Moments of Being, running at Charleston Gallery until June 25 2006, offers a rare chance to explore the photography of punk poetess Patti Smith.
The photographs derive from Smith’s residency at Charleston in the summer of 2003, and represent her personal response to the Bloomsbury legacy. Charleston was the home of artists Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant, and was something of a creative hub for the Bloomsbury set.
Smith has long been fascinated by the work and lives of the Bloomsbury group. In particular, she is an ardent admirer of the writer Virginia Woolf, who lived just across the fields from Charleston at Monk’s House in Rodmell.
For the past three years, Smith has been visiting the local area, seeking inspiration both for her photography and writing. Moments of Being brings together these photographic works in an evocative exhibition.
Despite her punk past, stridency is the very last word that could be applied to these delicate and melancholy black and white images. Smith has photographed a series of iconic objects with great sensitivity. Working tools obviously fascinate her. As well as images of Duncan Grant’s paintbrushes, there are photographs of the late writer William Burrough’s typewriter as well as Nuryev’s ballet shoes.
These subtle and luminous images almost function as portraiture, taken long after the subject has died. Almost unbearably moving, they powerfully convey the spirit of the deceased.
The images that constellate around Woolf are amongst the show’s strongest. These include a photograph of the serpentining curves of the Ouse, the river in which Woolf drowned herself, as well as a portrait of her bed, the lace coverlet carefully drawn.
The exhibition coincided with a rare UK performance by Patti Smith at the Charleston Festival on May 25.
