Images that we had never seen, but that almost all of us had in our heads.

Alison Jackson explores how photography, the cult of celebrity and the media have transformed our relationship with what is ‘real’.

“I started taking pictures because I hate photography.”
“I started shooting because I hate photography.”

Alison Jackson

ALISON JACKSON: TRUTH IS DEAD

It is the first time that an Alison Jackson exhibition of this importance has been mounted in Spain. AJ is a UK and US celebrity, multi-award winning artist including a BAFTA for his BBC series Double Take. Photographer, filmmaker and sculptor, since the 1990s she has explored the cult of celebrities, an extraordinary phenomenon manufactured by the media, advertising industries and public figures themselves.

Jackson fabricates believable celebrity news, news that seems real but isn’t. His works are surprisingly realistic montages that “create” a future that could have been… or recreate situations that the masses already had in our heads. A true pioneer in the artistic study of what has since been called post-truth and intimacy, her work constitutes a provocation before a world of appearances and gossip, a subversive and intelligent form of satire and social commentary .

Almost all of his works revolve around the absurd world of celebrity and the nature of contemporary voyeurism. AJ works with the image of media icons such as the Queen of England, Kim Kardashian, Princes Harry and Meghan, George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin… or Princess Diana of Wales, Marilyn Monroe and JFK.

It addresses the subject of the curiosity of alien lives that moves billions of euros, the gossip of the life and miracles, real or fictional, of idols that the public does not actually know. AJ understands the world of celebrities as a kind of pantheon, each one representing some moral or aesthetic attribute, and gets us to wonder what is more familiar: our grandfather’s face or Kim Kardashian’s ass? It’s about the big public family of celebrities, people who appear in the media for the most diverse reasons, people everyone is talking about… In short, of those that exist the most. Because we are all more or less, as we can, but only they really exist, the ones who focus all the eyes and where the flashes are pointing.

In the age of fake news and AI, AJ’s pioneering work seems true to us like few others. His best-selling work is that of the queen sitting on the toilet bowl. He also makes extraordinary portraits of well-known actors and actresses.

ALISON JACKSON

Some of his works are in prominent public art collections such as the National Portrait Gallery (London), The Parliamentary Art Collection (London), SF MOMA (San Francisco), Musée de la Photographie (Charleroi, Brussels ), The Frances Foundation (Paris) and The International Center of Photography, among others.

His work has been exhibited in galleries, fairs and museums around the world: Tate Modern, The Tate Britain, The Hayward Gallery, National Portrait Gallery, Liverpool Biennial at The Tate; International

Center of Photography (New York); San Francisco MoMA; The Pompidou Center (Paris); Musée du Louvre (Paris); Musée de L’Elysée (Lausanne); Kunsthalle Vienna; Photo Museum (Montreal); Museum of Photography (Charleroi); Schirn Museum (Frankfurt); Camera Museum (Turin); Westlicht Museum (Vienna); Fotografiska (New York, Stockholm and Tallinn); The Venice Biennale; Camerawork (Berlin) and The Photogallery (Stockholm).

OTHER FACES OF ALISON JACKSON

In 2019, Jackson founded and launched the initiative: A day in your life (Un dia a la teva vida) to cultivate and celebrate tomorrow’s creative futures from minority, underrepresented backgrounds and people living with disabilities. A day in your life offers creative outings and opportunities for all ages from seven years.

Jackson is a mentor to young artists and a member of the Alumni Council of the Royal College of Art; trustee of the Chelsea Art Theatre; K&C Foundation ambassador; and supports a number of charities including MacMillan Cancer Support, Marie-Curie, Jeans for Genes Day and Cancer Research UK among others.

The educational proposal is aimed at ESO, high schools and other educational environments.

It takes the form of a “Pedagogical Device” that:
It offers an educational itinerary with various moments (discovery and stimulation, creative action, visit-conversation and closing and assessment) that involve an experience of interaction with the exhibitions.

It is based on the potential of art as the engine of learning and the expressive abilities of people.

It is flexible and adaptable to the needs of each context and the interests of each group.

It combines virtual and face-to-face sessions and receives the support and accompaniment of the Panoràmic educational team.