Sarah Ball 'Accused'

S A R A H B A L L | A C C U S E D

In the 19th Century the social sciences of anthropology, ethnology and

sociology all gained legitimacy. Photography was used to document such

studies and seen to embody the new authority of empiricism.

Police photographic archives record the faces of the ‘accused’. Used to evidence

the pathology of crime and criminals, photography was thought to connect

outward physical appearance and inner character traits. In essence it was

believed good people ‘looked good’ and morally bad people ‘looked ugly’.

They searched for; “The harmony of moral beauty and physical beauty… the

science of discovering the relation between the exterior and interior – between

the visible surface and the invisible spirit it covers…” Johann Kasper Lavater.

(Essays on Physiognomy: Designed to Promote the Knowledge and Love of Mankind. Vol

1. London. John Murray 1789)

Photographic images however are not objective statements of fact. They are

subjective representations of the truth interpreted but the camera, the viewer

and now, the painter.

The work in this exhibition is sourced primarily from police criminal archives

– I am interested in the act of translation; from the apparent certainty of the

photographic record to the malleable quality of paint, my work calls into

question history, memory and story.

Sarah Ball 2012

Thie f (Of Fur Coat)

o i l on gessoed pane l . 18 x 13 cm

2

5

Vagrant


6

Burglar


Act iv i s t

o i l on gessoed pane l . 18 x 13 cm8

Female Impersonator


9

Thie f


10

Abort ionis t


13

Conspirator & Co Conspirator

o i l on gessoed pane l . d ip tych . 18 x 13 cm each

14

Informers


17

Sly Grogger


18

Vagrant


21

Unknown

oi l on gessoed pane l . 18 x 13 cm22

Unknown

oi l on gessoed pane l . 18 x 13 cm23

Gang Member


25

Trai tor


26

I l l egal i s t


Anarchis t


Assai lant


30

Prost i tute


Gang Member


34

Male Impersonator


37

Gangster


38

Fraudster


Published by Millennium to coincide with the exhibition ‘Accused’ by Sarah Ball

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Interview Film by Alban Roinard and Joseph Clarke

ISBN 978-1-905772-54-4

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M I L L E N N I U M

Sarah Ball 'Accused'

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