Victor Sloan

Victor Sloan

Self-Portrait, silver gelatin print,with coloured pencils, 60cms x 50 cm, 1993
Born (1945-07-16) 16 July 1945
Dungannon, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland
Nationality Northern Irish
Education Belfast College of Art, Leeds College of Art and Design
Known for Photography, Video, Mixed Media

Victor Sloan MBE (born 1945 in Dungannon, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland) is a Northern Irish photographer and artist.

Life and work

Victor Sloan studied at the Royal School, Dungannon, Co. Tyrone and Belfast and Leeds Colleges of Art, England. He lives and works in Portadown, County Armagh in Northern Ireland. Employing primarily the medium of photography, he manipulates his negatives and reworks his prints with paints, inks, toners and dyes. In addition to photography, he also uses video, and printmaking techniques.[1]

His works are a response to political, social and religious concerns. He is perhaps best known for his works investigating the Orange Order in series such as: Drumming; The Walk, the Platform and the Field and The Birches.[2]

Victor Sloan was awarded an MBE in 2002. He is an academician of the Royal Ulster Academy, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and a Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society. He won the Academy's Conor Prize in 1988 and the Gold Medal in 1995 and 2008.[3]

The Ormeau Baths Gallery, Belfast held a major exhibition of his work (Victor Sloan: Selected Works 1980–2000) in 2001. In 2008, the exhibition History, Locality, Allegiance, curated by Peter Richards at the Golden Thread Gallery, Belfast, brought together a comprehensive selection of past works, with a particular focus on his video works.[4]

His exhibition Drift, curated by Dr Riann Coulter and Feargal O'Malley in 2014, explored a related though distinct area, tracing the story of the Vietnamese Boat People who settled in Craigavon, Northern Ireland in 1979. Victor Sloan got to know some of these immigrants, and he has rekindled his friendship with one of them, Ka Fue Lay, now living in Salisbury. In a video piece, Sloan recounts his memories of Vietnam and Northern Ireland.[5]

Books about Victor Sloan and his work include Marking the North by Brian McAvera (1989),[6] Victor Sloan: Selected Works by Aidan Dunne (2001),[7] Victor Sloan: Walk, by Jürgen Schneider (2004),[8] Luxus by Glenn Patterson (2007) and Drift by Justin Carville and Ken Grant (2015).

In Ireland and the UK, Sloan's work is included in public collections such as the Arts Council of Northern Ireland;[9] the Ulster Museum; the State Art Collection, Ireland; the National Self-Portrait Collection of Ireland; the British Telecommunications, the Millennium New Media Collection; the Imperial War Museum, London[10] and the National Media Museum, Bradford, England.

Belfast Zoo III, silver gelatin print, toner, oil pastel and torn paper, 25cms x 25 cm, 1983 by Victor Sloan

Photoworks

A typical image from the Northern Irish works of Victor Sloan is Walk X from 1985. It is a silver gelatin print. In it we see dead centre, splitting the image, a uniformed police officer with a peaked cap. He is in profile, staring tight-lipped at the parade, feet apart in a rooted stance, symbol of law-and-order but also unusually for the North, of impartiality, indicated by his dead centre stance. From the left a huge Lambeg drum, strapped to its unseen owner's chest, juts out across the body; but it has been rendered semi-transparent so that the outline shape of the police officer can still be seen.

On one level this drum functions as a musical instrument, the rhythmic 'keeper of the beat'. But the unhinged arm, wielder of a timpani-like drum-stick, indicates not only the wardrum call, but also the potential of the drum-stick as a weapon. On another level the drum is like a Jasper Johns target with its concentric circles of black, white, black and white again for the heart of the target. The paradox is that the police officer who has often been seen, in the eyes of Catholics, as the defender of the Protestant tradition, has now become a target for his own loyalist people (the police being a largely Protestant force).[11]

