Sarah Ball 'Accused'

S A R A H

B A L L

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A C C U S E D

In the 19th Century the social sciences of anthropology, ethnology and sociology all gained legitimacy. Photography was used to document such studies and seen to embody the new authority of empiricism.

Police photographic archives record the faces of the ‘accused’. Used to evidence the pathology of crime and criminals, photography was thought to connect outward physical appearance and inner character traits. In essence it was believed good people ‘looked good’ and morally bad people ‘looked ugly’.

They searched for; “The harmony of moral beauty and physical beauty… the science of discovering the relation between the exterior and interior – between the visible surface and the invisible spirit it covers…” Johann Kasper Lavater.

(Essays on Physiognomy: Designed to Promote the Knowledge and Love of Mankind. Vol 1. London. John Murray 1789) Photographic images however are not objective statements of fact. They are subjective representations of the truth interpreted but the camera, the viewer and now, the painter.

The work in this exhibition is sourced primarily from police criminal archives – I am interested in the act of translation; from the apparent certainty of the photographic record to the malleable quality of paint, my work calls into question history, memory and story.

Sarah Ball 2012

Thief (Of Fur Coat) oil on gessoed panel . 18 x 13 cm

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Va g r a n t oil on gessoed panel . 18 x 13 cm

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B u rg l a r oil on gessoed panel . 18 x 13 cm

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Activist oil on gessoed panel . 18 x 13 cm 8

Female Impersonator oil on gessoed panel . 18 x 13 cm 9

Thief oil on gessoed panel . 18 x 13 cm

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Abortionist oil on gessoed panel . 18 x 13 cm

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Conspirator & Co Conspirator oil on gessoed panel . diptych . 18 x 13 cm each

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Informers oil on gessoed panel . diptych . 18 x 13 cm each

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Sly Grogger oil on gessoed panel . 18 x 13 cm

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Va g r a n t oil on gessoed panel . 18 x 13 cm

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Unknown oil on gessoed panel . 18 x 13 cm 22

Unknown oil on gessoed panel . 18 x 13 cm 23

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Gang Member oil on gessoed panel . 18 x 13 cm

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Tr a i t o r oil on gessoed panel . 18 x 13 cm

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Illegalist oil on gessoed panel . 18 x 13 cm 28

Anarchist oil on gessoed panel . 18 x 13 cm 29

Assailant oil on gessoed panel . 18 x 13 cm

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Prostitute oil on gessoed panel . 18 x 13 cm 32

Prostitute oil on gessoed panel . 18 x 13 cm 33

Gang Member oil on gessoed panel . 18 x 13 cm

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Male Impersonator oil on gessoed panel . diptych . 18 x 13 cm each

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Gangster oil on gessoed panel . 18 x 13 cm

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Fraudster oil on gessoed panel . 18 x 13 cm 40

Published by Millennium to coincide with the exhibition ‘Accused’ by Sarah Ball All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publishers Publication produced by Impact Printing Services (www.impactprintingservices.co.uk) Interview Film by Alban Roinard and Joseph Clarke ISBN 978-1-905772-54-4

MILLENNIUM Str eet-an-Pol St. Ives Cornwall 01736 793121 m a i l @ m i l l e n n i u m g a l l e r y. c o . u k w w w . m i l l e n n i u m g a l l e r y. c o . u k