Neville Gabie – Playing Away

8 April - 20 May 2006

In celebration of the forthcoming 2006 football World Cup, BCA Gallery is showing a selection of work from Neville Gabie’s ‘Playing Away UK’, a series of large-scale photographs featuring goalposts in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

From Bristol to Belfast and Paisley to Pontypool, these photographs are taken in yards, streets and open spaces in cities, towns and villages around the UK, commenting on the diversity that exists within contemporary society. Rural images act as a counterpoint to the gritty urbanism of our cities, or '60s council estates and ‘New Town’ developments against the emptiness of the Scottish Highlands, or the political edge evident in images from Northern Ireland.

Implicit in each photograph is the sheer inventiveness of the obsessive football fan in ‘marking out’ a place in which to play and act out their dreams. The photographs are devoid of any sporting action – it is when stripped to its essence that Gabie seeks to explore the cultural significance of such a familiar symbol.

An Oriel Mostyn Gallery Touring Exhibition.