Status Quo
19 Aug - 25 Sep 2016
Press Release: PHOTOSZENE Festival 2016
STATUS QUO
Group show featuring photographs by
Mimmo Jodice, Robert Polidori, Yiorgos Kordakis and Sergio Vega
Opening: Friday, August 19, 2016, 6 – 8 pm
Dates: 20. August 2016 – 25. September 2016
Location: Galerie Karsten Greve, Wallrafplatz 3, 50667 Köln
Opening hours: Wed-Fri 3.00 – 6.30 pm and by appointment (+49 221 257 10 12)
In celebration of this year’s Cologne Photoszene Festival, Galerie Karsten Greve is pleased to announce the group show Status Quo, which will feature a selection of works by Mimmo Jodice, Robert Polidori, Yiorgos Kordakis and Sergio Vega, in its long-standing exhibition space at Wallrafplatz 3, 50667 Cologne, temporarily made accessible to the public again on this occasion.
Mimmo Jodice, Robert Polidori, Yiorgos Kordakis and Sergio Vega all take on vastly different approaches in terms of artistic style and photographic technique to the instantaneous encounters of our present-day world. Motifs range from archeological testimonies of antiquity and present day ruins of war to the osten-sibly untroubled idyllic beaches of postmodern societies and literary inspired depictions of socio-cultural circumstances – be it within the immediate proximity of their home or the most remote corners of the earth.
In light of this year’s theme The State I am in, the works of these four artists, all hailing from different countries, can be considered a visualization of the Status Quo of our ever-changing world, as snapshots of its cultural diversity and also its current state.
Presented artists
Mimmo Jodice was born in Naples, Italy in 1934, where he lives and works until this day and where the Museo MADRE currently dedicates an extensive retrospec-tive to his œuvre from 1960 to 2016.
As one of the first Italian photographers from this region, Jodice not only photo-graphed the inhabitants of his hometown but also the landscapes and cultural en-virons of the Neapolitan coastline. Invariably in black and white, he dramatizes archaeological fragments, antique sites and sculptures in a mystical Mediterranean light. His consistent visual articulation and playful experimentation, testing the bounds of reality, allow Jodice to lay bare the true essence of places, people and inanimate objects, thereby also capturing the aesthetic and emotion of a singular point in time.
Robert Polidori, born in Montreal, Canada in 1951, lives and works in New York and Los Angeles and is regarded as one of the world’s leading contemporary pho-tographers.
His large-scale works extend beyond common perceptions of conventional archi-tectural photography, their extreme level of detail allowing the spectator to pro-gressively delve deeper into the spaces and scenes depicted. Relying on natural light and long exposure periods, Polidori exclusively works with large format film, which he believes to be far superior to any digital form of photography. The pho-tographs from his Hotel Petra series featured in the show were taken in Lebanon in 2010, upon returning to Beirut 20 years after the civil war had ended. Polidori came across the war-ravaged hotel building, which, while left standing, had ulti-mately been defeated by decay and deterioration after its abandonment, a natural record of contemporary archaeology manifesting itself on the walls, reminiscent of the colours found in expressionist compositions.
Yiorgos Kordakis was born in Athens, Greece in 1973, where he also lives and works today. In 2013, Kordakis was awarded first prize at the Photography Mas-ters Cup Awards in New York.
In the series Global Summer the artist photographs beaches in Europe and the US using a Polaroid-camera, offering a glimpse at respective local bathing customs. Kordakis conducts an examination of how people - despite all possessing similar innate needs - display very different behaviours, on the account of culture and circumstance. In an exploration of how humans relate to the natural element water in particular, the artist draws our attention to the fact that environment and back-ground may drastically impact ones behaviour around water, be it at the pool or by the sea. A diversion and chance to unwind for some, others bare not only their bodies but also their innermost, true selves. With light, colour temperature and print being difficult to anticipate in Polaroid photographs, a distinguishing feature of Kordakis’ work is the almost surreal, blurry quality of the image.
Sergio Vega, born in Buenos Aires in 1959, lives and works in Gainesville, Florida.
His more recent series The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, shot in the Mato Grosso region of Brazil, is inspired by Robert M. Pirsig’s 1974 publication Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Vega pairs together two otherwise contrasting photographs, thereby placing them into direct relation with one another and highlighting differences and similarities in both a political and also philosophical context – within the microcosm of every individual and within the global framework of modern society. A broken motorcycle needs fixing, the same way issues we confront in reality must be dealt with.
