Matter of Facts. Photographie Art Contemporain en Grande-Bretagne. 24 juin - 31 aout 1988.

Nantes, Musée des Beaux-Arts, 1988. Exhibition catalog with full page illustrations of artists that use photography in Great Britain. Photographers include Stuart Brisley, Hannah Collins, John Davies; Willy Doherty, Craigie Horsfield; Chris Killip; Jo Spence, and Boyd Webb. Essay in French and English by Jean-Francois Chevrier and James Lingwood. Includes biographical notes and exhibition checklist. Wraps, 88 pages, small stain where price label removed, light crimps on pages and cover, otherwise near fine with custom-made 4 mil polyester jacket. Summary:

Matter of Facts: Photographie Art Contemporain en Grande-Bretagne is an 87-page contemporary art exhibition catalog documenting a major traveling showcase of British photography in France. Co-curated and authored by prominent art theorists Jean-François Chevrier and James Lingwood, the volume was published to accompany the initial exhibition at the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Nantes, which ran from June 24 through August 31, 1988.

Key Focus Areas

• The British Avant-Garde: Written in both English and French, the catalog serves as a critical survey of British contemporary artists who were using photography to push past the boundaries of traditional, passive documentary practice during the late Thatcher era.

• The Curated Roster: The publication brings together a diverse, highly influential group of eight vanguard artists and photographers. The featured contributors include Chris Killip, Jo Spence, Hannah Collins, John Davies, Willie Doherty, Craigie Horsfield, Stuart Brisley, and Boyd Webb.

• The "Matter of Facts" Concept: The core thematic thread explores a distinct tension between objective realism and artistic construction. The essays interrogate how these artists repurposed the inherent factual quality of the photographic medium—the "matter of fact"—to construct highly subjective, poetic, or explicitly political narratives.

• Social and Conceptual Diversity: The curated imagery highlights a vast spectrum of creative approaches defining late-20th-century British art. It bridges raw, humanistic documentation of working-class communities and industrial decay with stark conceptual landscapes, performance art records, and highly staged, allegorical studio tableaus.