PHOTOGRAPHIC GALLERY HIPPOLYTE
Kalevankatu 18 B, 00100 Helsinki, Finland
+358 9 612 33 44, www.hippolyte.fi
Open: Tue–Fri 12–17, Sat–Sun 12–165.-28.11.2010
AXEL ANTAS
Obstructed Views / Geometry of Place
Axel Antas’ solo exhibition includes three new works made during the last two years, in which he continues to explore mans relation to space and nature through the construction and recording of the relics of performances. Using classical landscape compositions Antas explores ideas about our relationship to our surroundings while attempting to translate and transgress our understanding of the immediate environment. The artist uses both artificial means and direct interventions within the landscape as his instruments to leave a temporary mark, or signature, as a catalyst for his ideas.
For his exhibition at Hippolyte, Antas has returned to drawing, and records a recent performance in the landscape. Geometry of Place references early investigations into perspective, within the tradition of landscape painting. The work utilizes rope to create three-dimensional drawings in space; the landscape is dissected and obscured by lines of rope creating geometrical translations and responses to the surroundings. The lines suggest layers in the landscape and create complex patterns, exposing the depth and space between the natural elements, encouraging the viewer to physically engage with the space beyond the two-dimensional.
Untitled is a result of a long-term research project in which the artist sought what is considered to be the oldest living tree in the world. The tree itself stems from a root system that is over 10,000 years old; its location is known by only a few. Through the work Antas investigates the material qualities of film and its reliance of the presence of an object in space and time. Emphasising the nature of film the artist reminds us of the fact that in order to capture something on film he had to be present in time to elevate it and capture it from linear time. The Super 8 film, which is 1 minute long, is repeated at intervals in the gallery space, in so doing film's inherent qualities are exposed and time conflated.
Regardless of its long history the tree itself seems like nothing spectacular, and has a humorous if not melancholic property. Emphasising the durational aspect of the work, the length of the film is exposed through the artists selected viewing apparatus – the actual film measures the physical height of the tree, which in turn further engages the viewer in a physical relationship to the work. A simple sketch of the tree stands alone next to the projection, the drawing having been executed in the same timeframe as the filming of the tree. Here it exists as evidence of the artist’s presence in front of the tree itself.
While Geometry of Place relates to and attempts to capture space and our relationship to it, the works Untitled and Above look and question our understanding and documentation of time. Creating a physical representation of the duration of a moment the work was created in contrast to the subject in the work. Above uses a well-known methods of collage and montage. The photograph is a result of 365 images of the sky taken over the period of a year. The image becomes a painterly abstracted representation of the colours and shapes of the given period morphed into one work that exists in a given space and time.
Alongside this work Antas will show a photograph from his ongoing series Obstructed Views. The series references traditional self-portraits through photography, using 19th-century Romantic German painting as a reference point. In each photograph the subject is obscured behind a momentary cloud that bridges the gap between the environment and subject, so that the two unite.
Axel Antas lives and works in London and his work has been exhibited internationally. Recent solo exhibitions include Invention of Solitude at HIAP Gallery, Helsinki and Structures for the Unseen at Spacex Gallery, Exeter and Gallery Heino, Helsinki. His work has been included in recent group exhibitions at De Vishal exhibition centre, Haarlem and the Stedelijk Museum, Lier, Belgium; LABoral,Centro de Arte y Creación Industria, Gijon, Spain; The Drawing Room, London; Aspex Gallery, Portsmouth and at Fruehsorge, Berlin. Antas has works in private and public collections including Museum of Contemporary Art - Kiasma, Helsinki, Saastamoisen säätiö, Kuopio Art Museum, the Helsinki Art Museum, The Zabludowicz Collection and The Sanders Collection.
Axel Antas, Geometry of Place (Constellation), 2009-2010- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
For more information and press images, please contact:
Petronella Grönroos, exhibition co-ordinator / Photgraphic Gallery Hippolyte +358 9-612 33 44, firstname.lastname@hippolyte.fi
