Sandergram
This week we popped along to the Leicester Peoples’ Photographic Gallery for the launch of Sandergram. This is a fabulous exhibition of photographic portraits inspired by the work of August Sander. It was derived from theARTIST ROOMS: August Sander exhibition at New Walk Museum and the exhibition contains two walls of images, one set created by students at Leicester College and the other submitted by the public via social media.Although only a small exhibition, the work is really nicely hung and of an absolutely awesome quality. Personally, I preferred the side with the Leicester College student’s work on it because I liked more of their pieces and also because that side of the exhbition had a much stronger Leicester vibe to it, even containing portraits of some local characters that I recognised! However, that is not to detract from the public works, because there really are some amazing pieces in there too.
And even if you can’t make it to the exhibition, you can still get involved. Visit the website and pick your favourite image and you can nominate it for the People’s Prize. Go on, give these wonderful pieces of photography the recognition they deserve. It took me absolutely ages to pick my favourite. I had about 10 favourites on the night and looking at them on the website I noticed new contenders that I hadn’t given as much attention to previously!
One of my favourite things about this exhibition is that 21 of the works have been selected and the artists offered the opportunity to have their pieces join the permanent fine art collection at New Walk Museum. I think this is a fantastic opportunity, both for the college students and for the members of the public that submitted their work. It means that when Sandergram closes, on 12 April 2013, that is not the end. Those works will be displayed again in Leicester’s museums and could even be loaned and toured to national or even international venues. A fantastic legacy and a great project. The exhibition is free, so go and see it while you have the chance.
