UIta Barth
30 May - 28 Jun 2008
UTA BARTH
Alison Jacques Gallery is pleased to present Sundial, Uta Barth’s new series of work. This collection of imageswas selected from a larger number photographed in the artist’s home over a period of several months and detailthe varying qualities of sun light as it moves throughout the house at the last hours of the day. The chosenphotographs were primarily taken at dusk, when the play of light began to erase itself from the walls and objectsof the interior space. The provocative allure of these images lies in the fact that they simultaneously evoke asense of stillness and slow continual movement.The use of the repeated subject in this and previous series of works allows both the artist and the viewer thechance to explore duration through subtle details that might otherwise be missed. Rather than dealing withsubjects or narratives, Barth’s photographs explore visual perception itself, and how meaning is located in theactivity of looking. In this way the artist uses the camera as a metaphor for human consciousness or the mind.Barth’s use of after-images reinforces the primary importance of the optical experience. By rendering thephenomenon whereby we retain a lasting impression in our eyes after staring at a brightly lit scene Barth movesbeyond the realm of what is possible to attain solely with a camera. Working in this way allows the artist toexpress space as simultaneously positive and negative, which adds further complexity to her compositions.Barth began photographing interior spaces in 1994 and since that time the ways in which she frames hercompositions has become increasingly important. By withholding visual information through cropping, andeschewing a central compositional focus, the artist creates an ambiguous sense of depth. Barth’s subsequentarrangements of images mimic the multi focusing and constantly adjusting function of the eye and demonstratethe permeability of internal and exterior space. The artist’s project continues a line of Phenomenological enquirythat seeks to provide a direct description of human experience. By treating the interior of her own home as asundial Barth emphasises how consciousness, the world, and the perceiving body are intertwined. Sundialreverses traditional expectations of the photographic medium through inverting the world outside the room into aprojection within it.Uta Barth (Born Berlin,1958) lives and works in Los Angeles. Solo museum exhibitions include MCA, Chicago(1995) and Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles (1989). A mid-career survey of Barth’s work waspresented by the Henry Art Gallery in Seattle and the MCA in Houston in 2000. Barth’s work has been acquiredby major public collections including Tate, London; MoMA, New York; The Guggenheim Museum, New York;Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; and Moderna Museet, Stockholm. She is the recipient of the 2005 GuggenheimFellowship and the 2007 USA Artist award.
Alison Jacques Gallery is pleased to present Sundial, Uta Barth’s new series of work. This collection of imageswas selected from a larger number photographed in the artist’s home over a period of several months and detailthe varying qualities of sun light as it moves throughout the house at the last hours of the day. The chosenphotographs were primarily taken at dusk, when the play of light began to erase itself from the walls and objectsof the interior space. The provocative allure of these images lies in the fact that they simultaneously evoke asense of stillness and slow continual movement.The use of the repeated subject in this and previous series of works allows both the artist and the viewer thechance to explore duration through subtle details that might otherwise be missed. Rather than dealing withsubjects or narratives, Barth’s photographs explore visual perception itself, and how meaning is located in theactivity of looking. In this way the artist uses the camera as a metaphor for human consciousness or the mind.Barth’s use of after-images reinforces the primary importance of the optical experience. By rendering thephenomenon whereby we retain a lasting impression in our eyes after staring at a brightly lit scene Barth movesbeyond the realm of what is possible to attain solely with a camera. Working in this way allows the artist toexpress space as simultaneously positive and negative, which adds further complexity to her compositions.Barth began photographing interior spaces in 1994 and since that time the ways in which she frames hercompositions has become increasingly important. By withholding visual information through cropping, andeschewing a central compositional focus, the artist creates an ambiguous sense of depth. Barth’s subsequentarrangements of images mimic the multi focusing and constantly adjusting function of the eye and demonstratethe permeability of internal and exterior space. The artist’s project continues a line of Phenomenological enquirythat seeks to provide a direct description of human experience. By treating the interior of her own home as asundial Barth emphasises how consciousness, the world, and the perceiving body are intertwined. Sundialreverses traditional expectations of the photographic medium through inverting the world outside the room into aprojection within it.Uta Barth (Born Berlin,1958) lives and works in Los Angeles. Solo museum exhibitions include MCA, Chicago(1995) and Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles (1989). A mid-career survey of Barth’s work waspresented by the Henry Art Gallery in Seattle and the MCA in Houston in 2000. Barth’s work has been acquiredby major public collections including Tate, London; MoMA, New York; The Guggenheim Museum, New York;Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; and Moderna Museet, Stockholm. She is the recipient of the 2005 GuggenheimFellowship and the 2007 USA Artist award.