Biography
Antony Cairns (b. 1981) lives and works in London. His work has been shown at Rencontres d'Arles in 2013, George Eastman House in New York (2016), Tate Modern (2018) and Festival Images Vevey (2018). Cairns has published a selection of artists' books, including LDN (2010), LPT (2012), OCS (2016) and CTY (2017) with Morel Books.
The artist reflects on urban landscapes through the use of so-called obsolete techniques and technologies (PXL2000 camera, computer punch cards, COBOL codes, etc.). This recourse to decades-old processes and media - the equivalent of several centuries in the history of technology - enables Cairns to create singular images. In his work, buildings, building facades and complexes seem shrouded in a hazy halo that blurs their perception. The aesthetic of his work evokes the visual codes of science fiction and its alternative narratives. Although the human figure seems totally absent from these megalopolises, it is nonetheless perceptible through Antony Cairns' questioning of our interactions with our urbanism and the way technology shapes our perceptions.
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SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
SOLO SHOWS
2022
Nov-Jan 2023 : PXL / CTY, Espace Studio of MEP (Maison Européenne de la Photographie)
2021
Approche Paris fair with Intervalle gallery
Antony Cairns CTY_TYO3-TYO4, Webber Gallery, London, England
Antony Cairns: TYO3-TYO4, Akio Nagasawa Gallery, Tokyo , Japan
2020
Antony Cairns CTY-TYO3, Stieglitz 19, Antwerp, Belgium
2019
Touchstone, The Photographers’ Gallery, London, England
Antony Cairns: CTY, Akio Nagasawa Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
2018
Independent Brussels (represented by Roman Road), Vanderborght Building, Brussels,Belgium
The Tale of Adam Earl Gordons, Théâtre de Verdure (part of Festival Images Vevey),Vevey, Switzerland
NADA New York (represented by Roman Road), Skylight Clarkson Sq, New York, USA
2017
TYO2-LDN4, Roman Road, London, England Antony Cairns, Stieglitz 19, Antwerp, Belgium
2016
Antony Cairns: Process II, daikanyama photo fair (represented by Roman Road), Tokyo,Japan
OSC - Osaka Station City, Roman Road, London, England
LA-LV / LDN Process, SferaExhibition (part of KYOTOGRAPHIE), Kyoto, Japan
2015
E.I. / Transition, Roman Road, London, England
2014
LDN, Roman Road, London, England
LDN, Stieglitz 19, Antwerp, Belgium
2013
LDN, Rencontres d’Arles, Arles, France
Dalston Takeover, Victoria & Albert Museum,London, England
GROUP SHOWS
2021
What Remains, Encounter Contemporary, London England
2019
Expired, Sara Kay Gallery, New York, USA. Curated by Maya Benton
Material Art Fair (represented by Roman Road),Frontón México, Mexico City, Mexico
2018
Through the Looking Glass, Cob Gallery, London, England
Artificial Impressions, Stedelijk Museum Breda, Breda, The Netherlands
My London, Copeland Gallery (part of Peckham24), London, England. Curated by Emma Bowkett
Photo London (represented by Roman Road), Somerset House, London, England
London Nights, Museum of London, London, England
Shape of Light: 100 Years of Photography and Abstract Art, Tate Modern, London, England
2016
A Matter of Memory: Photography as Object in the Digital Age, George Eastman Museum, New York, USA
TOUCHED – Craftsmanship in Contemporary Photography, Museum Het Schip (part ofUnseen Photo Festival), Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Curated by Anton Corbijn
2015
Abstracts, HONORÉ at Galerie RueVisconti, Paris, France
Abstracts, Copperfield, London, England. Curated by Inès de Bordas and Alix Janta-
Polczynski,
Memory Lab: Photography challenges history, Mudam, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
2014
Unseen Photo Fair (represented by Stieglitz 19), Amsterdam, The Netherlands
AM projects, Photobastei, Zurich, Switzerland
2013
Collected Shadows , Contact Festival, Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art, Toronto, Canada
Collected Shadows , Presentation House Gallery, Vancouver, Canada
ICP Triennial, International Centre of Photography, New York, USA
TIFF Festival 2013, Wroclaw Contemporary Museum, Wroclaw, Poland
2012
Collected Shadows, Paris Photo (represented by The Archive of Modern Conflict), Paris, France
Middlesex, Picturae’s Paris Photo (represented by The Archive of Modern Conflict), Paris, France
AWARDS
2019
Hyundai Card GapadoAir residency
2017
Images Vevey Special Jury Prize
2015
Grand Prize Winner of the Hariban Award
Paris Photo – Aperture Foundation PhotoBook of the Year (Shortlisted)
2014
Special Prize Winner of the Hariban Award
2013
Kassel Best Photobook (Shortlisted)