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The Wapping Project,
London |
Annabel
Elgar, Elina Brotherus and Ailbhe Ni Bhrian
15 June 2008 to 13 July 2007
Three powerful young European women show photographs
and films at The Wapping Project:
REFUGE, a new suite of photographs by Annabel
Elgar
MY HAPPINESS IS ROUND by Elina Brotherus in
collaboration with Hanna Brotherus and Lauri
Astala
IMMERGENCE by Ailbhe Ni
Bhrian
REFUGE
Annabel
Elgar's new photographs move away from the idyllic backdrops
and broken narratives of her earlier work to focus on imagined
characters who choose to retreat to the fringes, where puppets
and poisoned vermin provide substitute soul mates. Elgar
notates the passage of time in a wealth of faded mementoes on
the walls and discloses contemporary obsessions in a
disconcerting and disturbing world.
Annabel Elgar's work
has featured in numerous international exhibitions throughout
Europe and North America as well as here in the UK, including
two major outings at The Wapping Project. Current exhibitions
include In Our World: New Photography in Britain at the
Galleria Civica di Modena, Italy, curated by Filippo Maggia,
(accompanied by a SKIRA publication) and No end in sight at
Galerie Polaris in Paris.
MY HAPPINESS IS ROUND is a short
film about childhood, growing up and the uncertainty of life:
What does love mean? What does important mean? Where do I come
from? A gentle and elegiac film shot in Elina's French home.
Elina Brotherus is one of Europe's pre-eminent
photographers and film makers. She as shown at The Wapping
Project - Spring a triptych, 2001, for which she was short
listed for the Citigroup Private Bank Photography Prize 2002
and Baigneurs a three screen site specific work (2004).
Brotherus' work is held in major museums and private
collections world wide. She lives between Helsinki and
Paris.
IMMERGENCE
Ailbhe Ni Bhriain won
the Jerwood Drawing Prize Student Award for her video
"Immergence". Her work has been screened at the World Wide
Video Festival in Amsterdam, with the British Council at the
Helsinki Photography Festival, 2005 and most recently in the
exhibition 'El Lienzo Es La Pantalla' at the Museo Reina
Sofia, Madrid. She. held her first solo show at Domobaal,
London, in April of this year. In March 2008 she will show in
the European Exhibition of Young Artists in Brussels, selected
by the International Association of Art Critics.
IMMERGENCE is shown courtesy of Domobaal Gallery,
London
Image:
Annabel Elgar
The Rehearsal
2007
102 x 127cm C-type print
Edition of 5
Courtesy of the artist and The Wapping Project,
London
Annabel Elgar prints are in a limited edition of
5 and available for purchase/order £1800.
Inquires to 020
7680 2080 or jules @ thewappingproject.com
The Wapping
ProjectWapping Hydraulic Power Station Wapping
Wall London E1W 3SG
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Galerie Caprice Horn,
Berlin |
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Mitra Tabrizian
Beyond the limits
13 June 2008 to 23 Aug 2008
The theory of progress in history focuses essentially on
3 aspects : history as progression, decline or as a repetitive
cycle. The issue as to whether our current situation is
preferable to yesteryear is hypothetical and ultimately
subjective. The inherent paradox and uncertainty pertaining to
this, is exquisitely captured in the work of the
Iranian-British photographer and film director Mitra
Tabrizian. In her body of work which started in the 80ies,
Tabrizian questions our assumption that developments in recent
years have in fact been progress and shows us the downside of
our postmodernist society ie isolation, moral decay and the
increasingly psychopathic tendencies in corporate cultures.
Progress clearly has a downside which is only too evident in
Tabrizian's work, as typified by the emotional coldness
portrayed in several of her works: especially in the image of
the twins from the "Beyond the limits" series, who remain
coldly indifferent whilst their father commits
suicide.
Tabrizian's work is deeply influenced by the writings
of Baudrillard and Lyotard and in general the
post-structuralistic French theory. This theoretical
foundation forms the basis of Tabrizian's analysis and her
assessment of the apparent progress and reality in society.
Security, future, work or communication essentially are
outward appearances of the innate tendency to consume
ruthlessly under the disguise of progress.
The malfunction in this development interests
Tabrizian. Consider the high number of suicides after the
economical recession in the 90ies. Is cloning really a sign of
progress? How is individuality maintained in a highly
regulated society? What is essential and what is the façade of
success? In a highly ironical work Tabrizian portrays her view
of the art world ie a group of self important protagonists
"networking", with no evidence of art in the background. Yet
it is precisely this art world which is now consuming
Tabrizian and heralding her work with great enthusiasm: "Art
is reduced to nothing but an aesthetic harassment!" (M.
Tabrizian). She confronts us similarly in her series "Lost
Time" (2002) with the latent ageism and insatiable pressure to
perform inherent in society.
