ROBERT MAPPLETHORPE – AS ABOVE, SO BELOW

Posted on 2014-02-17

The phrase “as above, so below” refers to a Hermetic principle, which suggests that whatever happens on one level of reality also occurs on a separate level. The idea relates to the ancient Greek concept of microcosm and macrocosm, which recognized that patterns reproduce on small and large scales. Whether understood as reflection or repetition, the philosophy provided a rational explanation of a unifying theory, and the Greeks devised a way to measure it: the golden ratio. Approximated within many works of art, artists would use this equation to achieve aesthetic perfection.

The “as above, so below” concept posits humankind as a midpoint of the cosmos. The characteristics of an individual who embodies this maxim epitomize one who transcends duality by bringing things out of the darkness into the light, exploring the world in order to master it. Commonly misconceived as esoteric, the true purpose of the message is to communicate a collective unconscious and mutual accord, not to deliver judgment or affirm dogma.

Considered from this perspective, Robert Mapplethorpe’s work and his artistic motivations suggest that he employed a particular method; the symmetry and compositions achieve a sort of proportional perfection, as outlined by the golden ratio theory, but they also translate unification between ideologically opposing subjects. Attempting to persuade that a shared aesthetic exists between photographs of what some consider obscene and what most agree to be beautiful – that they both embody visual perfection – may only resonate to others as a viable argument if geometry is considered.

Opposite – Lisa Lyon, 1982

Exhibition runs through from February 28th to March 29th, 2014

OHWOW
937 N. La Cienega Boulevard
Los Angeles
CA
90069

oh-wow.com

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SOPHY RICKETT – OBJECTS IN THE FIELD

Posted on 2014-02-17

Objects in the Field. Made during her time as Artist Associate at the Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge, Objects in the Field develops the artist’s interest in exploring how light and darkness define and articulate our relationship to space.
Rickett examines the legacy of some now obsolete astrophysical research conducted in the 1980s, and constructs or re-imagines a set of different narrative voices that are at times contradictory, or at odds with each other.
Appropriating the lexicon used by astronomers and astrophysicists that refers to stars as ‘objects’ and to the sky as ‘the field’, Objects in the Field consists of several series of photographs, a monitor based video and an essay published in a supporting booklet. Each work reflects upon the artist’s encounter with Dr Roderick Willstrop, a retired astronomer physicist, associated with the Institute of Astronomy since 1965.

The exhibition includes several works from the Observations series, where Rickett has appropriated a number of Dr Willstrop’s abandoned negatives, reprinting them by hand using the analogue process and altering them through her own subjective and aesthetic decisions. The resulting works subvert the images’ original scientific purpose and at the same time act as a retrieval, or ‘rescue’ of the archive, in an intriguing and provocative confrontation of scientific and artistic endeavours.
Rickett is interested in the process of de-accessioning and the advancement of obsolescence. She uses the project to explore ideas around how meaning and interpretation can be fluid and contestable. The project tests the border between collaboration and appropriation, and explores ways of blurring the boundaries between them.

Opposite – Observation 123, 1997/2013

Exhibition runs through to March 22nd, 2014

Camilla Grimaldi
25 Old Burlington Street
4th Floor
London
W1S 3AN

www.camillagrimaldi.com

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TOMIO SEIKE – NUDE UNTITLED & WATERSCAPES

Posted on 2014-02-17

In this exclusively online exhibition, the second of its kind for Hamiltons, we witness the blend of two bodies of Seike’s work, Waterscapes and Nude Untitled. His meditative work balances exquisitely between the abstract and traditional – and it was said, by Francis Hodgson, that Seike “is the direct counter to all that is strident and immediate and shrill in photography. Given how those emotional registers dominate the photographic world at the moment, it takes a momentary adjustment to settle in front of a group of Tomio Seike’s pictures.”

Initially an accident of fate, Waterscapes developed from a chance photograph taken on a foggy day at Barton Bridge – Waterscapes #1, 1996 – and developed at Seike’s customary own unhurried pace. Although his work emanates a calm serenity, we must not be misled, as Seike’s work is habitually more considered and intricate than a passing assessment might first suggest. Water and reflection play a predominant role in his earlier work and many of the ideas – for example the Seine, pools of rainwater and reflective windows seen in his Paris series – reoccur in Waterscapes. Seike deliberately explores the traditions and technicalities of the photographic medium; with compositional contrasts, atmosphere and with light and dark.

A similarly measured approach is echoed in Nude Untitled; yet, the link between these two bodies of work runs far deeper than technicalities alone: he creates an atmosphere which imbues each image with mystery, longing, and a sense of quiet wonderment. Again we witness an ethereal, almost haunting other-worldliness; a similar vein of peace and tranquillity. Seike is a master at capturing the quiet moments in life that silently pass, the ordinary moments that so often go unnoticed; “I was never interested in taking pictures of models or well known individuals, I prefer ordinary people in ordinary situations, as you see every day and every moment – nothing special.”

Opposite – Waterscapes #1, 1996

Exhibition runs through to March 4th, 2014

Hamiltons Gallery
13 Carlos Place
London
W1K 2EU

www.hamiltonsgallery.com

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