Lindsay Seers

Lindsay Seers has made hundreds of images using her own body as a camera, where her mouth cavity is the camera body and her lips the shutter and the aperture. The photographs she has made with this method are red from the light that passes through the blood of her cheeks; they are framed by her teeth and blurred by her body movement. Her life of being a camera has forced Seers into different character traits including a vampire, a ventriloquist and an alien, which have emerged from the bizarre act of photographing in this embodied way. Her obsessive and peculiar picture taking cannot satisfy her desire to represent experience.

This lack has led Seers to give up her melancholy life as a camera and we now find her turned into a projector. The movement, of seemingly throwing images out of the body rather than swallowing them has become a more effective means of expression for Seers.

Seers' work takes the form of performances, which narrate the histories of her strange transformations. These acts draw inspiration from television and film biographies, which attempt to explain an artist's work as evolving from their biography. Her recent performances have featured Seers delivering live narration whilst projecting images from her head. Whilst her recent exhibitions have featured large scale installations of projections into built structures, electronic sculptures, drawings and photographs. Her work embodies technology and treats media as a means of creating memories, rather than recording them. Not knowing where the self exists, she takes the audience on a Brechtian inspired journey, the subtext of which is to present an image of how lens based media effects and interprets a lived life.

Seers works and lives in London. She studied at the Slade School of Fine Art, University College London (BA Hons) and at Goldsmiths College, University of London (MA). Her recent solo exhibitions include Smart Project Space (Amsterdam, 2007), The Collection (Lincoln, 2006), City Gallery (Leicester, 2006), Grundy Gallery (Blackpool, 2006) Gasworks (London, 2005), Market Gallery (Glasgow, 2005), Gallery of Photography (Dublin, 2005). Recent group shows have been at The Auditorium (Rome), White Box (New York), Gimpel Fils (London), UBS Openings (Tate Modern). She has made many performances for galleries such as Aspex Gallery (Portsmouth) Site Gallery (Sheffield), Fact (Liverpool), Corner House (Manchester) Witte de With (Rotterdam), Tou Scene (Stavanger), HKS (Bergen) and Project Theatre (Dublin). She lectures in Fine Art (MA) at Goldsmiths. Her book Human Camera (2007) is published by Article Press and distributed by Central Books. She has received the Rome Wingate Scholarship from The British School at Rome 2007/8.

Academic qualifications

1999-2001
M.A. Fine Art Goldsmiths College.

1991-5
The Slade School of Fine Art, University College London B.A. Hons in Fine Art (sculpture and media).

Teaching

2006 – 2007
Part-time lecturer in MA Fine Art, Slade School of Fine Art, UCL, London

2006 – current Visiting lecturer in MA Fine Art, Goldsmiths College, ULU, London.

01.1999-2006
Part-time senior lecturer in BA/MA Fine Art, De Montfort University

09.1999-2004
Part-time lecturer in BA Fine Art, Nottingham Trent.

2002 - current
Visiting lecturer Royal Academy Schools, Birmingham UCE, Brighton University, Kingston University, Goldsmiths University, Manchester Metropolitan University, Derby University, Ruskin School, The Consortium, Piet Zwart Institute.

