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27/8/2015

Two Exhibitions

Foam Photography Museum, Amsterdam

Momo Okabe : Bible | Dildo
28.08-25.10.2015

Bible | Dildo revolves around the struggles of Momo Okabe's lovers and friends, who are outsiders in Japanese society. Experiencing Japanese society as overly systematic, constantly imposing its restrictive views on every aspect of their lives, they are severely impacted by this environment. The people captured in the photographs in these two series suffer from consequences stemming from drug overdoses or the difficulties of achieving acceptance in society. Bible and Dildo portray their complicated and courageous lives in this harsh environment.

Along with nude images, Bible | Dildo also includes photographs of chaos and destruction. For example, the Bible series includes pictures taken in Miyagi after the Fukushima earthquake struck Japan in 2011. These photographs are shown alongside the documented struggles of Okabe's lovers and friends. For Okabe, destruction and devastating feelings are related. She avoids making photographs in a conceptual way, instead always aiming to make work about her actual experiences, and her feelings of loss and sadness.

At first, both Bible and Dildo appear to be primarily documentary photography. Dildo begins with images of Okabe's relationship with Kaori, a woman with gender dysphoria. After her break-up with Kaori, Okabe followed the relationship with her new lover, Yoko, which eventually resulted in documenting Yoko's trip to Thailand for sex reassignment surgery, during which Yoko’s uterus was removed. The series title, Dildo, refers to how, for some transgender people, a dildo can represent a body part transgender people may or may not ever actually have. In addition, the Bible series comprises a selection of images that, for Okabe, functions as a very final and definitive body of work, as reflected in the title.

However, beyond their documentary aspect, these photographs depict universal stories of sex and death for Okabe. She blends tenderness with a raw intimacy, which becomes visible through her specific use of color, the diversity of her topics and the sensitive manner in which she addresses the important and complex social issue of transsexuality. Working within a wider context of the internationally very highly regarded Japanese photographic tradition, Okabe creates an aesthetic that is uniquely her own.

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Anne de Vries: E_merge
28.05-1.11.2015

Foam presents the first major solo exhibition of visual artist Anne de Vries (born 1977, The Hague) in which old and new work are combined. Anne de Vries is an artist who has consciously embraced the technological developments of an era in which internet, Photoshop and mobile upload feeds are becoming increasingly commonplace. His visual language is strongly influenced by stock photography and corporate branding.

Anne de Vries' work ranges from two-dimensional digital photography and three-dimensional photo sculptures to new media installations in which he often uses everyday objects combined with new materials, technologies and printing techniques.

Within his work Anne de Vries shows a fascination for new opportunities, but with critical undertones. The exhibition is a reflection on the appeal of progress, the position of the individual among the masses and the roll of imaging in an increasingly globalised economy.

Image: Momo Okabe

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: Friday 28 August 2015

Foam Fotografiemuseum
Keizersgracht 609, AMsterdam
Thu - Fri 10am to 9pm, Sat - Wed 10am to 6pm

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