Charlotte Dumas: Anima & The Widest Prairies

Calming exhibition at the Photographers’ Gallery of work by Charlotte Dumas looking at horses in American culture.

The photographs come from a set called The Wildest Prairies looking at the wild horses of Dayton, Nevada which show the horses wandering round the town scavenging for food and water. This was one of the earliest gold rush towns and the horses symbolise the freedom and dreams of the American West.  In other pictures the horses have been captured and are being tamed by inmates in correctional centres.

In the video installation Anima she films the caisson burial horses of Arlington National Cemetery who carry the caskets of fully honoured soldiers. She shows them sleeping in their stables, a lovely calm image you want to go on watching. It did remind me of Sam Taylor Wood’s video of David Beckham sleeping!

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