From Stadium Installation, Victor Sloan

Videoworks

Victor Sloan's video work includes a 44-minute video of an 8 mm looped film fragment of The Little Rascals,(1930s), which destroys itself and catches fire. This was shown in the Gastag in Munich and in Toskanische Saulenhalle, Augsburg, Germany, 2004 as part of his installation Stadium. Gavin Weston in the Sunday Times describes it when first exhibited in the Old Museum Arts Centre, Belfast:[12] "...a noisy trundling projector surrounded by four large prints at which one strains to peer through the blacked-out gloom. Staring back in time and this dingy light are the eyes of Adolf Hitler, bolstered by images of the Werner March/ Albert Speer – designed stadium that hosted the Berlin Olympics of 1936. There is no further direct reference to Jesse Owens, the Führer's gravest embarrassment, but flickering through this laden environment, archive footage of white children allowing a black child to draw the short straw, serves as an indicator".[13]

The video work Walk (28 minutes, 2004.), has been shown in Berlin and Augsburg, Germany; Belfast, Portadown and Dublin, Ireland; Pretoria, South Africa; Bialystok, Poland; Madrid, Spain; Paris, France, and Damascus, Syria.[14]

Susan McKay describes the video in the Irish Times: Walk shows, in slow, plodding motion, an Orange walk (as the parades are properly known to those who take part in them). The marchers appeared to disappear into a mirror, and the sound was distorted so that drumbeats sounded out suddenly like shots, and voices were slowed down to groans. In the end, the last shiny black shoe has marched into the mirror leaving an empty street. It is a melancholy piece".[15]

Other video works include Drumcree[16] (2001) and Fishtank[17] (2006) Ka Fue Lay.[18]

Notable exhibitions

From Walk Video Installation, Victor Sloan
Untitled i (Luxus), 2006, Lambdachrome Print, 120 x 180cm by Victor Sloan

Public collections

For Collections see[76]

