Darren Almond
Fullmoon Series Barts Edition, 2010
C-type prints
Radiotherapy Department, St Bartholomew’s Hospital
Turner Prize nominee, Darren Almond, has created a photographic installation for the new Radiotherapy Department. Running throughout his work is a reflection on time, duration and memory. For these images, the artist has travelled far and wide to remote geographical areas. These pictures are taken in the middle of the night, using only the full moon as a source of light, and an extended time exposure. Entitled Fullmoons, these meditative and evocative photographs are filled with a strange and frozen beauty that creates an immersive environment for patients throughout the waiting area.
“The art around here does not go amiss; there should be more of it. I am not an art aficionado at all but I think these artworks make a nice environment rather than the bare walls generally seen in hospitals. It is not pretentious, but it isn’t just decoration either. The art works that I’ve seen installed on the ground floor and in the basement seem to bring in some light and give an indication of the outside world on the other side of the windowless walls. This art makes the area feel homely without forcing an impression.”
Mark Fielding a patient at Barts Hospital
Participation
In 2023, we re-visited Almond’s photographic installation to pilot a mindful art viewing project with Limina Collective. The collective selected Fullmoon @ Kanaal as the artwork to inspire a mindful 4 minute recording for viewers to listen to as they wait for their appointment. The project offers an alternative way into art, whilst providing a calming and centering exercise in a potentially anxiety inducing environment.
You can read more about the project and listen to the 4 minute recording by clicking on the link below.
About the artist
Darren Almond (b. 1971, Wigan, UK) studied at Winchester School of Art (1990). Over nearly three decades, Almond has developed a practice that explores time, memory, and place through photography, film, painting, and sculpture. His works often arise from extended travels to remote locations, creating evocative portraits of place that question the limits of geography and the act of journeying. Almond’s work frequently reflects personal and historical narratives, including his own familial history.
Almond’s Fullmoon series, initiated in 2000, captures landscapes bathed in moonlight with long exposure photography, transforming them into reflective, dreamlike environments.
Almond has exhibited internationally at institutions including White Cube, London; Tate Britain; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Denmark; and Centre Pompidou-Metz, France. He was shortlisted for the Turner Prize in 2005 and his work is held in prominent collections worldwide. Almond lives and works in London.
Other Commissions by Darren Almond
Looking Up, 2010
Digital prints on lightbox, 2010
Radiotherapy, St Bartholomew’s Hospital
