'Seventeen of Sixty-Eight', BALTIC
2019
Ingrid was winner of the BALTIC Artists' Award in 2019, nominated by Lubaina Himid.
Watch Ingrid and Lubaina Himid speaking about the exhibition in the video for BALTIC Bites here and see the accompanying catalogue for the exhibition here.
'You can see a dialogue going on between the pieces of work because there wasn't only framed photographs hanging on the wall, they were sculptural pieces, found objects, print from books, and a video piece. They were hung in a very particular way. It was a surprise because you go into the gallery two different ways. You had to negotiate your own way around understanding the relationship between found objects and the video. The video was in a cupboard. You had to actually open a door to look at it and then close it again– to build intrigue. Of course, they weren't all framed pictures. There's things that were just hung straight on the wall. Some were framed behind glass, but they're not in a frame. They're all different levels. Some of them are high, some of them are very big, some are quite small. There was the embossed work that you have to observe– look at it in a particular angle of light so you can see where the ridges are.'
- Ingrid Pollard from an interview excerpt in conversation with Marjorie Martay for ArtW's Women We Create. Read the full interview here and listen to the full audio here.
Watch Ingrid and Lubaina Himid speaking about the exhibition in the video for BALTIC Bites here and see the accompanying catalogue for the exhibition here.
'You can see a dialogue going on between the pieces of work because there wasn't only framed photographs hanging on the wall, they were sculptural pieces, found objects, print from books, and a video piece. They were hung in a very particular way. It was a surprise because you go into the gallery two different ways. You had to negotiate your own way around understanding the relationship between found objects and the video. The video was in a cupboard. You had to actually open a door to look at it and then close it again– to build intrigue. Of course, they weren't all framed pictures. There's things that were just hung straight on the wall. Some were framed behind glass, but they're not in a frame. They're all different levels. Some of them are high, some of them are very big, some are quite small. There was the embossed work that you have to observe– look at it in a particular angle of light so you can see where the ridges are.'
- Ingrid Pollard from an interview excerpt in conversation with Marjorie Martay for ArtW's Women We Create. Read the full interview here and listen to the full audio here.
'The exhibition opens with Pollard’s exploration of the representation of the black figure in British life. Her series of photographs, pub signs, prints and paraphernalia has been created and collected over 25 years. The title, Seventeen of Sixty Eight, relates to the 68 pubs in the UK that have “Black Boy” in their name. Paired with other objects such as a “Black Boy” tavern coin (used in exchange for a pint), a figurine holding a menu blackboard and a video of a black puppet dancing, the photographs create an unsettling narrative where black figures are exoticised or seen as “other”. Pollard, chosen by Himid, is concerned with how we move through the space. She wants us to squint, to stand back, bend down, look upwards. In reconfiguring our physical stance, we are forced to consider afresh these familiar objects.' - Hannah Clugston for the Guardian. Read the full Guardian article here.