Route III (Lurgan), silver gelatin print, toners and gouache, Victor Sloan

Publications

  • Bevan, Sara (2015), Sloan, Victor in Art from Contemporary Conflict, Imperial War Museum, London, ISBN 1904897746
  • Carville, Justin and Grant, Ken, (2014), Victor Sloan: Drift, F E McWilliam Gallery, Banbridge, Northern Ireland, ISBN 978-1-908455-13-0
  • Marshall, Catherine and Murray, Peter, Eds (2014), Sloan, Victor in Art and Architecture of Ireland, Volume V, Twentieth Century, Royal Irish Academy/Yale University Press 2014, ISBN 978-0-300179-23-1
  • Bosi, Lorenzo, Demetriou, Chares, Malthaner, Stefan, Eds (2014), Sloan, Victor in Dynamics of Political Violence, Ashgate Publishing, England, ISBN 978-1-4094-4351-3
  • Sverakova, Slavka, (2014), Sloan, Victor in "The Faraway Nearby", F.E. McWilliam Gallery, Northern Ireland, ISBN 978-1-908455-11-6
  • Johnston, Sandra, (2013), Sloan, Victor in "Beyond Reasonable Doubt", LIT Verlag, ISBN 978-3643904409
  • Barber, Fionna, (2013), Sloan, Victor in Art in Ireland since 1910, Reaktion Books, London, England, ISBN 978 1 78023 0368
  • Graham, Colin, (2013), Sloan, Victor in Northern Ireland: 30 years of Photography, Belfast Exposed/The MAC, Belfast, Northern Ireland, ISBN 978-0-9561766-1-5
  • Carville, Justin, (2011), Sloan, Victor in Photography and Ireland, Reaktion Books, London, England. ISBN 1-86189-871-1
  • Maigron, Maryline, Salati, Marie-Odile, Eds. (2010). Sloan, Victor in La Surface: accidents et altérations, Éditions de l'université de Savoie, Paris, France, ISBN 2-915797-63-3
  • McGonagle, Declan, (2010). Sloan, Victor in A shout in the street: Reflections on another way of looking, Wasafiri, Oxfordshire, England: Routledge, ISSN 0269-0055
  • Kennedy, Brian, (2010). Sloan, Victor in A View From Napoleon’s Nose, Kaohsiung, Taiwan: Kao Yuan Arts Centre, ISBN 978-986-6755-28-6
  • Graham, Colin, (2009), Visual Culture in Britain, Volume 10, Issue 2. Oxfordshire, England: Routledge, ISSN 1471-4787
  • Long, Declan, (2009), Visual Art and the Conflict in Northern Ireland, Troubles Archive Essays. Belfast: Arts Council of Northern Ireland, ISBN 0-903203-20-0
  • Sloan, Victor and Donnelly, Ann. Eds. (2009) My country is where I am, Craigavon: Arts Development: Craigavon Borough Council, ISBN 978-0-9564403-1-0
  • Brady, Sara and Walsh, Fintan, Eds. (2009) Crossroads: Performance Studies and Irish Culture. Basingstoke, England: Palgrave, ISBN 978-0-230-21998-4
  • McGonagle, Declan (2008). Sloan, Victor in A Shout in the Street: Collective Histories of Northern Irish Art. Belfast, Northern Ireland: Golden Thread Gallery. ISBN 978-0-9557469-2-5
  • Richards, Peter (2008). Sloan, Victor in Contemporary Art: Northern Ireland. China, Museum of the Heilongjiang Daily
  • Patterson, Glenn (2007). Luxus. Portadown: Millennium Court Arts Centre. ISBN 978-0-9549816-5-5
  • Szabó, Carmen (2007). Sloan, Victor in Clearing the Ground. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. ISBN 1-84718-180-5
  • Alcobia-Murphy, Shane (2006). Sloan, Victor in Sympathetic Ink: Intertextual Relations in Northern Irish Poetry. Liverpool, England: Liverpool University Press. ISBN 1-84631-032-6
  • Gallagher, William (2006). Sloan, Victor in The National Self-Portrait Collection of Ireland – volume 2, 1989–1999. Limerick, Ireland: University of Limerick Press. ISBN 0-946846-33-2
  • McAvera, Brian, (2006). Sloan, Victor in Icons of the North: Collective Histories of Northern Irish Art. Belfast: Golden Thread Gallery. ISBN 0-9549633-3-4
  • Alcobia-Murphy, Shane (2005). Sloan, Victor in Governing the Tongue in Northern Ireland: The Place of Art/The Art of Place. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Press. ISBN 1-904303-60-9
