BECKY TYRRELL
The Last Raceway
Exhibition: Saturday 17 June – Saturday 24 June.
Open 11-5pm Fri & Sat (or by appointment)
"Some people go to race... other's go to crash"
Auction House and Back Lane West are delighted to welcome you to the first show in a new collaboration for 2023 with AH x BLW, a series of exhibitions due to take place here at Back Lane West over the next 12 months.
Known historically as a residency space, BLW has hosted artists from all over the world during the past 15 years, but has never staged standalone exhibitions, until now. Due to Auction House being temporarily without a home while the major renovation project at the Buttermarket takes place, this collaboration between the two projects was born.
We are thrilled that the first in this series of shows is with winner of the Portrait of Britain Award 2020 and 2021, photographer Becky Tyrrell, and her project, The Last Raceway.
The Last Raceway tells the story of the United Downs banger racing track in St Day, near Redruth, which is currently under threat of demolition after 50 years of activity. With plans in place to build a new tourist attraction on the site, if successful this would mark the end of a significant part of local history, as well as cutting off a lifeline for many.
The body of work was made over 18 months and is part celebration, part protest - documenting an important period of Cornish history, and the dedicated community who have used the track for generations.
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Becky Tyrrell (b.1991) is a photographer living and working in rural Cornwall, UK. Since graduating from Falmouth University, she has turned her lens to those around her, focusing on portraiture and social documentary, fascinated with themes of identity, class and what it is to be human. Tyrrell won the Portrait of Britain prize, hosted by British Journal of Photography, in both 2020 & 2021. In 2022 her first book, The Last Raceway, was published by Guest Editions, London.
