Victor Sloan facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Victor Sloan
"Self-Portrait", silver gelatin print, with coloured pencils, 60 cm x 50 cm, 1993
Born	(1945-07-16) 16 July 1945 (age 79) Dungannon, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland
Nationality	British (Northern Irish)
Education	Belfast College of Art, Leeds College of Art and Design
Known for	Photography, Video, Mixed Media
Awards	MBE

Victor Sloan, born in 1945, is a famous photographer and artist from Northern Ireland. He is known for his unique way of changing photos after he takes them. He was even awarded an MBE, which is a special honor from the British Empire!

Discovering Victor Sloan's Art

Victor Sloan was born in 1945 in Dungannon, a town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. He went to art schools in Belfast and Leeds, England. Today, he lives and works in Portadown, County Armagh, Northern Ireland.

How Victor Sloan Creates His Art

Victor Sloan mainly uses photography to create his art. But he doesn't just take pictures! He changes his photo negatives and prints using paints, inks, and dyes. This makes his photos look very different and special. Besides photography, he also uses video and printmaking.

Art Inspired by Life

Sloan's artworks often show his thoughts on important events and ideas around him. He is especially known for his art about the Orange Order. This is a Protestant organization in Northern Ireland. His famous series on this topic include Drumming and The Walk, the Platform and the Field.

Awards and Recognition

Victor Sloan has received many awards for his amazing work.

• In 2002, he was given an MBE.
• He is a member of the Royal Ulster Academy, a group of important artists.
• He is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and the Royal Photographic Society.
• He won the Academy's Conor Prize in 1988 and the Gold Medal in 1995 and 2008.

Major Art Shows

Many galleries have shown Victor Sloan's art.

• The Ormeau Baths Gallery in Belfast had a big show of his work in 2001. It was called Victor Sloan: Selected Works 1980–2000.
• In 2008, the Golden Thread Gallery in Belfast showed History, Locality, Allegiance. This exhibition focused on his video art.

The "Drift" Exhibition

One of Sloan's exhibitions, called Victor Sloan: Drift, told a special story. It was about the Vietnamese boat people who came to live in Craigavon, Northern Ireland, in 1979.

• For this show, Sloan reconnected with a man named Ka Fue Lay. Ka Fue Lay was a teenager when he settled in Craigavon.
• Sloan made a video where Ka Fue Lay talked about his life and showed family photos.
• The exhibition also included Sloan's black and white photos of Craigavon from the late 1970s and early 1980s. He changed these photos by scratching, painting, and bleaching them.

The "Before" Exhibition

In 2017, Sloan's exhibition Before was shown at the Belfast Exposed gallery. This show featured older photos he took in the 1970s and 80s in Northern Ireland.

• These photos showed everyday life, the growth of his hometown Craigavon, and the constant presence of political conflict.
• For Sloan, these photos were like a "sketchbook." They helped him develop his unique style and the themes he became known for.
• The exhibition showed how important Sloan's work is to documenting Northern Irish life.

Books About Victor Sloan

Several books have been written about Victor Sloan and his art. Some of these include:

• Marking the North by Brian McAvera (1989)
• Victor Sloan: Selected Works by Aidan Dunne (2001)
• Victor Sloan: Walk by Jürgen Schneider (2004)
• Luxus by Glenn Patterson (2007)

Exploring Victor Sloan's Photoworks

One famous photo by Victor Sloan is Walk X from 1985. It's a silver gelatin print.

"Belfast Zoo III", silver gelatin print, toner, oil pastel and torn paper, 25 cm x 25 cm, 1983

• In the middle of the picture, you see a police officer in uniform. He is looking at a parade.
• From the left, a huge Lambeg drum sticks out. It's a large drum often used in parades.
• Sloan made the drum look see-through, so you can still see the police officer behind it.
• The drum can be seen as a musical instrument, but also as a symbol of conflict.
• The drum's circles look like a target. This makes you think about how the police, who were mostly Protestant, might have become a target for their own loyalist people.

Understanding Victor Sloan's Videoworks

Victor Sloan also creates powerful video art.

The "Stadium" Installation

One of his video works is a 44-minute video of an old 8 mm movie clip of The Little Rascals. The film loop slowly destroys itself and catches fire.

From Stadium installation

• This video was part of his Stadium art installation in Germany in 2004.
• A writer for The Sunday Times described it as a noisy projector with large prints.
• The prints showed images of Adolf Hitler and the stadium from the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
• The video also showed old footage of children, which made people think about fairness and differences.

The "Walk" Video

Another important video work is Walk, which is 28 minutes long and was made in 2004. It has been shown in many countries around the world.

From Walk video installation

• In Walk, you see an Orange walk (a parade) moving very slowly.
• The marchers seem to disappear into a mirror.
• The sounds are changed, so drumbeats sound like gunshots, and voices sound like groans.
• At the end, the street is empty. A writer for The Irish Times called it a "melancholy piece," meaning it makes you feel a bit sad.