Presentations and exhibitions

Lindsay Seers PDF 01

Lindsay Seers PDF 02

Solo Exhibitions

03.2011  Extramission 6, Gallery TPW, Toronto [as part of Images Festival]

02.2011  It has to be this way 2, BALTIC, Gateshead

10.2010 It has to be this way 2, Mead Gallery, Warwick

10.2010  It has to be this way 1.5, Aspex Gallery, Portsmouth

09.2010  Broadcast commission '3 minute wonder series', Channel 4 (27, 28, 29, 30 Sept; 18, 19, 20, 21 Oct)

05.2010  It has to be this way 2, National Gallery of Denmark, Copenhagen [commission]

01.2009  It has to be this way, Matt’s Gallery, London. [commission]

12.2008  Performance, Event Horizon, Royal Academy of Art . [commission]

07.2007  Swallowing Black Maria Smart Project Space, Amsterdam. [commission]

05.2006   Performance, Human Camera Mali Salon, Rijeka, Croatia

09.2006  The truth was always there, The Collection, Lincoln. [commission]

05.2006  I can’t tell you, Grundy Gallery, Blackpool. [commission]

03.2006  Don’t look through me, City Gallery Leicester. [commission]

11.2005  Image in Me, Market Gallery, Glasgow

10.2005    Eyes of Others, Gallery of Photography, Dublin. [commission]

09.2005    I saw the light, Gasworks Gallery, London. [commission]

09.2003  You said that without moving your lips, Limerick City Gallery, Ireland.

08.2003   Calidoscopio, Museodel Barro, Asuncion, Paraguay

03.2002  Photoscoptucus, Public commission, Camden Lock/ Henley-on-Thames

05.2001  Black Bag, Old Operating Theatre Museum
(+ monograph BBC programme, ‘Lindsay Seers, Artist’s Eye’, Rory Logsdail)

03.2001  For the dead travel fast, Worcester City Museum and Art Gallery. [commission]

04.1999  Autocannibal, Laure Genillard Gallery, London

09.1998  Cannibal, Old Museum Art Centre, Belfast

08.1997  Knock, Knock, Artists Work Programme, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin

Group Shows

02.2012  A Trip to the Moon, Bonniers Konsthall, Stockholm

11.2011  Monodrome, Athens Biennale, Greece

11.2011  Beyond Deception, Erik Steen Gallery, Oslo

08.2011  Something in the way, Lofoten International Art Festival, Norway [commission]

03.2011  Dis-covery, Salamanca Art Centre, Tasmania

03.2011  Rugby Art Gallery, inaugural exhibition of CAS and V&A purchase for the collection

03.2011  Just Photography, Ancient & Modern at Martos Gallery, New York

11.2010  Persistence of Vision, Kunsthallen Nikolaj, Copenhagen

06.2010  Persistence of Vision, FACT, Liverpool

05.2010  Steps into the Arcane, Kuntsmuseum Thurgau, Switzerland

03.2010  Hands on, (curated by John Hilliard) Galerie Raum Mit Licht, Vienna

02.2010  Depatterrn , Galleri Erik Steen, Oslo

10.2009  Performance , Film Weekend: The Jarman Award at KunstHalle, Zurich

09.2009  Performance, Whitechapel Gallery, London

02.2009  Altermodern, Fourth Tate Triennial, Tate Britain

06.2009  Mostravideo, Itau Cultural Institute, Sao Paulo, Brazil

06.2008  Performance, Happy Hand, British Film Institute, London

10.2007  Cinemart, The Auditorium, Rome

09.2007  Foreign Bodies, White Box, New York

02.2007  The Believers, Touring show to five cities in Norway with performances,in Stavanger, Forde and Bergen

07.2006  UBS Opening, Tate Modern (with Laurie Simmons, Guerilla Girls etc)

04.2006  Metropolis Rise, CQL Design Centre, Shanghai; DIAF 2006 @798 Space, Beijing, China

04.2006  Performance, Inside, Great Eastern Hotel, Masonic Temple

03.2006  Performance, Don’t Look Through Me, Y Theatre, Leicester

03.2006  Performance, Screening at Witte de With/Tent, Rotterdam

03.2006  John Skies or Sally Swims, UKS Gallery, Oslo

02.2006  Wandering Rocks, Gimpel Fils Gallery, London (exhibition)

10.2005  Wunderkammer, The Collection (curated by Edward Allington)

09.2004  Adam, Smart Projects, Amsterdam

11.2004  Mind the Gap La Friche, Triangle, Marseille, France

08.2004  Shattered Love, Keith Talent Gallery, London

04.2004  Eating at Another’s Table, Metropole Galleries, Folkestone (performance/exhibition)

04.2004  Tonight, Studio Voltaire, London (curated by Paul O’Neill)

03.2004  Performance, A Variety Night of Ventriloquism, FACT, Liverpool (with Ken Campbell, Aura Satz, Andrew Hubbard)

03.2004  Mesmer, Temporarycontemporary, London

02.2004  Haunted Media, Site Gallery, Sheffield (with Susan Hiller, Susan Collins,         Scanner, Thompson/Craighead, S Mark Gubb)

