£2,000.00
________
Gareth McConnell’s photographs capture bodies suspended in a state of uncertainty—bleached by light, arms raised in gestures that hover between surrender and exaltation. The figures seem caught in a moment beyond time, weightless, their hands reaching toward something unseen. Is this an act of devotion, abandonment, or something more unknowable? The ambiguity lingers, the body both exposed and transcendent, vulnerable yet radiant.
The raised arms evoke a long history of gesture—at once recalling the supplicant, the celebrant, the condemned. The cruciform echoes subtly, but without resolution. There is no clear narrative, no fixed meaning—only the stark contrast of blinding brightness and encroaching darkness. The body, emptied of definition, becomes a vessel for projection, a fleeting apparition on the edge of disappearance.
Light in McConnell’s work is both revelation and erasure. The overexposed bodies appear weightless, as if dissolving into their surroundings, while the void presses in at the edges, a darkness that feels just as consuming as the light. This tension—between presence and absence, rapture and fragility—imbues the images with a quiet unease.
In these works, we are left hovering alongside the figures, held in the space between ascension and oblivion. The raised hands do not offer answers, only the silent question of what comes next.
________
‘In all likelihood, The Dream Meadow is a fabrication of bodies photographed on a stage, perhaps even production stills from an unknown Macbeth. They are assembled in such a way that makes one consider their genesis in their abundance and togetherness in front of McConnell’s lens, but after a cursory examination, the “who’s” of the matter dissipate into the “why’s”. There remains an air of ritual in the work, the frames feel tremulous and recall the British folk tradition of Pagan Horror that made their way through the 70s and 80s via Hammer and other “weird folk Britania” outlets. There is nothing horrific per se here, but the indulgence of witchery, herbal psychedelia and pagan tribalism are apparent. It could be a by-product of Gareth’s age and interests, but obliquely I suspect that there is a precise interest in using the body and its movements as a stalwart against the state.’
Brad Feuerhelm | American Suburbs X
________
'There are theories that young people rely on celestial cues for orientation and are attracted to lights which may correspond to stars and the moon. In the natural world intense light sources other than celestial ones do not exist. Some urban young people have learned to ignore artificial light, but continue to use other means of orientation, avoiding those that are lethal. But many others of course do not, and fly into the heat of the light to perish'
Neal Brown, Stinky Words
________
‘Gareth McConnell’s recent projects are essays in youthful bodies, saturated colors, and floral forms. They resemble stills from a cult initiation ceremony, a psychedelic clinical trial, or a nudist photography club. Their unexplained nature is countered by a calibrated use of color, as if shade and tint, not form, unlock their meaning.'
Alistair O’Neill, Aperture