Carey Young: Appearance

“The British artist’s enduring fascination with justice and the law has yielded an outstanding new film in a riveting retrospective” – The Observer 

This major solo exhibition by Carey Young (b. 1970, lives and works in London) explores relations between women, the camera and systems of power.

The show centres on a series of three video works with interrelated themes. Young’s new commission Appearance (2023) is a silent video portrait of fifteen female judges, diverse in seniority, age and ethnicity, which explores their individuality and nuanced differences, as well as the power relations between judge and camera. Critically acclaimed video installation Palais de Justice (2017) evokes an imaginary legal system controlled by women. And The Vision Machine (2020) is a study of female lens-makers at the factory of SIGMA Corporation, a renowned brand of photographic gear. Using lenses as a motif, the piece explores women’s identity in relation to mass production and the global dissemination of images.

Alongside the films, a selection of Young’s new and existing text and photographic works feature sites including prisons, legal borders and imaginary space, connecting law, architecture, language and the body.

Sensory information notice – some of the gallery spaces in this exhibition have very low lighting and are extremely dark. They also feature surround sound. If you would like to talk to someone ahead of your visit, please call 01865 722733, email info@modernartoxford.org.uk, or pop in and chat to our Duty Manager who can be asked for at the Shop desk.