Exhibition

Event: Modern Vanitas 'The torment and decay of Duchenne.'
Date: 1st - 18th November 2011
Time: 10am - 4pm weekdays
Preview: 31st October 5 - 9pm (meet the artist and free refreshments)
Venue: Eldon Gallery, University of Portsmouth, Eldon Building, Winston Churchill Avenue, Portsmouth PO1 2DJ
Admission: Free

Tyran Hawthorn's first exhibition on Modern Vanitas 'The torment and decay of Duchenne'.

This is an awareness raising exhibition and fundraising charity event for research into Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, an incurable and terminal disease which causes the decay of muscles and difficulties with breathing and movement.

Tyran Hawthorn uses surreal and experimental photographic images to illustrate his mixed emotions of anger at his condition, juxtaposed with his enjoyment of heavy metal music, horror movies and escapist dreams from everyday life.

This fascinating genre of art that features objects rich in morbid symbolism such as skulls, rotting food, and wilting flowers, which are used in order to produce in the viewer's mind an acute awareness of the brevity of life and the inevitability of death.

Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy otherwise known as (DMD), is a devastating genetic muscle wasting disease which is caused by a missing protein. People sadly infected with this, witness their muscles degenerating throughout their entire lives and eventually leading to paralysis and early death. Families struggle to cope with the diagnosis and day to day management of this condition for which there is no cure, and the only hope for families lies in new treatments that can slow or stop DMD in its tracks.

The majority of the proceedings of my exhibition will be going to a charity known as Action Duchenne. This charity is the only National Charity that exclusively funds research for a cure and promotes campaigns for better medical care for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. The essential work that Action Duchenne do is priceless, and I can only hope that my exhibition will take us one step closer to a cure.

When you first get diagnosed with Duchenne, you feel as if you are covered in a shadow of overwhelming emotion as you are given no hope by the doctors. As the arrow of time ticks on, you begin to realise that it is not all 'doom and gloom'. Due to medical advances, you are given a longer life expectancy and with the fight for a cure harder than ever there could be a bright light in sight before the pearly gates. The following statement relates well with this series of work; 'It would seem that photography begins in darkness and death, but ends in light and vision'. 'Disability does not mean inability'. This is my exhibition, this is my work; this is me.

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A sped up segment of my latest studio shoot. I am exploring notions of the cyborg and disability through portraiture Focusing on the way technology helps me to live.