Dave Farnham

Dave Farnham

Inevitably, my work emerges from the stand point of the Western male voyeur. In some senses as the cultural by product of the MTV generation I am at once both the artist and the viewer - anesthetised by a life long barrage of sanitised war imagery fed to me intravenously via 24hour news feeds, YouTube and mobile phone virals.

My War Scenes series are composed without any conscious reference to specific battles or war imagery; the only historical anchor is determined within the factory in China where the toy soldiers are manufactured. In creating the series I have complete control over the battle – over who wins and who dies; these are my wars but yet they are not. I use no primary sources of reference to construct these images however they reference every iconic photograph I have ever viewed; any news feed I have ever watched; every war film I have ever seen because these images are subconsciously imbedded within me.

In constructing these scenes I am constructing my own fake histories and with this a sense of irony emerges within the works. By their very subject my works are political however I am not seeking to glorify war – in fact I am highlighting the detachment of the viewer from these very images. Unlike most war photography these are not works of propaganda; these works are as much about the process of detachment as they are about battle itself. The intervention of the artist within war imagery only serves to remove the viewer further from the content itself – as with the raising of the flag at Iwo Jima whereby an image has come to stand for an entire conflict. War in this sense has been removed, not just the war itself, but the individual, their identity and the context. My works therefore reflect upon the representation rather than the truth of war and truth becomes the first victim.

For each generation, visual imagery mediates our experience and understanding of conflict. I do not intend for my works to glorify war; instead I hope that they serve to highlight the fact that throughout the 20 and 21 century the Western subject has become saturated by first hand images of conflict which have only served to distance the viewer from the reality of war even further. War is no longer real.

Exhibitions

prizes

2004 - Winner of 'Prospects Drawing Competition' - Please click here to view my entry.

future exhibitions

2010 - 'Print Now' - 13th-17th January 2010, London Art Fair, Bearspace, Business Design Centre, Islington, London.

solo exhibitions

2008 - 'Dulce et Decorum est' - solo show, Seven Seven Gallery, Bethnal Green, East London.
Press Release
(click for view of exhibition)

selection of exhibitions

2009 - 'Videoholica 2nd Edition/Perking Duck or Video In the Time of Crisis' - International Video Art Festival, Varna, Bulgaria.

2009 - ‘Fault Line: Art in the Age of Anxiety’ - The BATS summer show, The Nunnery Gallery London.
(click for images of exhibition)

2009 - 'Future Shock' - group show, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire.

2009 - ‘Visions in the Nunnery 09’ - video group show, The Nunnery Gallery, Bow, London.

2009 - Lumen Evolution Festival 2009, video group show, Leeds.

2009 - 'London Art Fair' - Seven Seven Gallery, Business Design Centre, Islington, London.

2008 - St Joseph’s Hospice Art Auction 'Half the Story', Christchurch, Spitalfields, London.

2008 - 'London Art Fair' - Business Design Centre, Islington, London.

2008 - 'Dulce et Decorum est' - solo show, Seven Seven Gallery, Bethnal Green, East London.

2007 - 'Peer Esteem' - group show, Five Years, Regent Studios, East London.

2007 - 'Action!' - The Projection Gallery @ v22 Ashwin Street, Dalston, London.

2007 - '(Deviant)' Art Festival, Konsthallen, Trollhattan, Sweden.

2007 - 'Projektar' - video group show, Seven Seven Gallery, Bethnal Green, East London.

2006-2007 - 'You'll Never Know: Drawing and Random Interference' group show, Hayward Gallery Touring. UK Venues.

2006 - 'Liverpool Biennal - group show, exhibiting with The Projection Gallery.

2006 - 'No-ship' - group show, co-curator, Seven Seven Gallery, Bethnal Green, East London.

2006 - 'Video Under Volcano' Magmart - online group exhibition, Naples, Italy.

2004 - ‘Halbes Haus’ – group show, Three Colts Gallery, Bethnal Green, East London.

2004 - 'XS' - group show, F A Projects, Bear Gardens, London.

2004 - 'Platform' - group show, 291 Gallery, Hackney Road, London.

2004 - 'Prospects Drawing Competition' - Tea Building, Shoreditch High Street, East London.

2003 - 'Viva Las Lime' - group show, Limehouse Arts Bromley-by-Bow, London.

2002 - 'Klones' - exhibition with Gonzalo Benard, Lisbon, Portugal.

2002 - 'Notably' - shortlisted (by Paul Hedge) group show, Pump House Gallery, Battersea Park, London.

2002 - 'ISCA' - International group show, Lisbon, Portugal.