Two exhibitions
dal 8/4/2010 al 22/5/2010
Segnalato da
8/4/2010
Two exhibitions
The Museum of Contemporary Photography - MoCP, Chicago
'Incident Control' is a monographic exhibition featuring the work of British artist Sarah Pickering. While appearing to exist between reality and illusion, Pickering's images are actually documents of simulation. The exhibition presents photographs from four recent series of artist's work, spanning from 2002 to the present. The photographic series the real estate (2008/2009), by Chicago-based artists Beate Geissler and Oliver Sann, depicts homes in foreclosure, evoking the absence and loss of former homeowners with unembellished portraits of empty living space.
The Museum of Contemporary Photography (MoCP) is pleased to announce two
exhibitions opening in April 2010: Sarah Pickering: Incident Control and Geissler/Sann: the real
estate.
Incident Control is a monographic exhibition featuring the work of British artist Sarah Pickering.
While appearing to exist between reality and illusion, Pickeringʼs images are actually documents
of simulation. The exhibition will present photographs from four recent series of Pickeringʼs work,
spanning from 2002 to the present: Explosions, Fire Scene, Incident, and Public Order.
"Sarah Pickeringʼs photographs jar our sense of security and illuminate the ways in which we
cope with traumatic events that are beyond our control," says MoCP curator Karen Irvine. "Her
pictures depict environments and events crafted for the purpose of training policemen, firemen,
and soldiers for calamities such as terrorism, civil unrest, fire, and war. By exposing the absurdity
and controlled nature of these environments, Pickeringʼs images reveal our predilection to deflect
fear by trying to anticipate and plan for it—and our tendency to process it by turning it into
narrative."
The photographic series the real estate (2008/2009), by Chicago-based artists Beate Geissler
and Oliver Sann, depicts homes in foreclosure, evoking the absence and loss of former
homeowners with unembellished portraits of empty living space. Oliver Sann and Beate
Geissler moved to Chicago from Germany in 2008 just as the economic downturn hit and home
foreclosures became widespread across the economic spectrum. Sann and Geissler
document homes in Chicago, usually after they have been vacated, in a straightforward manner,
capturing both the stark emptiness and the traces of human occupation, from structural
architecture to decorating choices.
The homes they photograph range from those worth a few
thousand dollars to 3.5 million-dollar mansions. Sann and Geissler install the real estate as a long
row of images that are divided by frames, but connected by compositional elements defined by
the architecture of the spaces depicted. In this way they invite the viewer to connect
distinct spaces and different types of homes in a gesture that reflects the far-reaching effects of
the current economic crisis.
Sarah Pickering (b. 1972) is a London based, British photographer who graduated from the
Royal College of Art with a MA in Photography in 2005. She has been the recipient of several
awards including the Photographers Gallery Graduate Award and a Jerwood Award. Pickering
has exhibited internationally and in the UK where her work was part of How We Are:
Photographing Britain, at Tate Britain. Her photographs are featured in the Phaidon anthology on
contemporary photography Vitamin Ph. Pickering is a recently appointed Teaching Fellow at the
Slade School of Art, London. Gallery representation is with Meessen de Clercq, Brussels. Her
monograph Sarah Pickering: Explosions, Fires, and Public Order was published by Aperture and
the MoCP in 2010.
Beate Geissler (b 1970) and Oliver Sann (b 1968) are a Chicago-based collaborative artist
team. Geissler graduated with an MFA from Staatliche Hochschule für Gestaltung, Karlsruhe,
Germany, in 2000, and Sann graduated with an MFA from Academy for Media Arts, Cologne,
Germany, in 2000. Their work has been included in numerous group exhibitions in Europe and
the United States, including Several Silences at the Renaissance Society in 2009; and the solo
exhibition the real estate at Gallery Ftc in Berlin. Geissler is an Assistant Professor of
Photography at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Their monograph Personal Kill will be
published by Verlag für Moderne Kunst Nürnberg in 2010.
The exhibitions, presentations, and related programs of the MoCP are sponsored in part by After
School Matters; the Terra Foundation for American Art; the Lannan Foundation; the Lloyd A. Fry
Foundation; the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency; the National Endowment for the Arts; the
Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Arts; the Mayer and Morris Kaplan Family
Foundation; The Kristyna M. Driehaus Foundation; U.S. Bank; American Airlines, the official
airline of the MoCP; and our members.
Support for the exhibition and publication Sarah Pickering: Incident Control is provided by The
Lannan Foundation and the British Council. Support for the exhibition Geissler/Sann: the real
estate is provided by the Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany, Chicago.
The Museum of Contemporary Photography (MoCP), a resident organization of Columbia College
Chicago, is the only museum in the Midwest with an exclusive commitment to the medium of
photography. By presenting projects and exhibitions that embrace a wide range of contemporary
aesthetics and technologies, the MoCP strives to communicate the value and significance of
photographic images as expressions of human thought, imagination, and creativity.
Karen Irvine is the curator of the Museum of Contemporary Photography, Columbia College
Chicago. She has organized numerous exhibitions including: Audible Imagery: Sound and
Photography; Anthony Goicolea; Tracey Baran; Scott Fortino; Shirana Shahbazi: Goftare
Nik/Good Words; Jason Salavon; Jin Lee; Paul Shambroom: Evidence of Democracy; Alec Soth:
Sleeping by the Mississippi; The Furtive Gaze; and Camera/Action: Performance and
Photography, among others. She is a part-time instructor of photography at Columbia College
Chicago. She received her MFA in photography from FAMU, Prague and her MA in art history
from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Press Contacts: Audrey Michelle Mast
P: 773.459.5777
F: 312.344.8067
audrey.m.mast@gmail.com
Image: Geissler/Sann, Untitled, from the real estate, 2008-2009, courtesy of the artists and Gallery Ftc,
Berlin
Opening April 9, 2010
The Museum of Contemporary Photography - MoCP
600 S. Michigan Ave Columbia College, Chicago USA
The Museum is free and open to the public
Mon-Fri: 10am to 5pm, Thu: 10am to 8pm
Sat: 10am to 5pm, Sun: 12pm to 5pm