Two Exhibitions
dal 24/6/2015 al 27/7/2015
Segnalato da
24/6/2015
Two Exhibitions
Foam Photography Museum, Amsterdam
Sjoerd Knibbeler presents several spatial works such as the Paper Planes series. Katy Grannan is renowned for her remarkable and intimate portraits of strangers, most of whom are somehow living on the fringes of society.
The exhibition at Foam 3h, Digging Up Clouds, brings together various projects by Knibbeler related to with these themes. In addition to photos from the Current Studies series, several spatial works are presented, such as the Paper Planes series. A video of a stunt pilot concentrating on preparing for a practice flight is also included in the exhibition.
Knibbeler’s work could be defined as 'constructed photography' – the construction of all sorts of self-imagined and created objects takes place mostly in the studio. There he simulates wind, clouds or a tornado, and he experiments with fragile constructions in a variety of materials such as plastic, paper and fibreboard (MDF). Before he starts building and experimenting, however, he acts as a researcher, visiting different locations and consulting with specialists in the fields of science, aviation and architecture.
Knibbeler uses photography as a means of depicting his ideas, but everything he photographs is real. Questions about authenticity and the tension that his images evoke intrigue him, just as the way in which the camera is able to reveal processes that wouldn’t be noticed otherwise. Knibbeler makes use of the materials he works with and the conditions he depicts to investigate the relationship between the static, two-dimensional character of photography and the moving, voluminous objects he makes.
One of the projects Knibbeler presents is Paper Planes, a photo series of sixteen paper aeroplanes that he folded – based on aeroplane designs that have never been put into production or have never been in the air. He found the designs, some of which even date back eighty years, on internet. While at first they may present an image of failure or appear outdated, at the same time they represent an image of the future. Their existence is maintained through the internet, where they fly through virtual space and are shared and discussed by enthusiasts.
The book Paper Planes, designed by Hans Gremmen and published by Fw: Books, is presented at the opening of the exhibition.
Sjoerd Knibbeler studied at the Royal Academy of Art, The Hague, and is represented by Galerie LhGWR in The Hague. His work was on show at this gallery during the Unseen Photo Fair in 2014. This year Sjoerd Knibbeler won the prestigious Grand Prix du Jury Photographie at the 30th International Festival of Fashion and Photography in Hyères, France.
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Katy Grannan: The Nine and The Ninety Nine
Grannan is renowned for her remarkable and intimate portraits of strangers, most of whom are somehow living on the fringes of society. The titles of the series refer to (former) highways in the U.S. state California, U.S. route 9 and U.S. route 99, along which she met the individuals. The exhibition includes the exclusive sneak preview of Grannan’s first feature film The Nine, to be released in 2016.
The Nine and The Ninety Nine feature work made as Grannan looked closely at this region and its inhabitants, both of which remain overlooked and undervalued. Yet the photographs insist upon their undeniable presence, a distinctive beauty and a unique landscape. Shown here for the first time outside the United States, Grannan’s newest work is set in the parched landscape of California’s Central Valley, where, for most, the 'American Dream' exists as pure myth.
A series of striking colour portraits of passing strangers, The Ninety Nine, was named for the barren highway that runs down the spine of the Central Valley—once described by American novelist Joan Didion as ‘the trail of an intention gone haywire.’ The Nine features black-and-white photographs made primarily along the banks of the Tuolumne River and in Modesto, a town unlike the sunny California any tourist would come to see.
Image: Sjoerd Knibbeler Paper Planes, 2014
Press Contact:
PR / Communications Head of Communications - Merel Kappelhoff
Sophie van der Heijden e-mail foam@foam.org or phone +31 (0)20 5516500
Opening: Thursday 25 June 2015, 5:30pm
Foam
Keizersgracht 609
1017 DS Amsterdam
Mon-Wed 10am - 6pm
Thu-Fri 10am - 9pm
Sat-Sun 10am - 6pm