Time stands still for no man. And that very much feels the case in Jericho right now, as this ancient little high street morphs around our ears and before our eyes, writes Sarah Mayhew. Picking up on this feeling of unrest, unknown, and the slight awkwardness that hangs in the air Art Jericho presents Away, a photographic exhibition by Oxford-based artist Sharon Boothroyd, and Hampshire-based artist Tim Crooks. Encapsulating different notions of absence Boothroyd and Crooks present separate bodies of work that come together to portray the impact of loss on individuals and society alike.

Sharon Boothroyd’s poignant photography points a lens on absent fathers and their children, putting the emotions and issues regarding the removal of the father from domestic family life into sharp focus through her series If you get married again, will you still love me?

Tim Crooks’ abandoned institutions possess echoes of Art Jericho’s March exhibition Coming Down: The Radcliffe Infirmary, a photographic exhibition by local artist Rob Judges.

Crooks highlights the fascinating void that is left when human intervention is removed from society in his body of work Knowle Hospital Asylum.

If you get married again, will you still love me? is a tear-jerking series of carefully staged scenarios of gathered memories, of words spoken to separated fathers by their children. Boothroyd translated these memories into visual representations; drawing upon emotions the child may have been dealing with at the time, and in doing so distancing the memory from what the viewer sees before them.

Reflecting upon memories we all know how powerful they can be, but are unsure of the degree to which they have become distorted over time. These painfully beautiful portraits draw on that exact point. Some more clearly staged than others, the images operate like film stills, giving conscious access to private and intimate moments. The modest composition of these photographs emphasizes the subject, as the works honestly portray common relational struggles with disappointment, anger, over-compensation and jealousy.

West Park is a series of photographs by Tim Crooks that explores a derelict asylum in Surrey that opened in the 1920s and closed in the 1990s. The asylum, penned as being “the last great asylum built for London’s insane,” once housed over 2,000 psychiatric patients at one time, but now lies abandoned, awaiting redevelopment.

Forsaken medical apparatus and ex-patient’s personal items bear witness to the history of this once complex social space. However, since closing its doors to the chosen, some members of the public are re-entering this highly-charged empty institution seeking their own solace during the twilight hours, leaving their own marks on the building and redefining the boundaries set by the asylum. Through capturing an essence of the grey area that surrounds free will and normative life Crooks invites the viewer to contemplate the metaphorical implications for both mental health and institutionalisation in a broader sense.

Away presents the work of two fascinating artists, both excellent photographers whose captivating works gently tease the viewer into addressing significant socio-political issues that sit constantly at our doorstep.

  • Art Jericho is at 6 Kings Street, Oxford, OX2 6DF
  • See artjericho.com
  • Away continues until August 19 Gallery opening hours: Wednesday to Saturday 11am-5pm, Sunday 1-5pm.