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20/11/2002

Soul Windows

Domo Baal, London

curated by Roy Exley


Friday 22nd November until Saturday 21st December 2002
private view : Thursday 21st November 6-9pm

kr buxey / Anne Durez / Machiko Edmondson / Abigail Hill / Eva Karapanou / Daniela Klein / Maggie Lambert / Paula Mettler /Olivia Monti-Arduini / Helen Sear / Marianne Oiamo Soknes / Michael Schwab / Russell Wickwar

Portraits of faces, in whatever medium, are strongly emotive signifiers, bearers of an almost unbearable responsibility, their visual information not only unique - a unique individuality captured in a unique moment ˆ but also a seminal presentation, to the world, of their subject. So critical is this presentation that any manipulation of the portrait might seem irreverent, sacrilegious even, given that Immanuel Kant described the eyes as Œthe windows on the soul‚. Just as, through imperfections in the glass, or through surface blemishes or accretions, windows are capable of distorting the scenes that they imperfectly reveal, then images of the eyes, through their distorted or manipulated reproduction can mask the true nature of the person of whose visage they are an essential part. What we impute from their information can be radically altered by the slightest nuance of expression in the face portrayed. Ultimately the photographic image of the face invokes absence through its presence, and in a painting even more so - the identities here become elusive phantoms.

Soul Windows, then, is a title not without irony, in a show where the nature of visual representation of the human face is so varied and manifold. Documentary is not a description that could be accurately used in describing these images of the face. These are not passive offerings of the subject‚s identity but more often its confrontational, absorbed or evasive palimpsest ˆ obfuscation, distraction or downright aggression mediate these moments in the history of those faces. The viewer must decide here, must decipher from the complex visual codes of which these images are comprised, where the truth, if any, resides, which resonances to acknowledge and which to reject.

In many primitive cultures it is commonly believed that when you are photographed, the photographer steals your soul, and in consequence takes possession of it. Seen in the light of this belief, the provocative, defensive glare or elusive stare of the subject‚s gaze in the portraits in Soul Windows, might well be considered an appropriate and justified act.

Our face is our point of reference with the world, the mediator between our innermost, subjective existence, and our outer physical being in the world. There is little room for error in our expressive negotiations with the world, and the images in this show reveal how crucial that can be. Confrontation sets up a strong response if the observer, the viewer, or the one confronted, the sinister or elusive visage puts us on our guard ˆ the souls upon which these windows open might not be the wholesome entities that we would hope for, the uncanny or the downright disturbing may be just a blink away. The idea of the portrait as document or memorial is here resoundingly upended and trashed, in a triumph of enigma over certainty. "An empty face that wore its emptiness openly" 'On a Photograph of Kafka', by James Kirkup in 'The Sense of the Visit', Sceptre Press, London 1974.

For visuals, more information call Domo Baal on 020 7242 9604, 'Soul Windows' essay by Roy Exley, and a selection of visuals : click on http://www.domobaal.com/shows/soul.html

Next exhibition : EMPORIUM Cathie Pilkington and Pat O'Connor jan-feb 2003

domoBaal contemporary art
open : Friday and Saturday 12 noon until 6pm, or by appointment
3 John Street tube : Chancery Lane/ Holborn
London WC1N 2ES
t : 020 7242 9604
f : 020 7831 0122

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