Other Video Works

Sloan's other video works include:

• Drumcree (2001)
• Fishtank (2006)
• Ka Fue Lay (2014)

Selected Exhibitions

Victor Sloan's art has been shown in many exhibitions around the world. Here are some of them:

• EV+A, Exhibition of Visual Art, Limerick, 1981
• Views From Ulster, touring exhibition, 1984-85
• Divisions, Crossroads, Turns of Mind: Some New Irish Art, touring US, Finland and Ireland, 1985–86
• Victor Sloan: Drumming, Belfast, 1986
• Next: Tomorrow, Cambridge, 1986
• Contrasts, Hong Kong, China, 1987
• Critics' Choice, Belfast, 1987
• Directions Out, Dublin, 1987
• Magnetic North, Derry and York, 1987–88
• Selected Images – A Sense of Ireland, London and Bristol, 1988
• Victor Sloan: The Birches, Belfast, 1988
• Ulster Art in the 80s, Dublin, 1988
• Victor Sloan: Walls, Derry, 1989
• Sun Life Awards, Bradford, 1989
• Irish Art of the Eighties, Dublin, 1990
• Victor Sloan: Marking the North, York and Manchester, 1990 – 92
• Victor Sloan: Force Fields, Germany, 1991
• I-D Nationale, Edinburgh, Scotland, 1992
• Victor Sloan: Acts of Faith, Dublin and touring UK, 1992–95
• Bradford Print Exhibition, Bradford, 1993
• Victor Sloan: Initials, Poland, 1994
• Victor Sloan: Borne Sulinowo, Derry, 1995
• The Lie of the Land, Dublin, Paris, and touring Europe, 1995–98
• Victor Sloan: Poza Bornym Sulinowem, Poland, 1996
• Zeitgenössische britische Fotografie, Berlin and Ludwigshafen, Germany, 1997–98
• Victor Sloan: Stadium, Derry, Belfast, Berlin and Munich, Germany, 1998–99
• Revealing Views: Images from Ireland, London, 1999
• Victor Sloan: Portadown, Derry, 2000
• Recent Work from Northern Ireland, Winnipeg, Canada, 2001
• Victor Sloan: Selected Works 1980–2000, Belfast, 2001
• The Public Eye: 50 years of the Arts Council Collection, Belfast, 2002
• Revealed Treasures, Belfast, 2002
• Blue Skies, Grey Mists, Belfast, 2004
• Victor Sloan: Walk, Augsburg, Germany, 2004
• Seeing Orange, Portadown, 2005
• Icons of the North: Collective Histories of Northern Irish Art, Belfast, 2006
• Icons of the North: Collective Histories of Northern Irish Art, Navan, 2006
• Victor Sloan: Walk:, Paris, France, 2006
• Things We May Have Missed, Belfast, 2007
• Victor Sloan: Luxus, Portadown, 2007
• Victor Sloan: Walk:, Dublin, 2007
• Victor Sloan: History, Locality, Allegiance, Belfast, 2008
• Breakthrough, London, 2008–2010
• Drawing a Line: A Contemporary Survey of Northern Irish Art, China, 2008
• A Shout in the Street: Collective Histories of Northern Irish Art, Belfast, 2008
• An Eye for an Eye: Representations of Conflict in Ireland, Cork, 2008/9
• Arts Council of Northern Ireland Troubles Archive Exhibition, Belfast, 2009
• The Northern Ireland Collection: Fresh Perspectives, Wolverhampton, England, 2009/10
• A View From Napoleon's Nose, Taiwan, 2010
• Elective Perspective, Poland, 2010
• The Art of the Troubles, Northern Ireland, 2010
• Victor Sloan: Walk, Syria, 2010
• Portrait of the North, Wolverhampton, England, 2010–2011
• Syrian Artists Talking, Belfast, 2011
• Images: Victor Sloan, Liverpool, England, 2011
• Voices from the Levant, Derry, 2011
• Nepotism+ 1, Belfast, 2012
• Aleppo International Photography Festival, Syria, 2012
• Picturing Derry, Derry, Northern Ireland, 2013
• Northern Ireland: 30 Years of Photography, Belfast, Northern Ireland, 2013
• The Far Away Nearby, Banbridge, 2014
• Art in the Eastside, Belfast, 2013
• Art of the Troubles, Belfast, Northern Ireland, 2014
• Voices Travel: A Conversation Between Two Harbours, Taiwan, 2014
• Craigavon New Town: 50 Years of Modernity, Belfast, 2014
• Victor Sloan: Borne Sulinowo, Belfast, 2014
• Victor Sloan: Drift, Banbridge, Northern Ireland, 2014
• Art of the Troubles, Wolverhampton, England, 2014-2015
• Victor Sloan: The Baron, Belfast, 2015
• Victor Sloan: Before, Belfast, Northern Ireland, 2017
• Conflicting Images: Photography during the Northern Irish Troubles. Belfast, 2017–2018.
• Aleppo, Amsterdam, Holland, 2017
• Crossing Lines, Drogheda, Ireland and Banbridge, Northern Ireland 2018–19.
• Troubles Art, Derry, Northern Ireland, 2019.
• Of people and walls – 30 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Berlin, Germany, 2019–2020.
• Island Life, Bristol, 2021.
• Portrait of Northern Ireland: neither an elegy nor a manifesto, Belfast, 2021.
• Against The Image: Photography. Media. Manipulation, Belfast, Northern Ireland, 2022.
• Images Are All We Have, Dublin, Ireland, 2022.
• Victor Sloan: Beyond, Belfast, 2023.
• Now and Then, Belfast, Northern Ireland. 2024.

Where to Find Victor Sloan's Art

Victor Sloan's artworks are kept in many public collections. This means you can find his art in museums and galleries around the world.

"Route III (Lurgan)", silver gelatin print, toners and gouache.

Some of these places include:

• Imperial War Museum, London
• Ulster Museum, Belfast
• The Arts Council of Northern Ireland
• State Art Collection, Ireland
• Dublin City University
• Martin Parr Foundation, Bristol, England
• Ulster Television Collection, Belfast
• Lamar Dodd Arts Centre, United States
• National Media Museum, Bradford, England
• The Northern Ireland Collection, Wolverhampton Art Gallery
• Museum of International Contemporary Art, Brazil
• Department of Finance and Personnel, Northern Ireland
• North West Arts Trust
• Royal Ulster Academy of Arts
• National Self-Portrait Collection of Ireland, University of Limerick