Zarina Bhimji
dal 26/1/2004 al 6/3/2004
Segnalato da
26/1/2004
Zarina Bhimji
Iniva - Institute of International Visual Arts, London
The three transparencies mounted on light boxes that make up the show, are the result of careful research carried out over the course of three trips, since 1998, to Uganda, the country where Bhimji was born.
Following the recent success of Zarina Bhimji's film 'Out of Blue' at Documenta
11 (2002) and Tate Britain (2003), as well as her participation in 'Fault Lines'
as part of the Venice Biennale 2003, inIVA is pleased to present a solo
exhibition by Zarina Bhimji in TheSpace@inIVA.
The three transparencies mounted on light boxes that make up the show, are the
result of careful research carried out over the course of three trips, since
1998, to Uganda, the country where Bhimji was born. Visits that also resulted in
Bhimji's first film 'Out of Blue', commissioned and co-produced by Documenta 11.
Focusing on interiors or architectural structures, Bhimji's triptych of
photographs convey an incredible sense of intimate stillness and beauty, despite
their monumental scale. Although the presence of humans is apparent - in shoes
hanging abandoned on a wall, in disused fans balancing on the floor, in wires
hanging from a ripped out light socket - hinting at some elusive narrative, it
is the artist's ability to capture a moment through her nuances of colour,
texture and her suggestions of space that is overwhelming.
In one work, broken fans take on a forlorn sculptural quality in the emptiness
of a vast, dilapidating room; in another, the burning heat of the mid-day sun is
tangible beyond the open wooden doors, through which the blinding sunlight
floods. Textures too are important, from the coarseness of a scuffed and
grease-stained wall to the shiny smoothness of a much-worn floor, to the matt
finish of the light boxes themselves which lends a softer, quieter tone to the
works.
The exhibition conveys a psyche of decay, loss, stillness and unspoken
histories, but the translation of the artist's tender, almost lyrical, visual
language and the works' elusive titles - Grenade; Howling Like Dogs, I Swallowed
Solid Air; Memories Were Trapped Inside the Asphalt - are left to the viewer.
Image: Zarina Bhimji, Memories Were Trapped Inside the Asphalt, 1998-2003.Transparency in light box. © 2003 All Rights Reserved, DACS. Courtesy of the artist.
Opening: Tuesday 27 January, 6.00-8.00pm
28 January - 6 March 2003
Wed-Sat, 12 - 6pm
Supported by the Forum for African Arts (with support from the Ford Foundation),
Artsadmin, British Council, Andrew Love, Late Jimmy Dean, Mahmood Mamdani,
Caroline Collier, De la Warr, Sarat Maharaj and Photoworks.
The works from this exhibition are also featured in the publication Fault Lines.
Published by inIVA in collaboration with the Forum for African Arts and the
Prince Claus Fund on the occasion of the Fault Lines - Contemporary African Art
and Shifting Landscapes exhibition at the 50th Venice Biennale. Available for
£20
inIVA's programme of exhibitions and talks features artists and thinkers who
explore the creative possibilities provided by the constant interaction of
cultures in the contemporary world.
The Space@iniVA
6-8 Standard Place, Rivington Street, London EC2A 3BE
Tel: +44 20 7729 9616
Fax: +44 20 729 9516