Mitra
Tabrizian has excelled in showing the despair, the
coldness, the over regulated void in her highly staged
photographs with a meticulous attention to detail and
lighting. She captures the zeitgeist albeit in a self critical
way. In view of the developments, globalisation et al, this
couldn't come at a more opportune time. Her highly acclaimed
work culminates in a well deserved and highly anticipated solo
show at the Tate Britain ("This is that Place", 4 June - 10
August 2008) as well as a parallel group show at the Tate
Modern (Street & Studio, an urban history of photography",
22 May - 31 August 2008) and in the solo show at the Gallery
Caprice Horn called "Beyond the limits" (13 June - 23 August
2008).
Image:
Mitra Tabrizian
From the series
Beyond the Limits
2000, 122x152 cm, Kodak Type C, Editions
of 5 and 2AP
Courtesy of Galerie Caprice horn, Berlin
Galerie Caprice Horn
Kochstr.
60
10969 Berlin
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Urban Culture Project,
Kansas
City, MO |
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Considering the monuments: video art from the
east coast
Curated by Megan and Murray McMillan
Third Friday opening: June 20, 6-9 pm
June 20-July
19, 2008
Boston, New York City, Providence: these are
three of the oldest and most historic cities in the United
States. Each has been and is still home to a vast number of
working artists and has had a front row seat for the first few
hundred years of American art history. Considering the
Monuments: Video Art from the East Coast looks at nine artists
living in these cities. How do the artists who live and work
in these cities contend with the weight of that history? How
do artists living in these cities envision the future?
This diverse collection of videos, presented as a
single-channel program of approximately 40 minutes, was
curated by Megan and Murray McMillan, an artist-partnership
collaborating in video, photography and installation. Based in
Providence, Rhode Island, they are represented by Qbox Gallery
in Athens, Greece and have exhibited nationally and
internationally including at the National Museum of Art in La
Paz, Bolivia, White Flag Projects in St. Louis, and Sound Art
Space in Laredo, Texas. They are beneficiaries of several
awards including grants from the Dallas Museum of Art and
Purdue University, and recently participated in the 10th
International Istanbul Biennial (2007) in Turkey.
The exhibition features recent video works by
Pawel Wojtasik, Julia Hechtman, Timothy Hutchings,
Joseph Tekippe, David Politzer, Brian Hutcheson, Rupert
Nesbitt, Peter Owen, and Nade Haley.
Whether exploring the new landscapes of public waste (Pawel
Wojtasik's Landfill), posing an apocalyptic entreaty (Julia
Hechtman's Before the Fall), merging iconic American tourist
destinations with intimate storytelling (David Politzer's Mt.
Rushmore and Niagara Falls), or juxtaposing street-level
images and GPS data to portray a walk around Manhattan (Joseph
Tekippe's 24 Hours Walking Manhattan: [Excerpt]), the artists
represented in this exhibition consider the history and
narrative of place and attempt to find their own place within
it.
Image:
Pawel Wojtasik
Courtesy of
the artist
Urban Culture PROJECT SPACE
21 E.
12th Street
Kansas City
Missouri
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galerie davide gallo,
Berlin |
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Siberian Fieldworks
Carlos
Casas
On June 14th, 2008, galerie davide gallo
has the pleasure of presenting a solo show by the Spanish
artist Carlos Casas.
Seduced by the image of cinema, the gaze of Carlos
Casas runs through the years in which this art drew its
meaning not from the aesthetic ability to develop facts, but
from the courage to tell their truth. We are reminded of
'Flaherty' 'Nanook From the North' and 'Man of Aran', where
the fight against the forces of Nature and the desire to
control it, has been reduced to just trying to deal with
events as they come in order to survive. In compliance with
this high tradition, also to satisfy his own personal
narrative needs.
In accordance with this high tradition, and also to
satisfy his own personal narrative needs, the aesthetics of
Carlos Casas almost does not process the raw film material;
rather, his film is a natural flowing of time and places. In
fact, the artifices and techniques related to post-production
are almost completely absent, leaving the film free to
runÊaccording to a spontaneous logic. The editing tends to
respect the natural rhythm of events. There isn't elaboration:
Carlos Casas ensures us that reality is already magical in and
of itself; we need just the right perspective.
There are two pillars that underpin the narration of
Casas: Man and Nature. There is no antagonism between them,
but rather a mutual understanding.
Casas recalls the romantic myth of the "State of
Nature", and enriches it in a modern and anthropological
sense. The Spanish artist, in fact, documents the lucid
awareness that his heroes have beeing confronting themselves
with Nature so concretely, without idealism. This is the case
of the sequence with the reindeers in "Tundra" and in the hunt
of the whales in "Hunters since the beginning of Time". This
"practical" dialogue of archaic societies and Nature has
nothing unscrupulous or aggressive. Man and Nature are two old
friends forced against their will to play a game: one wins
today, tomorrow wins another. From a syntactical point of view
it is worth noting that the visual aspect alone is not
sufficient to render merit to the sublime art of Carlos Casas.