  • Graham, Colin (2005). Sloan, Victor in Cotter, Lucy (Ed.), Third Text . “Every Passer-by a Culprit?”, Kala Press/Black Umbrella. ISSN 0952-8822
  • Tipton, Gemma (2005). Sloan, Victor in Space: Architecture for Art. Dublin: Circa. ISBN 0-9550319-0-7
  • Schneider, Jürgen (2004). Victor Sloan: Walk. Augsburg, Germany: Kulturbüro der Stadt.
  • Graham, Colin (2003). Sloan, Victor in Allen, Nicholas; Kelly, Aaron (Eds.) The Cities of Belfast. Dublin: Four Courts Press. ISBN 1-85182-771-4
  • Clancy, Martin (2002). Sloan, Victor in Brian Lalor (Ed.), The Encyclopedia of Ireland. Dublin: Gill and Macmillan. ISBN 0-7171-3000-2
  • Dunne, Aidan (2001). Victor Sloan: Selected Works 1980–2000. Belfast: Ormeau Baths Gallery. ISBN 0-9540086-0-X
  • Kiang, Tanya; McCabe, Martin; Wilson, Michael (2001). Sloan, Victor in W.J. McCormack (Ed.), Blackwell Companion to Modern Irish Culture. Oxford: Blackwell. ISBN 0-631-16525-8
  • Brady, Ciaran (2000). Sloan, Victor in Encyclopedia of Ireland. New York: Oxford University Press, Inc. ISBN 0-19-521685-7
  • MacKillop, James (1999) Sloan, Victor in Contemporary Irish cinema. Syracuse, New York: Syracuse University Press. ISBN 0-8156-0568-4
  • McCabe, Martin (1999). Sloan, Victor in Revealing Views. London: Royal Festival Hall. ISBN 1-85332-194-X
  • Buckman, David (1998). Sloan, Victor in The Dictionary of Artists in Britain Since 1945. Samson. ISBN 0-9532609-0-9
  • Williams, Val (1997). Sloan, Victor in On The Bright Side Of Life: Zeitgenössische Britische Fotografie. Berlin: Neue Gesellschaft für Bildende Kunst. ISBN 3-926796-50-2
  • Kelly, Liam (1996). Sloan, Victor in Paul Brennan and Catherine de Saint Phalle, (Eds.), Désirs d'Irlande. Paris, France: Actes Sud. ISBN 2-7427-0748-4
  • Schneider, Jürgen (1996) Victor Sloan. Poland: Biuro Wystaw Artystycznych. ISBN 83-903457-9-X
  • Kelly, Liam (1996). Sloan, Victor in Thinking Long – Contemporary Art In The North Of Ireland. Dublin: Gandon Editions. ISBN 0-946641-66-8
  • O’Toole, Finton (1995). Sloan, Victor in Lie of the Land. Dublin: Gallery of Photography. ISBN 0-9526741-0-6
  • Roberts, John (1992). Sloan, Victor in Selected Errors, Writings on Art and Politics, 1981–1990. London: Pluto Press. ISBN 0-7453-0498-2
  • Mellor, David; Wood, Nancy (1992). Sloan, Victor in I-D Nationale. Edinburgh: Portfolio. ISBN 0-9520608-0-9
  • Hutchinson, John (1990) Sloan, Victor in A New Tradition: Irish Art of the Eighties. Dublin: Douglas Hyde Gallery. ISBN 0-907660-37-1
  • Watkins, Jonathan; Burns, Gerry; Strather, Martin (1991). Sloan, Victor in Kunst Europa. H. Schmidt. ISBN 3-87439-240-6
  • McAvera, Brian (1989). Marking The North-The Work of Victor Sloan. Dublin: Gill & Macmillan. ISBN 1-872496-01-6
  • McGonagle, Declan; Odling-Smee, James; Burns, Gerry (1989). Victor Sloan: Walls. Derry: Orchard Gallery. ISBN 0-907797-52-0
  • McAvera, Brian (1989). Sloan, Victor in Art, Politics and Ireland. Dublin: Gill & Macmillan. ISBN 1-872496-00-8
  • Mirfenderesky, Jamshid (1988). Sloan, Victor in Ulster Art in the 80s. Dublin: RHA Gallagher Gallery. ISBN 1-871630-00-2
  • McAvera, Brian (1986). Sloan, Victor in Directions Out – An investigation into a selection of artists whose work has been formed by the post 1969 situation in Northern Ireland. Dublin: Douglas Hyde Gallery. ISBN 0-907660-20-7
  • Lippard, Lucy R (1985). Sloan, Victor in Divisions, Crossroads, Turns of Mind; Some New Irish Art. Ireland America Arts Exchange Inc., Wisconsin and Williams College Museum of Art, US ASIN B00070NKCS

