Willie Doherty, Unseen

Unseen is a major exhibition of photographic and video works by Willie Doherty on display at The City Factory in Derry until January 4th, 2014. Unseen provides a critical overview of Doherty’s photographs and videos made on the streets of his native city of Derry and its surrounding hinterland, presenting new insight into the artist’s working methods and rationale. Since 1985, Doherty has recorded the way in which the city has been shaped and altered in response to unfolding political events as he explored its streets through the simple acts of walking and looking. The title of the exhibition, Unseen, refers to Doherty’s self-conscious method of using the camera in a context where it was imperative for him to avoid undue attention and to minimize the risk of being mistaken for a photojournalist or a tourist. The exhibition will reveal how Doherty has used the techniques of photojournalism, documentary landscape photography and the appropriation of images and texts to create a body of photographic work that explores the fine line between fiction and non-fiction. Unseen is curated by Robin Klassnik, Director of Matt’s Gallery, London, who has worked with the artist since 1990, curates the exhibition with Pearse Moore, Chief Executive of Nerve Centre, Derry, for Derry~Londonderry City of Culture. For more information, please see Matt's Gallery's website. Image: Willie Doherty, Remains, 2013. Video still courtesy the artist; Alexander and Bonin, New York; Kerlin Gallery, Dublin; Galerie Peter Kilchmann, Zurich; Matt's Gallery, London; and Galeria Moises Perez de Albeniz, Madrid.