For the first UK solo show of McGinley's, brand new work is being aired. The 24 new photographs shot in caves across North America are a kaleidoscope of colour and emotion.
Over the last year the artist and his crew explored huge caves, venturing into unknown territory, seeking out incredible natural spaces, some previously never seen before. The title of the show refers to the crystalline deposits found on the walls of many caves; it was once believed that this substance ws formed by light from celestial bodies passing through rock into darkened worlds below.
Probably most famous for the Sigur Ros cover, Ryan McGinley began taking photos of his friends (who include Dan Colen and the late Dash Snow) in real-life settings but progressed to creating settings where the situations he envisioned would be able to be documented. Using 35mm film, Yashica T4s and Leica R8s the work is beautiful and fleeting. He became the youngest artist (at 24) to have a solo exhibition at the Whitney and has won prestigious awards such as the Young Photographers Infinity Award.
The work displayed at Alison Jacques features a number of these photographs, carefully staged with a carefree, timeless attitude. They are haunting and remain with you. The harsh, saturated colours allow the caves to look like movie sets, or strange lunar environments that you only see in text books. The pace of the exhibition is set between two rooms, the first (largest room) has a mixture of the sculptural, larger forms but the second, smaller room is a lot more intense and powerful. This is due to a few close up face shots but the colours are wilder and more vivid, it's pretty sensual exciting stuff.
