Marc Alcock – Outside

Exhibition Dates:
* October 30 – December 9

[Pictured: Untitled (detail)]

Featuring 11 photographs from his series, California Topiary, together with 7 new images from his Windows series, made during shelter-in-place using his outdoor garden as an inspiration point, the work comes together within the context of Outside, the title for the exhibition.

In 2010 Marc Alcock moved to San Francisco from the north of England. In contrast to the homogenous style of residential architecture his home town, he found the buildings in California endlessly unique and playful in their design.

In the series California Topiary, Alcock photographed a series of homes around the Bay Area with a distinct relationship with plants and nature. The photographs describe the ways in which we manipulate the natural environment to suit our needs and aesthetic. The home portraits encourage us to welcome and value these considered qualities in our built environment, specifically how plants can function as sculpture – whether monumental, wild or artfully manipulated.

Alcock began his series Windows several years ago finding inspiration in the Mission District of San Francisco but with a growing family and pandemic year, has created more images in his outdoor environments close to home. He has approached floral still lives photographing his subjects through glass using soapy water or paint and looked closely at glass diffractions. The windows images are constructed scenes, made from layers of glass, water, paint and light. A window can be transparent, offering a clear view in or out of a space. However, light and other matter on the glass can change our view.