Keren Cytter
09 Dec 2009 - 14 Feb 2010
KEREN CYTTER
December 9, 2009 - February 14, 2010
We are delighted to be presenting Keren Cytter's first solo exhibition in France.
Now living and working in Berlin, this young Israeli artist works mainly in video, mingling genres and styles in short narratives that involve the viewer in the often tragic destinies of characters trapped in violent relationships.
In a mix of cinéma-vérité and sitcom, home movie and reality TV, filmed performance and auteur cinema, Cytter offers works marked by a seemingly constant conflict between reality and fiction.
In addition to this no-holds-barred conflict (emblematic of many others, of course), all the parameters involved in the making of her works – scenario, scripting, acting, shooting and editing – are used to set up a tension equalled only by the extremity of the emotions portrayed.
And so the works, structured around an astonishing use of repetition, collage, loops and a filming technique that gives the artist a seemingly miraculous grip on reality, pull the viewer into the heart of a maelstrom, a chaos of emotions in which – exactly like the protagonists – he becomes lost and can never emerge from unscathed.
Violence and Passion, the title of one of Visconti's last films, could easily be Keren Cytter's watchword as she repeatedly quotes and borrows from filmmakers she admires who have already portrayed the torments and perils of the soul. In addition to Visconti there are also frequent references to John Cassavetes, Roman Polanski and Pier Paolo Pasolini.
In many respects this mingling of everyday life, memories and dream images, together with the subtly established link between reality and representation, can be seen as adding up to a fantasised autobiography.
Keren Cytter is also the author of novels and short stories reflecting a similar approach, and the creator of series of drawings she regularly incorporates into her videos.
December 9, 2009 - February 14, 2010
We are delighted to be presenting Keren Cytter's first solo exhibition in France.
Now living and working in Berlin, this young Israeli artist works mainly in video, mingling genres and styles in short narratives that involve the viewer in the often tragic destinies of characters trapped in violent relationships.
In a mix of cinéma-vérité and sitcom, home movie and reality TV, filmed performance and auteur cinema, Cytter offers works marked by a seemingly constant conflict between reality and fiction.
In addition to this no-holds-barred conflict (emblematic of many others, of course), all the parameters involved in the making of her works – scenario, scripting, acting, shooting and editing – are used to set up a tension equalled only by the extremity of the emotions portrayed.
And so the works, structured around an astonishing use of repetition, collage, loops and a filming technique that gives the artist a seemingly miraculous grip on reality, pull the viewer into the heart of a maelstrom, a chaos of emotions in which – exactly like the protagonists – he becomes lost and can never emerge from unscathed.
Violence and Passion, the title of one of Visconti's last films, could easily be Keren Cytter's watchword as she repeatedly quotes and borrows from filmmakers she admires who have already portrayed the torments and perils of the soul. In addition to Visconti there are also frequent references to John Cassavetes, Roman Polanski and Pier Paolo Pasolini.
In many respects this mingling of everyday life, memories and dream images, together with the subtly established link between reality and representation, can be seen as adding up to a fantasised autobiography.
Keren Cytter is also the author of novels and short stories reflecting a similar approach, and the creator of series of drawings she regularly incorporates into her videos.