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Which Way Now?

exhibition • 05 Jul 2024 – 14 Jul 2024
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Which Way Now? Screenings - an exploration of boyhood and the experiences of young people in South Yorkshire.


Which Way Now? explores the lives of young people facing the challenges of the post-pandemic world. Stuck in their family homes due to the rising cost of living, missing out on the freedom and exploration that should define their youth, many find themselves in a ‘suburban purgatory’ with no easy escape.

Corbin Shaw and Alasdair McLellan have documented the lives of boys aged 15-25 from South Yorkshire, exploring boyhood and the reality of young people’s lives today. They speak to them about their hopes, dreams, aspirations and how they are coping to escape the mundane.

Which Way Now? (15 mins) will run on a loop in Site Gallery’s Studio I, from 11am – 5pm.

‘Adolescence is a new birth’ (G Stanley Hall) but does necessary employment mark the end of youth?
I was looking for a job, and then I found a job
And heaven knows I’m miserable now

Artists

Corbin Shaw
Corbin Shaw (b. 1998) is a British artist based in East London, originally from Sheffield. Exploring the complex realm of masculinity through a variety of mediums. Using his upbringing in a South Yorkshire ex-mining town Corbin investigate’s masculinity and how it was defined to him growing up. Breaking stigmas and stereotypes through his re-imagination of masculine ‘icons’ and objects. Corbin Shaw presented his fourth London solo show ‘Little Dark Age’ at Incubator, Marylebone, where he explores modern day Britishness through ancient crafts, exploring what is the meaning of tradition and questioning what it means to be ‘English’ today.
British photographer Alasdair McLellan is renowned for his sensitive approach to photography. Whether portraiture, fashion, landscape or documentary, his work displays a range of charged emotion and beauty. His photography is steeped in narrative, with references both high and low, and profoundly pop, while he effortlessly reflects conversations around gender, sexuality and identity. Alasdair creates a world with roots in his own history and memories of life as a young man growing up in Doncaster, South Yorkshire. It is a world shaped by many elements including British realism, rites of passage, shared experience, and a love of pop music. Against the grain of the digital era in photography, his work has alway been shot entirely on film; a practice in photography which has surged amongst a new generation.

Throughout his career, he has worked extensively for the fashion press, while also working on celebrated advertising campaigns for Louis Vuitton, Dior, Burberry, Calvin Klein, Gucci, Miu Miu, Marc Jacobs Daisy, Palace and Supreme. Over the last decade he has directed music videos for the Pet Shop Boys, and the xx. In 2021, he directed a feature film to accompany St Etienne’s “I’ve Been Trying To Tell You” album. He has published seven books, Ultimate Clothing Company (2013), Ceremony (2016), The Palace (2016), Blondey 15-21 (2019), The Pleasure Book for Boys (2019), Home and Away 1987-2022 Volume 1 Biscuit Billy’s, Volume 2 Seventh Heaven (2023).

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