Photo provided by the artist.

Transmutations: Visualizing Matter | Materializing Vision

A multimedia exhibition by filmmaker and photographer Jesse Andrewartha

Said to be the most common naturally occurring radioactive element on Earth, uranium is a symbol of the nuclear age baptized in fission. It brought energy and nuclear fire, changing the geopolitical landscape forever.

Join us at Cineworks on May 7 at 7pm, at our black box studio, for the inauguration of Jesse Andrewartha's solo multimedia exhibition, Transmutations: Visualizing Matter. Captured over the course of three years using exclusively analog silver halide film, Transmutations explores the history, legacy, and radioactivity of uranium mining during the twentieth century in Canada and the US, from sub-Arctic regions of Canada to a quarter mile inside the historic uranium mines of southern Utah.

Photo provided by the artist.

Through 35mm film, digital video and images that utilize the alternative photographic processes palladiotype and uranotype, Transmutations reveals the mineral, the people whose lives have been impacted by uranium, the ex-miners that toiled decades underground, Indigenous leaders and activists leading the charge to clean up the mines and the places that shifted the balance of power on a global scale.

Schedule

Photo provided by the artist.

The exhibition will run from May 7 to May 15, 2022.

Biographical Overview

Photo provided by the artist.

Jesse Andrewartha is a Canadian filmmaker, photographer and visual effects artist specializing in historical and obscure darkroom techniques using analogue ultra large format and motion picture film. Jesse's work uses the photographic image to examine the collision between humankind and the physical world, the connection of the viewer to this struggle and domains that extend beyond our senses. Jesse holds a Bachelor of Science (Hons) (Photography) from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (1997) and has screened and shown work in group contexts at festivals such as Capture Photography Festival and The Vancouver Art Gallery. He is a 2018 recipient of an Explore and Create grant from the Canada Council of the Arts for Transmutations and a member of the Atomic Photographer’s Guild, an international group dedicated to making visible all facets of the nuclear age.

Photo provided by the artist.

We wish to thank our generous funders for helping to make this event possible—Canada Council, BC Arts Council, the City of Vancouver, and the Province of British Columbia.

Practical Details

This series takes place in the Cineworks black box studio at 1131 Howe Street. Our entrance is located in the back alley behind the Pacific Cinematheque.

Metered parking is available on the street, and several parking lots are located nearby.

The exhibition is free to attend.