the south across the America’s. The journey was mainly taken on foot, sometimes on bicycle, a little by car … but all of it was solitary. For over ten years Adam mined the content from this series to create seminal works such as X-copy, Folded, Ghost and Scatter. This experience went on to inform and inspire future series of works that reference themes and processes first explored in the Flatlands Camp Project.The images from this journey are of remote, rugged landscapes which are suffused with a sense of tranquility, reflection and contemplation. This series conveys a search for spirituality, but it also addresses the materiality and transience of the photograph as an object. Coincidence, damage and imperfection are essential elements in Adam’s work.Adam Jeppesen, born in 1978 in Kalundborg, Denmark, first gained international recognition with his "Wake" series, which was published in 2008 by Steidl in book format. In 2009, Jeppesen was nominated for both the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize and the KLM Paul Huf Award. His work has been exhibited worldwide and is present in the collection at the Denver Art Museum (USA), the Danish Arts Foundation, the National Public Art Council in Sweden, the National Museum of Photography in Denmark, as well as in numerous private collections. Adam Jeppesen lives and works in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Anna Kirrage began her career at The Fleming Collection before working for The London Original Print Fair. She then spent 6 years as Account Director at the arts consulting agency, Cawdell Douglas, where she managed clients including The Grosvenor House Art & Antiques Fair, the BADA Antiques & Fine Art Fair, TEFAF Maastricht, Masterpiece London, The Fine Art Society, Sims Reed, Pangolin London and Bowman Sculpture. Following this, Anna worked as a freelance consultant and was instrumental in the merger between two consultancies, Muse and Cawdell Douglas to create a new arts agency, Golden Squared Consulting, where she worked as Associate Director for two years before co-founding Black Box Projects.Kathlene Fox-Davies is a photography expert, art-historian and curator, with over 16 years' experience in the art world both in London and New York. Kathlene began her career as a Sales Associate at Michael Hoppen Gallery before moving to Hasted Hunt in New York as Gallery Manager. On her return to London, Kathlene joined Halcyon Gallery in Mayfair as an art consultant. She later joined ATLAS Gallery as Associate Director, introducing and overseeing a programme of contemporary artists. In 2014 Kathlene established her own art consultancy - Fox-Davies Contemporary - where she worked with a select group of clients helping to build and manage their collections. In 2017 Kathlene co-founded Black Box Projects. Kathlene has special interest in community engagement through the gallery and arts programming, transparency in business, a desire to connect clients to the art, artists and art world, as well as providing a more personal collecting experience through the gallery. Kathlene is also a frequent contributor to Monocle Radio as a guest art expert, offering a commentary on the current arts headlines as well as reviews of gallery shows and art fairs, as well as host and producer of IN CONVERSATION with Black Box Projects.Support the show

At Black Box Projects we believe in the transformative role art can play both in our daily lives and within the context of the medical treatment and mental health. Art has the potential to change us, to brighten spirits, to soothe, to challenge and fulfil. Join us as we discuss navigating art’s role in mental health and art engagement in these unprecedented times.  IN CONVERSATION with Black Box Projects welcomes artist Steve Macleod and Co-Founders of Hospital Rooms - curator Niamh White and artist Tim A. Shaw - to discuss the role of art in mental health, the art of happiness and the important work of Hospital Rooms.   Professor Steve Macleod is an artist whose practice discards the modernist approach to realist interpretation of his landscape compositions for one that uses the landscape as visual metaphors describe historical and humanist subjects that connect us with the environment we inhabit. The resulting works are layered with meaning and mood, where the artist’s emotional intent is conveyed through atmospheric suggestion and imagination. Hospital Rooms is an arts and mental health charity that commissions world-class art and implements art programmes for NHS mental health services in the UK. Artist Tim A. Shaw and curator Niamh White founded Hospital Rooms after a close friend was sectioned and admitted to a mental health hospital. On visiting her, they were shocked to find that the hospital environment was cold and clinical at a time when she was so vulnerable. Having worked in the arts for 10 years each, they felt they had the skills and community to be able to transform these spaces with high quality artworks and spaces for healing. In 2016, Dr Emma Whicher (now one of Hospital Rooms’ trustees) gave them the opportunity to run their first project at the Phoenix Unit, a rehabilitation unit for people with a diagnosis of schizophrenia. Here they commissioned Nick Knight, Gavin Turk, Steve Macleod, Assemble - among other world class artists - to work with patients and staff to create site specific artwork for the ward. The project received national press attention and Hospital Rooms has been inundated with requests for projects ever since. Kathlene Fox-Davies is a photography expert, art-historian and curator, with over 16 years' experience in the art world both in London and New York. Kathlene began her career as a Sales Associate at Michael Hoppen Gallery before moving to Hasted Hunt in New York as Gallery Manager. On her return to London, Kathlene joined Halcyon Gallery in Mayfair as an art consultant. She later joined ATLAS Gallery as Associate Director, introducing and overseeing a programme of contemporary artists. In 2014 Kathlene established her own art consultancy - Fox-Davies Contemporary - where she worked with a select group of clients helping to build and manage their collections. In 2017 Kathlene co-founded Black Box Projects. Kathlene has special interest in community engagement through the gallery and arts programming, transparency in business, a desire to connect clients to the art, artists and art world, as well as providing a more personal collecting experience through the gallery. Kathlene is also a frequent contributor to Monocle Radio as a guest art expert, offering a commentary on the current arts headlines as well as reviews of gallery shows and art fairs, as well as host and producer of IN CONVERSATION with Black Box Projects.Hospital RoomsInstagram:  _hospitalroomsTwitter: Hospital_RoomsRegistered Charity: 1168101 Professor Steve MacleodInstagram: stevemac65Twitter: steve_mac65 Black Box ProjectsInstagram: blackboxprojectsTwitter: bbp_art Produced by Kathlene Fox-DaviesSupport the show