Haley Morris-Cafiero
Invisible in Plain Sight

21 September – 21 October 2020
Our gallery remains closed. This exhibition is in the gallery windows and online only.
In-conversation: Wednesday 7 October, 6:30pm via Zoom

Invisible in Plain Sight is a poignant new two-part project from photographer Haley Morris-Cafiero, which attempts to highlight issues around social invisibility and to inspire social change. 

With no ethnic group in a majority, Luton has been described as a ‘plural’ town since 2011. While this results in the town being one of the UK’s most diverse and culturally rich, it is also possible, as the artist has observed on her research visits to Luton, that its many different communities live their own lives and are invisible to each other. Morris-Cafiero’s series explores ideas of social invisibility and isolation asking whether these could be as destructive as more aggressive or overt forms of discrimination. 

This project, which will culminate in a major exhibition at Departure Lounge next year, is introduced through a series of 15 of the artist‘s self-portraits, produced in her studio, due to lockdown restrictions. Painted and costumed to match the landscape of different urban locations across the town, the artist uses maps of Luton as backdrops, providing a sense of place and grounding for the often absurd and somewhat unsettling, but always striking, self-portraits presented in this exhibition.

This initial stage of the project aims to act as a catalyst for conversation, debate and perhaps intrigue amongst our visitors and passers-by.

Donning the costumes and paint produced for this initial series, Morris-Cafiero will return to Luton in Spring 2021, photographing herself on location in the town camouflaged in the landscape, invisible to the public walking by.

Haley Morris-Cafiero can be described as part performer, part artist, part provocateur, part spectator, exploring the act of reflection through her photography. Born in Atlanta, and based in Belfast, her photographs have been widely exhibited in solo and group exhibitions throughout the United States and abroad, and have featured in numerous newspapers, magazines and online including Le Monde, New York Magazine and Salon.

Invisible in Plain Sight is generously funded by Arts Council England. It is organised by Departure Lounge and is delivered in partnership with The Culture Trust.