Archive

Death Drive
Dean Rogers, Deborah Levy and Billy Cowie (4 October – 1 November 2009)

Jayne Mansfield (1967) by Dean Rogers, 2006
Jayne Mansfield (1967) by Dean Rogers, 2006

Film stills photographer, Dean Rogers, has meticulously photographed the sites where nine iconic subjects died in car accidents: Jayne Mansfield, Marc Bolan, Helmut Newton, Grace Kelly, Jackson Pollock, Eddie Cochrane, Princess Diana, James Dean and Albert Camus. Rogers recreated the precise position of the car before impact and the view out of the windscreen. Each image was taken on the anniversary of the accident and at the exact time. The result is nine haunting images, made strange by the knowledge of who died in the landscapes.

Deborah Levy wrote a text titles A–Z Death Drive in response to the images, which was printed on large boards and installed within the gallery. Billing Cowie create a soundtrack for the exhibition.