Nigel Grimmer's 'Art Drag Album' will be displayed as one of the winners of the Uncertain States Open Call 2015 photography competition and in the Darren Baker Gallery, where it will feature in a Pop Art themed exhibition. A work from the series can also be spotted as a four-metre mural in the Olympic Park.

Nigel, commenting on appearing in the same collection – launching today (October 15) – as world-renowned artists Eduardo Paolozzi and Peter Blake, said, “It’s a real privilege to be mentioned alongside such legends of the art world.”

A multi award-winning photographer himself, Grimmer has exhibited across the world, from London, to New York, to South Korea.

Discussing the work on show, Grimmer said: “Art Drag Album can be seen to represent the social media ‘catfish’, someone who adopts a false identity, particularly to pursue deceptive on-line romances. A series of vintage prints from the 1960s are recycled to create new portraits, where the age and gender of the protagonist is disguised.

“Much of the history of photography is based on a male quest for an exotic other, and these kitsch portraits of strangely hued women reference this ‘otherness’. However I transform these exotic beauties into something jarringly common; now they walk the street in sportswear or pyjamas.”

In the Uncertain States Open Call show, which opened last week (October 8) and showcases the best of fine art photography produced in the UK, Nigel was one of eight prize-winners selected to exhibit. One of the other eight is Grimmer’s former student and University of Bedfordshire alumna, Karolina Lebek, whose work since graduating from the Photography and Video Art course has been described as ‘distinctively personal and poetic’.

“Featuring together with a former student of mine is a good testament to the strong employability and professional practice focus of the Photography and Video Art course and highlights the general quality of teaching in the School of Art and Design,” added Nigel.

“Karolina was a terrific undergraduate, a fantastic photographer and is well deserving of both this exhibition and her place on the Masters programme at the Royal College of Art.”

Uncertain States Open Call 2015 at the Four Corners Gallery will be open until October 17, whilst the group exhibition at the Darren Baker Gallery will run between October 15 and 29.