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Dunne, Aidan (2001). Victor Sloan: Selected Works 1980–2000. Belfast: Ormeau Baths Gallery. ISBN 0-9540086-0-X
  2. ↑ Graham, Colin, (2013), Sloan, Victor in Northern Ireland: 30 years of Photography, Belfast Exposed/The MAC, Belfast, Northern Ireland, ISBN 978-0-9561766-1-5
  3. ↑ http://www.victorsloan.com/
  4. ↑ http://goldenthreadgallery.co.uk/old/goldenthreadgalleryexhibitions2008historylocalityallegiance.htm
  5. ↑ http://www.nimc.co.uk/whats-on/event/672/drift-an-exhibition-of-artworks-by-victor-sloan-relating-to-the-vietnamese-boat-people-craigavon/
  6. ↑ McAvera, Brian (1989). Marking The North-The Work of Victor Sloan. Dublin: Gill & Macmillan. ISBN 1-872496-01-6
  7. ↑ Dunne, Aidan (2001). Victor Sloan: Selected Works 1980–2000. Belfast: Ormeau Baths Gallery. ISBN 0-9540086-0-X
  8. ↑ Schneider, Jürgen (2004). Victor Sloan: Walk. Augsburg, Germany: Kulturbüro der Stadt
  9. ↑ http://www.artscouncil-ni.org/artwork/imu/
  10. ↑ http://www.contemporaryartsociety.org/museum-members/imperial-war-museum-london/
  11. ↑ Brian McAvera, (1989), Marking The North-The Work of Victor Sloan. Dublin: Gill & Macmillan. ISBN 1-872496-01-6
  12. ↑ Gavin Weston, “Victor Sloan: Stadium”, The Sunday Times, 9 August 1998
  13. ↑ Schneider, Jürgen (2004). Victor Sloan: Walk. Augsburg, Germany: Kulturbüro der Stadt
  14. ↑ http://www.art-action.org/proposition/catalogue/detail_cat.php?codeoeuvre=W67716&lang=en&oeuvre=W67716
  15. ↑ http://www.irishtimes.com/culture/a-different-show-of-colours-1.463780
  16. ↑ http://www.nuzhound.com/articles/irish_news/arts2005/sep6_the_sooner_Love_Ulster_disappears__SBreen.php
  17. ↑ http://circaartmagazine.website/c119-review-victor-sloan-and-glenn-patterson-luxus/
  18. ↑ https://vimeo.com/103467067
  19. ↑ https://www.lensculture.com/articles/victor-sloan-the-baron-hotel
  20. ↑ http://www.wolverhamptonart.org.uk/events/art-troubles/
  21. ↑ http://www.irishartsreview.com/whats_on/down-art-adrift/
  22. ↑ http://www.universityartgallery.org/victor-sloan/
  23. ↑ http://nireland.britishcouncil.org/about/press/craigavon-50-years-modernity
  24. ↑ http://goldenthreadgallery.co.uk/event/voices-travel-a-conversation-between-two-harbours/
  25. ↑ http://nmni.com/um/Collections/Fine-Art/Troubles-Art
  26. ↑ http://engineroomgallery.blogspot.com.es/2013/09/creative-exchange-presents-art-in.html
  27. ↑ http://www.femcwilliam.com/
  28. ↑ http://www.belfastexposed.org/exhibition/Northern_Ireland_30_Years_of_Photography
  29. ↑ http://www.cityofculture2013.com/event/picturing-derry/
  30. ↑ http://culturaldevelopmentconsulting.com/2012/09/28/11th-international-photography-festival-of-aleppo/
  31. ↑ http://platformartsbelfast.com/
  32. ↑ http://cca-derry-londonderry.org/voices-from-the-levant/
  33. ↑ http://www.liverpoolbaltictriangle.co.uk/stories/view/36/
  34. ↑ http://www.naughtongallery.org/sites/NaughtonGallery/Exhibitions/ExhibitionArchive/Archive2011/SyrianArtistsTalking/#d.en.227464
  35. ↑ http://www.wolverhamptonart.org.uk/events/portrait-of-the-north/
  36. ↑ http://www.allartnow.com/
  37. ↑ http://northeastpeace.com/2010/05/official-opening-of-two-new-exhibitions/
  38. ↑ http://galeria-arsenal.pl/en/exhibitions/elective-perspective.html
  39. ↑ http://www.culturenorthernireland.org/features/visual-arts/view-napoleons-nose
  40. ↑ http://www.wolverhamptonart.org.uk/events/the-northern-ireland-collection-fresh-perspectives/
  41. ↑ James Morrison, “The Troubles we’ve seen”, The Independent, (The New Review), London, 14 June 2009, pp. 12-15
  42. ↑ Aidan Dunne, “Attacking the subject of 20th century conflict”, Irish Times, Dublin, 11 February 2009
