As Polaroid expires, some instant reminders of its power
Polaroid Exp 09.10.09
Atlas Gallery
Shake It: an instant history of Polaroid
Pump House Gallery
THE last batch of Polaroid film reaches its sell-by date at midnight tonight, hence the title of an exhibition at the Atlas Gallery Polaroid: Exp 09.10.09.
Invented in 1947 by American camera buff
EH Land, the Polaroid system was born with a magnetic pull to experimenters, as many exhibits at this and companion show Shake It reveal.
The exhibitions’ overlaps include surreal abstracts by Andre Kertecz and muted portraits by Andy Warhol, who launched a new genre with instant prints — illustrated by self-portraits
in "fright wig" and in drag.
Atlas commissioned Marc Quinn to play with Polaroids, but his prints are childishly over-decorative compared to the power of James Goldberg’s work, which gives a voice to his subjects — child refugees and migrants — who write messages on the prints.
The Pumping House takes a historical line to Atlas’s fine-art selection, reminding us of Polaroids’ significance as visual notebooks.
Polaroid Exp 09.10.09 until 28 November; Shake It until 13 December