09.2003  The Physical World, APT, London, (with Ian Dawson, Katie Pratt)

09.2003  Sphere, Presentation House Gallery, Vancouver, Canada (with Paul McCarthy, Bruce Nauman, Laurie Simmons and Allan McCollum)

04.2003   A Taste for Sham, Studio 1.1, London (with Jo Bruton, Kirsten Glass)

01.2003  The Lost Collection of an Invisible Man, The Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle (curated by Brian Griffiths)

09.2002  History Revision, Plymouth Art Centre (including Terry Atkinson)

06.2002  Nausea: encounters with ugliness, London Print Studio

04.2002  Dramatic Events, Kent Institute of Art and Design

03.2002  Nausea, Djangoly Art Centre (with Dave Burrows, Beagles and Ramsay, Margarita Gluzberg, Mark Hutchinson)

08.2001  Trinity College, Zwemmer Gallery, London

02.2001  Molotov, Dilston Grove Gallery, London (with Kirsten Glass, Diann Bauer, Annie Whiles, Helen Paterson, Lisa Fielding Smith)

09.2000  Tow, Camden Lock, Millennium Commission Project (with Tim Head, Diana Edmunds, Janice Howard, Zoe Brown)

10.2000  Assembly, Stepney City, London

07.2000  A Shot In The Head, Lisson Gallery, London

07.2000  Unfound, Chisenhale Gallery, London

06.2000  City Projects, Artomatic, London (with Jemima Brown, Marcel Price)

05.2000  The Double, The Lowry Centre, Salford (with Thomas Ruff, James Reilly and Alice Maher)

05.2000  On the rock, APT Gallery, London (with Annie Whiles, Diann Bauer, Kirsten Glass, Helen Paterson)

09.1999  Nerve, ICA, London (with Jeremy Deller, Martin Creed, Dave Beech, John Isaacs, John Beagles, Dave Burrows, Clive Sall)

07.1999  Quotidian, Paper Bag Factory (curated by Julia Lancaster)

04.1999  Cabin Fever’ Gallery Herold Bremen, Germany, (with Caroline Macarthy and Mairead Maclean)

10.1998  Multiples, Temple Bar Gallery, Dublin

11.1996  Stick Your Hands Up, Acorn Storage, Hammersmith, London

10.1996  Ghost, ACAVA Open Studios, Denmark St, London

09.1996  Ad Hoc, London Artforms. (curated by Phyllida Barlow) (with Eric Bainbridge, Leila Galloway, Stephen Johnson)

Grants & awards

Residencies / Commissions/Awards

2010  Paul Hamlyn Awards for Arts

2010  Arts Council England, Grants for the Arts for a residency in Tasmania

2009  Winner of Film London & Channel 4’s Jarman Award (cash prize and a broadcast commission for Channel 4’s highly acclaimed 3 Minute Wonder strand)

2009   Arts Council Individual Artist Award

2007  Wingate Scholarship at British Academy /British School at Rome

2007  British Council Award for new work

2006  AHRC Research Leave Award

2006  Arts Council National Touring Award

2005  British Council Award

2005  Arts Council Individual Artist Award

09.2004  Triangle International Artists Workshop, Mauritius

07.2003  Arts Council and Triangle Trust funded residency in Paraguay

09.1999  Arte Viva, residency and exhibition, Senigallia, Italy

06.1998   Beach Life, Public Art Project, supported by Islington Council

1997-01  Residency with Acme Studios, The Old Fire Station, London

04.1997  Seven month residency at The Irish Museum of Modern Art

03.1995  First Base Studio Award (One year studio residency at ACAVA)

04.1995  Ray Finnis Award

05.1993  Slade Prize (Pankerd Jones Memorial Prize)

Selected publications

 

Selected bibliography

Promosing in Kabelvag - Seers' Cyclops [Monocular] at LIAF, Kjetil ROed, Aftenposten, 10 September 2011

Reconstructing the Past - Lindsay Seers' Photographic Narrative, Lee Halpin, Novel, May/June 2011

