ARTISTS TALKING

The two upstairs rooms at the Impressions Gallery have become twin ciphers for the concepts of shadow and light, black and white, positive and negative; ideas that form such an essential part in the history of photography and the expressive arts in general. In collaboration with installation artist Geraldine Pilgrim, lighting designer Chahine Yavroyan, and media production company 59, the space is transformed replete with a viewing window linking the respectively black- and white-walled rooms, both surrounding and allowing a vista onto Warner's seven-minute film. The black and white theme is continued in the objects on display, artfully arranged, including rows of storage jars containing either black or white powder. There are shadows indicated in cut-out paper on the floor as if cast from that most ancient of light sources, the candle flame. Warner's incredibly grainy black and white film takes us on an evocative journey into the murky world of Victoriana with displays of peep shows, flick books, zoetropes and magic lanterns. It may seem quite self-referential and conceptual – the artist drawing attention to the basis of his art – but the result is incredibly atmospheric and nostalgic, aided by a liltingly languorous violin soundtrack. In a reference to the Greek myth of Korinthia, a woman dances and then is frozen by flash against a light-sensitive sheet, leaving her silhouetted outline. This technique is demonstrated in the display downstairs with the results of school workshops, as Warner highlights the wonder and simplicity of his art form. With the current predilection for digital manipulation and computer-generated imagery, it is refreshing to remember the basic principles of photography, namely its reliance on the polarities of black and white. After all, a focus on process never did an artist/photographer any harm.