All images © Elliot Wilcox
Wow! There really is some exciting work landing in the submissions inbox nowadays! Firstly, let me just take the opportunity to thank you all for everyday I get more and more spoiled by the sheer volume and quality of artwork that comes my way. Thank you for satisfying my hungry eyes, but also for making me relish more.
Elliott Wilcox is the latest artist whose work has truly captivated my attention. Wilcox is a London based, British photographer who is currently studying at the University of Westminster, MA Photographic Studies. He graduated from the University of Wales, Newport with a BA in Photographic Art in 2008. He has been the recipient of several awards including a Judges Award at the Nikon Discovery Awards and a New York Photo Award in 2009. Elliott recently won a prestigious Lucie Award for the Discovery of the Year at the International Photography Awards.
Elliott has exhibited internationally and in the UK, his work was part of Singapore’s first International Photography Festival and selected for both Catalyst Arts Belfast and the Crane Kalman Gallery Brighton’s Graduate showcase exhibitions. His work was part of the recent show PRUNE – Abstracting Reality at FOAM Gallery Amsterdam guest curator Kathy Ryan, editor of the New York Times Magazine.
His work is featured in the Magenta Foundation’s latest publication on the future of photography, focusing on emerging talent, Flash Forward - Emerging Photographers 2009, The New York Photography Festival and in the New York Photo Awards Annual 2009. Elliott is also featured in FOAM magazine’s Talent issue and FOAM Gallery’s 2010 Annual.
Wilcox has also been a part of the BBC’s latest Documentary – School of Saatchi. His work beat thousands of applicants to be in the last 10 artists involved in the show. Elliott was the only photographic artist to make it through to the final stages, a testament to the quality of his photographic works.
The images showcased here are taken from his fantastic project Courts. The work "examines representations of the enclosed spaces of sports courts. In photographing the empty courts, absent of the fast paced action we are so familiar with, these environments reveal themselves in a new light."
"The camera shows details that the viewer can see closely, revealing many subtleties that usually go unnoticed. The vivid stains, ball marks, blood and scratches force the viewer to focus on these details rather than just the court."
"The courts have one single use – a ball game, with all their complicated rules and regulations. These normally sub conscious spaces become alive. Much like a gallery space is missed to the artwork, the space of these courts is missed to the sport. These large format images are slow and deliberate. The non-judgemental image creates an experience to explore, a path to revealing the unnoticed and exposing the unexposed, consequently romanticising the courts."
Forthcoming projects for 2010 include an artist run exhibition featuring works from artists affiliated with MurmurArt which is set to run in autumn 2010. Later this year Wilcox is planning to exhibit Courts in his first ever solo show in London. In the meanwhile, he says he "hopes to continue developing his photographic practice and pushing the boundaries of his medium."
