One afternoon in 2005, I came across a tin full of cigarette cards at a flea market. I leafed through to look more closely at the miniature pin-ups. I noticed the backs of the cards with the dated biographies of the girls on the cards. I selected all the dancers from the tin (there were actresses, models, swimmers and tennis players I rejected, no one in the tin I had heard of before) and bought all of them. As I walked home, I decided to recreate all the photographs using myself as the model. The original cigarette cards were objects to be held, looked at closely. They were private cards to view, collect and exchange. As enclosures in cigarette packs in the late 1930s, it was presumed that these were gifts for a male consumer. Looking at them with contemporary eyes, they look glamorous, innocent, staged and seductive.
An audio piece. I recount some formative art encounters, in order to think about what remains of the encounter. The afterwards reflections; did these experiences form the artist I am now? I presented this as part of the Mid-Residency group show at CalArts.
I’ve listed below editions available to buy. Postage is free within the UK for these smaller items. Please contact me for shipping costs overseas and larger, framed items, at ajc@alisonjcarr.net or alliejcarr@gmail.com.
If you are interested in my other pieces, you can take a look at my Instagram feed, and Price List, and get in touch if anything interests you. Feel free to arrange to visit me in my studio too, I’m in Exchange Place, Sheffield City Centre, Sheffield S2 5TR.
The Night
Written in the aftermath of the murder of Sarah Everard, this uplifting novella explores the fraught journey from sexual visibility but lack of agency, through to self-possession and refusal to fear the night. Divided into three ‘selves’ (The Girl, The Showgirl, and The Goddess), the text draws on formative experiences, dreams, and rebellious decisions, and is illustrated with new artwork.
(Content warning: themes of rape/sexual violence)
SOLD OUT
Last remaining copies available through Site Gallery, Sheffield
Ascending A Staircase
An ongoing series of theatre interior photographs. 34 cm x 34 cm, giclee archival prints, Innova smooth cotton high white paper, 100% cotton. You can purchase all four of the theatre prints below for £200, please get in touch with me.
See Price List for the expanded collection of photographs.
All theatre photographs are also available in a larger print edition, 84 cm x 84 cm, edition of 5 available for £700 unframed.
Ascending A Staircase, City Varieties, Leeds, 1865
Edition of 15
Unframed £60
Postage free
Ascending A Staircase, Penistone Paramount, Penistone, 1914
Edition of 15
Unframed £60
Postage free
Ascending A Staircase, Darlington Hippodrome, Darlington, 1907
Edition of 15
Unframed £60
Postage free
A Place To Perform (Because Other Places Were Inhospitable)
Digital print, 260gsm paper, A3 (420 mm x 297 mm) Edition of 14. Unframed £30. Postage free
The Many
Digital print, 260gsm paper, A3 (420 mm x 297 mm) Edition of 30. Unframed £30. Postage free
I Saved You From Obscurity, Others Are Not So Lucky
Multiple of 100 boxes, A5 size, 1cm deep, individually numbered and signed. Each contains a hand dark-room printed black & white silver gelatin photograph produced from a selection of found negatives bought in a flea market in Paris.
Three people outside church
£50
Sale £25
Postage free
Ladies leaning over gate
£50
Sale £25
Postage free
Beach tall lady
£50
Sale £25
Postage free
Beach scene
£50
Sale £25
Postage free
Interior with mirror
£50
Sale £25
Postage free
Interior with drawers
£50
Sale £25
Postage free
Wish You Were Here, Real Photographs (2008)
Hand-printed black & white silver gelatin prints. Recreations of original 1939 cigarette cards. A copy of the reverse of the original card comes with each print.
Mlle. de Bremont
8” x 10” edition of 15
Unframed £80
Postage free
Ginette Vrala
8” x 10” edition of 15
Unframed £80
Postage free
Iya
8” x 10” edition of 15
Unframed £80
Postage free
Jacqueline Ford
8” x 10” edition of 15
Unframed £80
Postage free
Maria Gregor
8” x 10” edition of 15
Unframed £80
Postage free
Erni Erika
8” x 10” edition of 15
Unframed £80
Postage free
Maryse Grandt
8” x 10” edition of 15
Unframed £80
Postage free
Getty Jasonne
8” x 10” edition of 15
Unframed £80
Postage free
Les Girls Portfolio: Ginette Vrala, Jacqueline Ford, Iya, Maria Gregor, Catherine Hamilton, Maryse Grandt