Fifty one Fine Art Photography
Peep. The exhibition will feature a selection of Booth's prolific photographs of the female nude. At once sensual, forbidden and humorous, Booth's corporeal portraits tread a delicate balance between classic allusions and contemporary provocations.
Peep
FIFTY ONE FINE ART PHOTOGRAPHY is pleased to announce a solo exhibition
of photographic nudes by British artist Alvin Booth. The exhibition will
feature a selection of Booth's prolific photographs of the female nude.
At once sensual, forbidden and humorous, Booth's corporeal portraits
tread a delicate balance between classic allusions and contemporary
provocations.
Over the past decade, Alvin Booth has developed a signature printing
style utilizing both salt prints and richly toned gelatin silver
prints. Each image is framed in soldered metal, a technique strongly
reminiscent of leaded glass and underscoring the period look of the
work. To his distinctive technical virtuosity, Booth adds a singular
vision in the composition and manipulation of his models .In the
Corpus series binding appendages of the body with latex and rope, Booth
further accentuates the rhythms, syncopations and arcs of both male and
female figures. The final product not only integrates
image and object, it synthesizes a timeless veneer with a starkly
contemporary subject matter.
Osmosis is a departure from Booth's earlier work of intense erotic
nudes. . The artist's materials and subject matter remain the same as
in his previous work Corpus,- simple lighting, a nude figure,
latex, - it is how they are assembled that has dramatically changed. The
focus shifts from the details of flesh and skin to that of the whole
body; the human form is reduced to its bare lines and like a
delicate gouache the body dissolves into the paper. The very material
of the original corsets becomes the medium by which the human form is
abstracted. Bodies become oblique and translucent-
attenuated haunting shadows.
Clockworks focuses on vision, images and motion. Each clockwork consists
of two different images, two three inch ( 5-7 cm ) circles, fastened
back to back, hang from a customized copper and solder cased
clockwork motor. The addition of motion to this two dimensional
sandwich merges the two-dimensional images into one three-dimensional
body floating in its own space.
Peepholes, 2 inch ( 5 cm ) round salt prints framed in a glass and
copper box evokes the illicit ambiance of the pornographic daguerreotype
of the 1850s as well as the 'naughty' French postcards from later in the
nineteenth century. The intimate format of the Peepholes, invites the
viewer to step into their erotic tableaux. We are transformed into the
voyeur at the bedroom door keyhole.
Alvin Booth was born in Hull, an industrial city in Northeast England.
He has previously shown in numerous shows both in the US and Europe and
is represented in numerous public and private
collections. His first book Corpus was published in 1999 and he is
looking forward to the publication of his next book Osmosis. Booth lives
and works between New York and France.
You are cordially invited to the opening ( with a reception for the
artist ) on Thursday 6 February 2003 at 19h00
FIFTY ONE FINE ART PHOTOGRAPHY
ZIRKSTRAAT 20
2000 ANTWERPEN
BELGIUM
T:32-3-2898458
F:32-3-2898459