permanent gallery

“I think of it as the picture/s that you print up, just to a small working size, to get a look at. The ones that interest and trouble you because there is something that you don’t fully understand about them, as if you unconsciously did something. These pictures seem to signpost a new direction in a photographer’s practice, they are transitional pieces, and precursors to a new phase or project. I think all the best photographers have the guts to move beyond the pictures they already know they can make, and spend time with the itchy scratchy pictures to work out what comes next.”

Charlotte Cotton

Itchy Scratchy is an exhibition of photographs. The title is taken from this quote by Charlotte Cotton, where she describes the pictures which break photographers out of familiar ways of working. The exhibition affirms the role that happy accidents and epiphanies play in creative activity.

Itchy Scratchy was initiated by photographer/writer Jason Evans. All exhibitors have been invited to submit an itchy scratchy image to be reproduced on matt paper using an inkjet printer. The exhibition features a broad range of photographers, from the emerging to those of international repute.

Raffle tickets are for sale online and from the Gallery. At the end of the show a draw will determine who has won which unique print. Proceeds from ticket sales will support the realisation of future exhibitions at Permanent Gallery.

Nik Adam, Marta Bakst, Jason Bascombe, Kevin Beck, Nicola Belson, David Blackmore, Peter Bobby, Michael Bodiam, Mark Bolland, Matt Burgess, Millie Burton, Polly Braden, Thom Bridge, Thomas Brown, Tommi Cahill, Helen Cammock, Sam Collins, Ben Crawford, Niccolo Fano, Annabelle Fenning, Andrew Ferguson, Hayley Ford, Victoria Fornieles, Anna Fox, Carl Gent, Ruth George, Phillipe Gerlach, Simon Gilbert & Nik Adam, Nigel Green, Amy Gwatkin, Fiona Harvey, Peter Haynes, David Hendra, Laura Hensser, Todd Hido, Kelly Hill, Jan von Holleben, Mandy Lee Jandrell, Greg Jones, Maria Kapajeva, Jake Kenny, Shiho Kito, Paul Knight, Ioannis Koussertari, Matthieu Lavanchy, Patrick Lears, Patrick Lee, Wiebke Leister, Chris Linaker, Gordon MacDonald, John MacLean, Craig Mammano, Mike Massaro, Trent McMinn, Sherman McMinn, Shannon Michael Cane, Alexander Milnes, Tim Mitchell, Benjamin McMahon, David Moore, Ashima Narain, Luke Norman, Magali Nougarede, Tod Papageorge, Sam Pearce, Sarah Pickering, Olivier Pin-Fat, Oliver Poddar, Augusta Quirk, Milo Reid, Alex Rich, John Rose-Adams, David Rule, Viviane Sassen, Richard Sawdon Smith, Michael Schmelling, Aaron Schuman, Andy Sewell, Alexandria Da Silva, John Spinks, Sandra Stein, Christopher Stevens, Melanie Stidolph, Clare Strand, Kamei Takashi, Andreas Tauber, Kirsti Taylor Bye, George Thomas, Tviga, Nick Waplington, Harry Watts, Ruth Wiggins.

Itchy Scratchy Secret bid

Place a bid on the photo of your choice by emailing lauramousavi@permanentgallery.com before 6pm on Saturday 7th November 2009

In the email please state:

1. The name of the photographer you would like to bid on
2. The amount you’d like to pay for their Itchy Scratchy print
3. Your full name, postal address, and contact telephone number.

The highest bidder on each photo will win that print.

To place your bid at the Gallery, come in and ask for a bidding form at the desk.

All proceeds made from Itchy Scratchy bids will form a vital contribution to Permanent, enabling us to continue realising high quality experimental exhibitions, events and publications.

ITCHY SCRATCHY SECRET BID NOTES:
Participants may place as many bids as they wish.
The results of the bids will not be published.
The winning bidder will receive the print which is exhibited in the Itchy Scratchy exhibition.
If the bidder gives permission to do so, their contact details will be passed to the photographer whose print they won.
No bids can be accepted after 6pm on the final Saturday of the exhibition, 7th November 2009.
All contact details including telephone number must be submitted with bid for it to be valid.
Payment for UK and International winning bids can be made through paypal (details to be sent when bid accepted). UK participants can also pay by cheque (by post or at the Gallery) or cash (at the Gallery).
Winning bidders are able to collect their prints from Permanent Gallery, if this is not convenient, postage and packaging will be charged on top of the total bid.

MESSAGE FROM JASON EVANS regarding Itchy Scratchy raffle:
“Seeing all the submissions arranged together on the opening night, and hearing the different responses to the project and various enthusiasms for particular images, made me re-think the wisdom of the raffle ticket system that was imposed on the show. Some folks really wanted particular images and my raffle system denied that possibility.

So, instead, there will be a secret bidding system. Whoever’s bid is the highest, has won the Itchy Scratchy print.”

Itchy Scratchy all night
for White Night
Saturday 24 October
6pm – 6am
Permanent Gallery and Bookshop opens all night for this city wide night time festival which marks the end of british summer time. Tea, coffee and biscuits on sale.

Permanent presents…
ITCHY SCRATCHY BAND NIGHT
The Sticks / ViV / Arthur Brick / The Old Dolphin Brigade
Saturday 31 October, bands on 7.30pm – 10.30pm (doors 7pm)
Westhill Hall, Compton Avenue, Brighton
£6/£5 concessions
Tickets available in advance from Permanent Gallery and Rounder Records.
This is a fundraising event. All proceeds from ticket sales go towards the realisation of future exhibitions and events at Permanent Gallery.

This Halloween Permanent presents a night of music as a satellite event to the Itchy Scratchy Picture Show. Four bands have been asked to play Itchy Scratchy sets, comprised of untypical musical styles or new directions as yet unplayed out in public. Halloween dress code: Spooky itchy scratchy. Including a temporary Permanent Bookshop and Halloween themed homemade cake stall. The Westhill is a bring-your-own venue.

Jason Evans and Charlotte Cotton
Saturday 31 October, 3.30pm, Free
Permanent Gallery, 20 Bedford Place, Brighton
The initiator of the Itchy Scratchy picture show discusses the exhibition with Charlotte Cotton whose quote inspired the project. All welcome.

Charlotte Cotton is the Creative Director of the proposed London galleries of the National Media Museum. She was the curator and head of the Department of Photography at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (2007 – 2009), head of programming at the Photographers’ Gallery (2004-2005) and the curator of photographs at the Victoria and Albert Museum (1993-2004). Her books include Imperfect Beauty (2000), Then Things Went Quiet (2003), Guy Bourdin (2003), and The Photograph as Contemporary Art (2004). She is also the founding editor of www.wordswithoutpictures.org.

For information about Jason Evans, go here www.jasonevans.info