Two exhibitions
dal 10/9/2009 al 27/10/2009
Segnalato da
10/9/2009
Two exhibitions
Foam Photography Museum, Amsterdam
Since graduating, Leonie Purchas has focused on the complex relationships within families in different parts of the world. The images by Saskia Dommisse have their origins in landscape, but have been reduced to abstract fields of colour by the photographer.
Leonie Purchas - In the Shadow of Things
11 September - 25 October 2009
Foam_Fotografiemuseum Amsterdam presents In the Shadow of Things, an exhibition by photographer Leonie Purchas (b. 1978, United Kingdom). In March 2009, Purchas was chosen by an international jury as winner of the KLM Paul Huf Award. This prize for young international photographers, organised annually by Foam, includes an exhibition at the museum.
Since graduating, Purchas has focused on the complex relationships within families in different parts of the world. She tries to portray the contact between individuals and their family in the complex interplay of ‘nature’ and ‘nurture’. Fascinated by ‘unusual’ or ‘dysfunctional’ families, Purchas has made several series in recent years entitled In the Family. The more she observed these families, the more she began to distrust the notion of an ideal family. She uses photography to refute the myth of the perfect family.
For In the Shadow of Things, Purchas finally turned her attention to her own family. Here she portrays the isolated life of her mother, Bron, her partner David and their young son Jake. The family lives in a remote house surrounded by woods and fields. Bron has been plagued by depression for years and suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). This condition is characterised by a preoccupation with particular thoughts or actions that may conflict with normal behaviour, or interfere with a person’s social interaction and relationships. For example, boxes still remain unpacked since the family moved house ten years ago, and piles of things litter the home. Bron, her mother, is a proud woman. She finds her domestic situation embarrassing and lets almost no one into her life and her house.
The photos form a highly personal and emotional record of life in the Purchas household, in which both the photographer and the other members of the family show their vulnerability. By exposing this vulnerability she breaks through the distance that often separates photographer and subject. The camera shields and at the same time opens up a world that is entirely familiar yet nevertheless reveals itself anew. The exhibition will consist of projections, photographs and sound and film recordings from Purchas' family archive.
After graduating in art history, Leonie Purchas worked as an assistant to photojournalist Tom Stoddard. She later continued her studies at London College of Communications. Purchas has won several prizes, including the ‘F’ award (2008), Jerwood Photography Prize (2004) and an Ian Parry scholarship (2003). In 2006, Purchas took part in the Joop Swart Masterclass. Her work has appeared in the Sunday Times Magazine, Portfolio Magazine and Newsweek. Her book, In the Shadow of Things, will be published in 2010.
.........................
Foam_3h: Saskia Dommisse - Mindscapes
11 September - 28 October 2009
Foam_Fotografiemuseum Amsterdam presents the Foam_3h exhibition Mindscapes by Saskia Dommisse. The images in this series, which Dommisse herself calls ‘landscapes of the imagination’, have their origins in landscape, but have been reduced to abstract fields of colour by the photographer. The images are intentionally minimalist and devoid of figurative elements, inviting viewers to supply their own interpretation.
For the Mindscapes series Dommisse has allowed herself to be inspired by her surroundings. By framing subjects such as the sky, sea or landscape in such a way that all narrative elements are reduced to fields of colour, they lose their original form and function. The resulting images become a kind of ‘landscape of the imagination’ in which Dommisse primarily tries to reproduce the feeling that a landscape invokes. The images that make up this series were created individually and only afterwards united as a series. Of particular interest is the portrait of her partner with closed eyes which Dommisse has added to her series: the portrait serves as a signpost intended to make it easier for the viewer to read the other images.
Dommisse aims at simplicity, spaciousness and serenity in her work. This results in an unusual and aesthetic form of minimalism. Photography for her is almost an act of meditation, a search for emptiness. This creates the abstraction which is so characteristic of her work. She does not use photography to register reality but to record her feelings in relation to things. Dommisse seeks to depict everyday life in a new way.
Saskia Dommisse graduated from the Photo Academy Amsterdam in 2008. In that same year she was proclaimed ‘Overall Winner’ of the Photo Academy Awards. The jury chose her because her work is ‘different’ and ‘innovative’ and explores the limits of photography. Her work has been exhibited at a number of venues including a group show at LOODS 6 in Amsterdam, the Noorderlicht festival in Leeuwarden and Galerie 32–34 in Amsterdam.
Mindscapes was made possible with support from SBK Amsterdam, Van Bijlevelt Stichting and Rijnja Repro.
For information and visual material please contact Merel Kappelhoff (communications), e-mail merel@foam.nl or phone +31 (0)20 5516500
Foam_Fotografiemuseum Amsterdam.
Keizersgracht 609 - Amsterdam
Open daily 10.00-18.00, Thurs/Fri 10.00-21.00.
Tickets: € 7.50