Ben Roberts – The Gathering Clouds
Third Floor Gallery
18th June – 25th July
Private View: 17th June, 19:00
[Ben Roberts Carrer Virginia Wolf – May 2009]
Running from the 18th June 2011 until 25th July at the Third Floor Gallery in Cardiff (Wales), Ben Robert’s inaugural solo exhibition entitled, The Gathering Clouds, presents the changing face of Spain’s social and physical landscape. Initiated as a holiday trip whereupon Roberts “found a landscape imbued with a strange mix of anxiety and tension, where the delineation between nature and city had become ambiguous“, the project took form over the length of three years were Roberts documented the spaces and people around Spain who found themselves affected by the economic downturn. Prior to the crisis, Spain had been in the midst of a huge construction boom fuelled by the country’s tourism industry with plans for a grand rejuvenation of Spain’s architectural landscape. When faced with the global recession, Spain’s development were forced into remission, scarring the country with vast areas of vacant developments.
Spain has always been one of the most popular destinations for UK and EU holiday makers, favoured for its warm climate, rustic authenticity and, of course, cuisine. In seeing the images from The Gathering Clouds our illusions of Spain’s tourism grandeur are flattened by the, ironically, bleak desolation of the landscape. Images of the abandoned, half-constructed estates conflict with our imagined perception of the Spain once revered for its cultural heritage with artists like Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali and Juan Gris; its bullfighters and passionate dance. Through Robert’s images, we are invited to view the Spain that has been left void and sorrowful, perhaps drawing the viewer to enquire which is the more honest perception of the country.
[Ben Roberts Calle Ojos Del Salado – September 2007]
Roberts, a talented British documentary photographer, was honoured by Nikon and the British Journal of Photography for The Gathering Clouds in 2009 by receiving their prestigious Project Assistance Award. There is also mention on Robert’s blog that he is considering holding a three-day workshop for a small number of participants, exploring the urban fringe of the South Wales industrial landscape – make sure to view Ben Robert’s Blog directly for updates on this.
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