Domestic Landscapes (A Taste for Art)
Domestic Landscapes (A Taste for Art) is a body of work concerned with the divide between a general publics expectation of art practice and those of an informed audience. This project concentrated on viewers’ notions of art. Steve Hines researched and visually documented a selection of Sunderland residents’ choice of two-dimensional art. The image or painting owned by the resident was photographed in its usual location and environment, for example on the householders Living Room wall. This strand of the research project consists of ten colour photographs providing an insight into the art tastes of a section of the community. The public exhibition of these images creates a voyeuristic opportunity for the audience to view artwork from a private, domestic setting.
The artist was also interested in how people determine what adorns their wall and how well it integrates with their existing Living Room environment. Through this project Hines was able to engage with those whose tolerance of contemporary art is negative and whose interest and enthusiasm to visit galleries is limited. He was also able to ask residents what, in their opinion is art and what is worthy of hanging in a public space. This then lead to the question: Could they envisage work from their Living Room wall being exhibited in a public space? The answer to that question resulted in a separate exhibition and installation at the Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art, Sunderland.
Steve Hines was born in Nottingham, England. After initially working in the commercial printing industry for 14 years he returned to full time education and graduated with a First Class BA (Hons) Degree in Photography, Video & Digital Imaging from the University of Sunderland and several years later a Masters Degree in Fine Art from Byam Shaw at Central Saint Martins. He has been exhibiting multi-disciplinary work regularly and widely for over a decade now. Steve lives and works in London.
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