About

Photo © Giovanna Paternò

Veronica Bailey is a British Fine Art photographer based in London, specialising in visiting archives and producing photographic series with emphasis on conceptual thinking and historical narrative. Her work continues to explore nostalgia for the threatened forms of human communication and knowledge dissemination and the lure of traditional forms of paper and script in an monotonously digitized age. In her photographs Bailey works with everyday life objects, which have been carefully arranged. Books and letters are composed in ways that seem to resemble sculptures of geometrical forms.Sometimes traces of text are visible, but the context of the works remains enigmatic. The viewer has to reflect on the photographs in order to find a personal way of interpreting the works.

Veronica graduated with her Masters from Central St. Martins in 2003. She won a Jerwood Photography Award for the 2 Willow Road Series 2003 featuring the abstract photographs of books from the National Trust library of the modernist architect Ernö Goldfinger and his wife Ursula Blackwell. Postscript series 2005, documents a small but revealing archive of letters and telegrams (1937 1945) written by model/muse/photographer Lee Miller during her years as US war correspondent in World War II and British Surrealist artist Roland Penrose (1900-1984) prior to their marriage in 1947. The About Face series accompanied Postscript; drawing attention to inspiring female surrealist artists. Hours of Devotion & Shelf Life series 2007 delves into the Coutts bank staff library on the Strand producing monumental works inspired by 19th century bookbinding and philanthropist Angela Burdett-Coutts (1814-1906). The Limited Time 2009 series of palm trees (Fuji Instax Mini Polaroids) is a brief departure from large scale photography but Bailey returns in 2010 with the Modern Myths series featuring newspapers, highlighting the visual language between human nature, war, money and power in the media. 2012 showcases a unique photographic text series Hermes Baby 2011 which experiments with traditional black and white film and darkroom processes along with the journalism of the Americian war correspondent Marguerite Higgins (1920-1966) who worked for The New York Herald Tribune.

Colourfields 2014 observes decay and renewal through a poetic application ( John Keats ) of aniline dye inks on landscape photographs. In 2016 Glass Ladies : Trading on British Class, Bailey returns to the library setting at The Courtauld Institute of Art, discovering boxes of large glass negatives belonging to fine art photographer Paul Laib (1869-1958) with paper trade journals sandwiched between, revealing new portraits of the sitters, remodelled unwittingly as advertising mannequins. Breakwaters 2019 continues an interest in conflating imagery through intervention. A new perspective nods to the inspirational work of Suffolk artist and printmaker Prunella Clough (1919-1999). Without Warranty 2022 is the latest series produced during Covid 19 pandemic ( 2020-2022) where museums, galleries and archives were shut. A time of reflection with family resulted in a new dynamic series where Bailey rediscovers her mother's childhood knitting patterns, manipulating the cover models creating a vibrant portrait of teenage sub culture.

Solo shows in UK and internationally USA, Korea, Canada, Germany & Switzerland. Press features include Portfolio, Art Forum, Hotshoe International, Eye, Guardian, FT, Photomonitor & Zoom. Work in UK and International Collections and shown at Art and Photography Fairs worldwide.

Veronica supports charities and trusts through her art where possible: Photovoice, Room to Read, Merlin, Laurence Sterne Trust, LACE, Lincoln Centre NY, Cancer Research. In 2017 Veronica became a Trustee to The Swiss Cultural Fund in UK.

Archives:
Ernö Goldfinger_ 2 Willow Road The National Trust London
Lee Miller Archive _Farley Farm Sussex
Angela Burdett - Coutts _ Coutts Bank London
Marguerite Higgins _ University of Syracuse New York
Henry Poole Archive _Savile Row London
Kathleen Ferrier Archive _Blackburn Museum
The de Laszlo Gift of Paul Laib Negatives _Witt Library, The Courtauld Institute of Art London
The National Archives _Kew London
Prunella Clough : Tate Archive London