Andrew Cross - Every Seat

Andrew Cross is interested in place, the histories they may conceal and the memories that they may evoke. Two years ago he photographed, with the safety curtain down, the stage of London’s Royal Opera House as seen from every single seat in the house. Exhibited for the first time at Haggerston’s Canal Projects, a small selection of the 2,500 resulting images will be shown alongside Cross’s photographs of the Somali National Theatre taken during a visit to the war-devastated city of Mogadishu in 2013.

Dominated by sumptuous reds and gold and Royal crest, the Royal Opera House images remind us that without attended performance and audience, the empty silent auditorium is very much a ghost of spectacle and opulence. In stark contrast are the photographs of the Somali National Theatre. Built in the 1960s to a striking modernist design, the theatre is now stripped to the bare essentials of concrete walls and floor. But, as a theatre in a culture where the tradition of performance and spoken voice remain strong it maintains a definite sense of its built purpose.

The Royal Opera House photographs, which required meticulous planning to fit around the busy schedule of performances and rehearsals, in part arise out of previous work where Cross has documented the landscape sites of 1970s rock festivals. An interest in absence and the role of memory (collective and individual) in forming our understanding of past or absent events runs through Cross’s work. There is also a methodical rigour – if one is to ‘record’ the absent event then you must do so from every possible viewpoint. His work Hats off to Roy Harper involved documenting the site of the absent stage of Knebworth Park from sunrise to sunset in 2009.

Andrew Cross is well-known for his work featuring US railroads and transport infrastructures. His first book of photographs Some Trains in America was published in 2001 and his first video work was shortlisted for the Beck’s Futures Prize in 2004. Also in 2004, 3 Hours from here: An English journey – a film about post-industrial landscape and economy – was commissioned by Film & Video Umbrella and the John Hansard Gallery.

Recent sites of investigation include the military landscape of Salisbury Plain and the sites of 1970s rock festivals. His interest in rock music extends to collaborations with musicians, and his The Solo - featuring the music of Carl Palmer 2010 - was met with critical acclaim and has been exhibited internationally.

In July 2013 Cross visited the war-devastated city of Mogadishu as part of a collaborative project with architect Rashid Ali. He photographed a number of symbolic public buildings which went on display earlier this year at London’s Mosaic Rooms as part of the Mogadishu - Lost Moderns exhibition.

Canal Projects is an independent project space, with an on-going programme of solo exhibitions by new, emerging and established artists. The editions room supports the exhibitions programme with the sale of prints, multiples and small works, as well as acting as an informal gateway to art for the new collector.