Both artists concentrate their work on photography, though their artistic practices show a much broader scope involving documentary moments both in drawings, as well as in video or audio works.
We are happy to announce the upcoming exhibitions by Carla Åhlander Terrain, and
Kaucyila Brooke Tit for Twat: Can We Talk? Continued.
Both artists concentrate their work on photography, though their artistic practices
show a much broader scope involving documentary moments both in drawings, as well as
in video or audio works. Whereas Åhlander is interested in showing social
hierarchies in public space (see, for instance, the photo series Cigarette Seller at
Galerie Andreas Huber 2006), Brooke displays the social construction of the idea of
the "natural", whereby sexual identities and their different representations often
play a major role (see her series Vitrinen in Arbeit, 2001/04).
With Terrain, Carla Åhlander presents a series of photos completed with explanatory
notes and plans. They are views of the grounds of an arrival centre for asylum
seekers in Switzerland. One sequel shows a view outside presenting the typical look
of city outskirts or industrial estates with bushes and a motorway exit slip road in
the background. Another sequel shows people who are accommodated at the centre and
who are allowed to take a walk on the grounds only at given times. Åhlander's
photographs are not accusations but are precise studies of conditions of existence,
shot with modesty, and great respect.
Since 1993, Kaucyila Brooke has been working on the three-part piece Tit for Twat.
With Can We Talk? Continued, a new series of photomontages, she now presents the
second part of the piece, in which the protagonists Madam and Eve are standing on
the edge of human evolution, curiously embarking on a journey through space, time
and history. Intellectually fascinated by the idea of "nature", they decide to visit
various historic gardens (Versailles, Vaux le Vicompte), to question the biblical
assumption of heterosexuality (Adam and Eve), and to deal with their relation
towards other theories of origin. These works reference the discourse on femininity
and representation, and draw questions from feminist theory, queer culture, cultural
analyses on biology and gender, as well as film and media theories.
Tit for Twat questions the privileges of a universal knowledge system versus the
history of change and difference, and not only poses the question of the world's
origin but rather asks about different projections of man's relationship towards
nature.
Galerie Andreas Huber
Capistrangasse 3 - A-1060 Wien