Front

About

Front, from which the exhibition takes its name, is a series of large scale colour photographs of very different groups of families and friends at various beaches around Britain and Australia. At first glance they appear to be commonplace holiday snaps from any family album, but on closer inspection, one figure re-appears in every image: that of Morrissey herself in different guises. Working in collaboration with the groups she encounters, Morrissey usurps the mother figure, after whom each image is titled, to explore group identity and the conventions of family photography.

Ideas of Refinement, Principles of Taste is an enigmatic video work made on location in Australia and shows Morrissey picnicking in a grassy setting, apparently idyllic, but disturbingly fly-infested. The title comes from the obituary of Georgiana McCrae, the wife of a nineteenth century settler, who overcame profound hardships to become the 'founding mother' of Melbourne's cultural community.

There's You is a sound installation inspired by memories of family holidays on the west coast of Ireland, where Morrissey's family stayed for the same two weeks in July for twenty years. Upon entering a specially made structure, reminiscent of a life-size beach hut or fisherman's hut, visitors are immersed in an atmospheric soundtrack of overlapping reminiscences prompted by holiday photos. In this way, the artist invites us to conjure up our own mental images, and explores how the medium of sound can be associated with the photographic image.