  43. ↑ Declan McGonagle, (2008), A Shout in the Street: Collective Histories of Northern Irish Art. Belfast, Northern Ireland: Golden Thread Gallery. ISBN 978-0-9557469-2-5
  44. ↑ Peter Richards, (2008), Contemporary Art: Northern Ireland. Museum of the Heilongjiang Daily, China
  45. ↑ http://www.iwm.org.uk/
  46. ↑ http://goldenthreadgallery.co.uk/old/goldenthreadgalleryexhibitions2008historylocalityallegiance.htm
  47. ↑ http://www.dublinks.com/index.cfm/loc/1/pt/0/spid/227EC11F-ABA2-D5F3-C22EFBD4E697089B.htm
  48. ↑ Glenn Patterson, (2007), Luxus. Portadown: Millennium Court Arts Centre. ISBN 978-0-9549816-5-5
  49. ↑ http://goldenthreadgallery.co.uk/old/goldenthreadgalleryexhibitions2007thingswemayhavemissed.htm
  50. ↑ http://www.art-action.org/proposition/catalogue/detail_cat.php?codeoeuvre=W67716&lang=fr&qui=reali&oeuvre=W67716
  51. ↑ http://www.indymedia.ie/article/79151?userlanguage=ga&save_prefs=true
  52. ↑ Brian McAvera, (2006), Icons of the North: Collective Histories of Northern Irish Art. Belfast: Golden Thread Gallery. ISBN 0-9549633-3-4
  53. ↑ Joseph McBrinn, “Portadown: Orange Segments and Seeing Orange”, Circa , Belfast, No. 113, Autumn, pp. 84-86
  54. ↑ Jürgen Schneider, (2004), Victor Sloan: Walk. Augsburg, Germany: Kulturbüro der Stadt
  55. ↑ C International Contemporary Art, Winnipeg, Canada, No. 72, Winter, 2002, p. 44-45.
  56. ↑ Martin McCabe, (1999), Revealing Views. London: Royal Festival Hall. ISBN 1-85332-194-X
  57. ↑ JamesKerr, Mairin Murray, (1998), In Context, Victor Sloan: Stadium. Derry: Context Gallery
  58. ↑ Val Williams, (1997), On The Bright Side Of Life: Zeitgenössische Britische Fotografie. Berlin: Neue Gesellschaft für Bildende Kunst. ISBN 3-926796-50-2
  59. ↑ Jürgen Schneider, (1996), Victor Sloan. Poland: Biuro Wystaw Artystycznych. ISBN 83-903457-9-X
  60. ↑ Finton O’Toole, (1995), Lie of the Land. Dublin: Gallery of Photography. ISBN 0-9526741-0-6
  61. ↑ Jürgen Schneider, (1995), Victor Sloan: Borne Sulinowo. Derry: Orchard Gallery. ISBN 0-907797-82-2
  62. ↑ Michael McCaughan, (1992), Acts of Faith: Victor Sloan, Dublin published by the Gallery of Photography
  63. ↑ David Mellor, Nancy Wood, (1992), I-D Nationale. Edinburgh: Portfolio. ISBN 0-9520608-0-9
  64. ↑ Jonathan Watkins, Gerry Burns, Martin Strather, (1991), Kunst Europa. H. Schmidt. ISBN 3-87439-240-6
  65. ↑ Brian McAvera, (1989), Marking The North-The Work of Victor Sloan. Dublin: Gill & Macmillan. ISBN 1-872496-01-6
  66. ↑ John Hutchinson, (1990), A New Tradition: Irish Art of the Eighties. Dublin: Douglas Hyde Gallery. ISBN 0-907660-37-1
  67. ↑ Declan McGonagle, James Odling-Smee, Gerry Burns, (1989), Victor Sloan: Walls. Derry: Orchard Gallery. ISBN 0-907797-52-0
  68. ↑ Jamshid Mirfenderesky, (1988), Ulster Art in the 80s. Dublin: RHA Gallagher Gallery. ISBN 1-871630-00-2
  69. ↑ Liam Kelly, (1988), The Birches: Victor Sloan. Belfast: Octagon Gallery.
  70. ↑ Declan McGonagle, James Coleman, (1988), Selected Images. London: Riverside Studios. ISBN 1-870172-40-X
  71. ↑ Brian McAvera, (1987), Magnetic North. Derry: Orchard Gallery. ISBN 0-907797-35-0
  72. ↑ Brian McAvera, (1986), Directions Out - An investigation into a selection of artists whose work has been formed by the post 1969 situation in Northern Ireland. Dublin: Douglas Hyde Gallery. ISBN 0-907660-20-7
  73. ↑ Belinda Loftus, (1986), Drumming: Victor Sloan. Belfast: Arts Council of Northern Ireland
  74. ↑ David Brett, “Views from Ulster”, British Journal of Photography, London, July
  75. ↑ http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/search?query=victor+Sloan&submit=&items_per_page=10
  76. ↑ Aidan Dunne, (2001), Victor Sloan: Selected Works 1980-2000. Belfast: Ormeau Baths Gallery. ISBN 0-9540086-0-X

External links

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