Lindsay Seers, Oliver Basciano, Art Review, May 2011

Lindsay Seers, Jen Hutton, ArtForum Picks (online), April 2011

Lindsay Seers: an impossibly oddball autobiography, Murray Whyte, The Toronto Star, 13 April 2011

The Projectionist, David Balzer, Eye Weekly, 6 April 2011

Dis-covery, exhibition catalogue, 2011

Lindsay Seers: It has to be this way 2, Paul Usherwood, Art Monthly, April 2011

It has to be this way 2, 2011, published by Matt's Gallery, London

Steps into the Arcane, ISBN 978-3-869841-105-2, published 2010

It has to be this way 1.5, 2010, published by Matt's Gallery, London

Jarman Award , September 2009, Laura McLean-Ferris, Guardian

Top Ten , Summer 2009, Art Forum

Remember Me , July 2009, Tom Morton, Art Forum

It has to be this way , 2009, published by Matt’s Gallery, London

ArtForum , May 2009, Gilda Williams review of exhibition at Matt’s Gallery

Frieze , April 2009, Chris Fite-Wassilak review of exhibition at Matt’s Gallery

Art Review , April 2009, Rebecca Geldard review of exhibition at Matt’s Gallery

Frieze , April 2009, Jorg Heiser review of Altermodern Tate Triennial

Art Monthly , March 2009, Colin Perry review of Altermodern Tate Triennial

The Independent , 6 February 2009, ‘No sharks here, but plenty to bite on’ Tom Lubbock review of Altermodern Tate Triennial

TimeOut London , January 29 – February 4 2009, ‘Critics’ Choice’ for exhibition at Matt’s Gallery

Time Out London , January 22 – 28 2009, ‘In the studio’

Human Camera , June 2007, Monograph book Published by Article Press

Art Papers (USA), Review for Gasworks show, page 60, February 2006

Time Out’ , Review of Wandering Rocks, February 1 –8, 2006

Aften Posten, Norway, Front cover and pages 6 + 7 for show at UKS

Sunday Times (Culture magazine) , Pages 8 + 9. Review for Gallery of Photography

exhibition. November 20th 2005

There is Always an Alternative , Catalogue (Dave Beech /Mark Hutchinson) 2005

Wunderkammer , Catalogue, The Collection, October 2005

Sphere Catalogue (essay by Lisa Panting, pages 46-50), Presentation House Gallery, 2004

Art Monthly, April 2004, Review of Haunted Media, Pages 33/34 (with images)

Miser and Now , essays in issues 1, 2 + 3

Source 37 , Winter 2003. Review of Limerick City Gallery show.

Expressive Recall, pages, 50/51

Braziers International Artists Workshop Catalogue , 2002

Art Monthly , April 2003, Review of Lost Collection of an Invisible Man

Slade - Hannah Collins, Chris Muller, Lindsay Seers,

Elisa Sighicelli, Catherine Yass, (A journal on photography, essay by John Hilliard)

June 2002

Radical Philosophy ,113, June 2002, Cover and pages 26/30

Elle magazine , June 2002, page 92-93

Art Monthly , Review, Dave Beech, June 2002 page 30-31

Nausea: encounters with ugliness , Catalogue

Lindsay Seers, Artists Eye , BBC Programme by Rory Logsdail

The Fire Station , a film by William Raban and a catalogue by Acme

Assembly , Catalogue

Arte Viva, Catalogue

The Double , Catalogue from the Lowry, Lowry Press. 07.2000

Contemporary Visual Arts , Roy Exley, June 99

Hot Shoe , Chris Townsend. July/ Aug 99

Evening Standard, 13 May 99, page 54

Occupational Hazard, critical writing on recent British art, edited by Duncan McCorquedale,

Naomi Siderfin and Julian Stallabras (essay by Mark Hutchinson -Pages 160-164)

AWP , published by the Irish Museum of Modern Art. Front cover, pages 7 /44

Sunday Times (Irish) review, supplement, page 25, Sept. 20th, 98

 

COLLECTIONS

Tate Collection, London

Arts Council Collection

Rugby Art Gallery and Museum

 

Lindsay Seers is represented by Matt's Gallery, London