STATUS QUO
Group show featuring photographs by
Mimmo Jodice, Robert Polidori, Yiorgos Kordakis and Sergio Vega
Opening: Friday, August 19, 2016, 6 – 8 pm
Dates: 20. August 2016 – 25. September 2016
Location: Galerie Karsten Greve, Wallrafplatz 3, 50667 Köln
Opening hours: Wed-Fri 3.00 – 6.30 pm and by appointment (+49 221 257 10 12)
In celebration of this year’s Cologne Photoszene Festival, Galerie Karsten Greve is pleased to announce the group show Status Quo, which will feature a selection of works by Mimmo Jodice, Robert Polidori, Yiorgos Kordakis and Sergio Vega, in its long-standing exhibition space at Wallrafplatz 3, 50667 Cologne, temporarily made accessible to the public again on this occasion.
Mimmo Jodice, Robert Polidori, Yiorgos Kordakis and Sergio Vega all take on vastly different approaches in terms of artistic style and photographic technique to the instantaneous encounters of our present-day world. Motifs range from archeological testimonies of antiquity and present day ruins of war to the osten-sibly untroubled idyllic beaches of postmodern societies and literary inspired depictions of socio-cultural circumstances – be it within the immediate proximity of their home or the most remote corners of the earth.
In light of this year’s theme The State I am in, the works of these four artists, all hailing from different countries, can be considered a visualization of the Status Quo of our ever-changing world, as snapshots of its cultural diversity and also its current state.
Presented artists
Mimmo Jodice was born in Naples, Italy in 1934, where he lives and works until this day and where the Museo MADRE currently dedicates an extensive retrospec-tive to his œuvre from 1960 to 2016.
As one of the first Italian photographers from this region, Jodice not only photo-graphed the inhabitants of his hometown but also the landscapes and cultural en-virons of the Neapolitan coastline. Invariably in black and white, he dramatizes archaeological fragments, antique sites and sculptures in a mystical Mediterranean light. His consistent visual articulation and playful experimentation, testing the bounds of reality, allow Jodice to lay bare the true essence of places, people and inanimate objects, thereby also capturing the aesthetic and emotion of a singular point in time.
Robert Polidori, born in Montreal, Canada in 1951, lives and works in New York and Los Angeles and is regarded as one of the world’s leading contemporary pho-tographers.
His large-scale works extend beyond common perceptions of conventional archi-tectural photography, their extreme level of detail allowing the spectator to pro-gressively delve deeper into the spaces and scenes depicted. Relying on natural light and long exposure periods, Polidori exclusively works with large format film, which he believes to be far superior to any digital form of photography. The pho-tographs from his Hotel Petra series featured in the show were taken in Lebanon in 2010, upon returning to Beirut 20 years after the civil war had ended. Polidori came across the war-ravaged hotel building, which, while left standing, had ulti-mately been defeated by decay and deterioration after its abandonment, a natural record of contemporary archaeology manifesting itself on the walls, reminiscent of the colours found in expressionist compositions.
Yiorgos Kordakis was born in Athens, Greece in 1973, where he also lives and works today. In 2013, Kordakis was awarded first prize at the Photography Mas-ters Cup Awards in New York.
In the series Global Summer the artist photographs beaches in Europe and the US using a Polaroid-camera, offering a glimpse at respective local bathing customs. Kordakis conducts an examination of how people - despite all possessing similar innate needs - display very different behaviours, on the account of culture and circumstance. In an exploration of how humans relate to the natural element water in particular, the artist draws our attention to the fact that environment and back-ground may drastically impact ones behaviour around water, be it at the pool or by the sea. A diversion and chance to unwind for some, others bare not only their bodies but also their innermost, true selves. With light, colour temperature and print being difficult to anticipate in Polaroid photographs, a distinguishing feature of Kordakis’ work is the almost surreal, blurry quality of the image.
Sergio Vega, born in Buenos Aires in 1959, lives and works in Gainesville, Florida.
His more recent series The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, shot in the Mato Grosso region of Brazil, is inspired by Robert M. Pirsig’s 1974 publication Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Vega pairs together two otherwise contrasting photographs, thereby placing them into direct relation with one another and highlighting differences and similarities in both a political and also philosophical context – within the microcosm of every individual and within the global framework of modern society. A broken motorcycle needs fixing, the same way issues we confront in reality must be dealt with.