The soundtrack plays a decisive role in the syntax of the
film, with ambient sounds, minimal compositions and often
live-sets. (One is reminded of this set on the boat of the PS1
in June 2007 during the opening of the Biennale of Venice).
This is not simply a soundtrack, but a pure aesthetic
experience. The track neither guides nor emphasizes the image,
but has its own autonomy. At the same time, however, it is
never anarchic. Rather, it always aims to suggest an
alternative path of perception. With regard to style, it is
worth emphasising must specify that Carlos Casas often builds
his films in order to arrange a sequence more sensitive to the
internal and independent gramatic of the work than to its
exterior plausibility. The film refers to its own internal
laws of gravity; whether these impose a different rhythm,
divided into two or three channels of projection, Carlos Casas
does not hesitate to impart the necessary explaining tools to
his work.
Being such master of style is not (and is never) a
celebration of his own capacity, but rather a humble desire to
engulf the onlooker in an amplified emotion - a place where
the meaning of things is lost and the horizons bleed. Where
few tracks survive, we are reminded of one terrestrial, and
then a divine, sense of Nature.
Carlos Casas has participated in
noteworthy events such as: Pan Screening, Palazzo delle Arti
di Napoli, curated by Julia Draganovic, Music in progress,
Centre d'art Contemporani de Barcelona, Locarno Film Festival,
Forward Fendi, Fondazione Alda Fendi, curated by Andrea
Bruciati, Netmage Bologna.
Image:
Carlos
Casas
Hunters since the becginning of time
Photo from
the video - 2007
Courtesy of galerie davide gallo
galerie davide gallo
Linienstr.
156
10115 Berlin
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Elizabeth Dee Gallery, New
York |
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Harry Dodge & Stanya
Kahn
June 14 - August 2,
2008
Elizabeth Dee Gallery is pleased
to present an exhibition of new work by Harry Dodge
and Stanya Kahn, featuring three short videos and the
presentation in the main gallery of All Together Now.
This new body of work, which unites the spontaneous
with the tightly scored, continues to develop a performative
strategy that combines forethought, action, and acute
attention to the present moment. Here, the risk-taking,
vulnerability, and fearlessness which have customarily played
a central role in Dodge and Kahn's practice constitute an
urgent appeal to reinvigorate our sense of agency as
citizens.
I Vote for You, Man takes place on a cold and foggy
beach in California and features the character Lois (Let the
Good Times Roll) as she scouts a beach location with Peter the
cameraman, ruminating on the physical and psychological
detritus they discover along the way. A one-take revelation in
improvisation, the video skirts a line between found footage
documentary and an exposé on process, revealing the
complexities, triumphs and fractures of
communication.
Masters of None and the epic All Together
Now mark Dodge and Kahn's departure from the dialogue driven,
narrative nature of their earlier work.
Ambient and textured, Masters of None captures the
domestic life of a hooded tribe whose mundane activities
coexist with the surreal. All Together Now presents a more
complex universe set in a post-apocalyptic moment hauntingly
close to the present. The twenty-six minute video, with a
richly layered soundtrack, follows various "clans" as they
forage for resources, develop interdependent relationships,
and negotiate what's left of civilization. The threat of
extinction looms alongside a sense of liberation from consumer
trappings and corporate ownership, while an unanswerable
question persists: how will we survive? In both pieces,
facelessness and the absence of language push the artists'
ongoing interrogation of communication, meaning and the
possibly inextricable relationship between words, thoughts and
forms.
A deepening of their meditation on the collaborative
process, Nature Demo is a partly choreographed, partly
improvised piece in which the pair appears as an amateur film
team attempting to make a "How-To" video about post-civilized
life, but without any of the real skills needed for the task.
Their methodical journey hovers between document and
orchestrated farce as it poses questions about the average
citizen's claim to competency in an unregulated
landscape.
This is Dodge and Kahn's second solo show with
Elizabeth Dee. Their work has been featured in the 2008
Whitney Biennial, The Whitney Museum of American Art, New
York; California Video, The Getty Center, Los Angeles;
Laughing in a Foreign Language, The Hayward, London; Eden's
Edge, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; Between Two Deaths, ZKM
Karlsruhe; and Defamation of Character, PS1 Contemporary Art
Center, Queens. Profiles of their collaboration and process of
making All Together Now have been published in The New York
Times and Artforum.
Image:
Harry Dodge and Stanya Kahn
All Together
Now, 2008
Video
Duration 26 minutes, 34
seconds
Courtesy of Elizabeth Dee Gallery, New
York
Elizabeth Dee Gallery
545 West
20th Street
New York, NY 10011
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Coming Next
June 26-27 - Painting and Drawing
July 2-3 Sculpture & Installation
July 10-11 - Photography
July 17-18 - Painting / Drawing
July 24-25 - Summer Shows
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