Martin Parr | sports & spectatorship
9 June 2023 to 30 March 2024
Rocket presents its twelfth solo exhibition of photographs by the internationally renowned British photographer Martin Parr. The exhibition will run for nine months.
In a time of increased distance between spectator and finish line, we look to Martin Parr to explore the relationship between various sports and their corresponding onlookers with the intention of lightening the
rather darker realities of virtual referees, sportswashing and exorbitant ticket prices.
Featuring work from the full span of Parr’s career and giving us a defined analysis on said subject, this exhibition allows us to see how the collegial relationships within sport have changed through the years.
This exhibition, curated by Sid Stephenson, includes black & white photographs from the 1970s – several exhibited for the first time – and iconic colour photographs (analogue and digital) from the last four decades. The exhibition coincides with the English seasons of golf, horse racing, tennis, motor racing, bowls, cricket, football and rugby.
Martin Parr (UK, b1952) has been represented by Rocket since 1997 and has been a full member of Magnum Photos since 1994. His institutional solo exhibitions in recent years include Only Human, National Portrait Gallery, London (2019); Think of Scotland, Aberdeen Art Gallery (2019); Martin Parr Retrospective, NRW-Forum, Dusseldorf (2019); and We Love Sports, Camera, Turin (2021). In 2017 Parr founded the Martin Parr Foundation, Bristol and in 2021 he was awarded a CBE for his services to photography. In May 2023 Parr is honoured with the Photo London Master of Photography Award.
Photographs by Martin Parr are held in numerous public collections including: Tate Gallery, London; the Arts Council of Great Britain; V&A, London; The Hepworth, Wakefield, Yorkshire; Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris; J Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles; Museum of Modern Art, New York; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Los Angeles County Museum; Australian National Gallery, Canberra.
Martin Parr has published over 125 books of his own photography. Over the last decade Jonathan Stephenson has been working on an official bibliography titled Parrbooks and production is currently underway for publication in 2024.
Martin Parr | sports & spectatorship is open to the public from 9 June to 29 July 2023
on Thursday, Friday & Saturday 2-6 pm
the exhibition is then open by appointment for clients, curators & groups till 30 March 2024
click for a copy of the exhibition press release