Simen Johan’s ongoing series, Until the Kingdom Comes, presents animals in natural settings at once realistic and imaginary. By digitally compositing elements of photographs taken in nature or in the studio, the artist presents scenarios that address ways in which we contend with inherent fears and fantasies.
Loretta Lux creates portraits that address the idea of childhood as a paradise lost. The artist utilizes photography, painting and digital imaging to execute her compositions. Her scenarios of isolation and distance occur in ambiguous time and space as well as reference paintings by Old Masters, such as Bronzino, Velasquez and Goya.
Pieter Hugo’s new series, Permanent Error, depicts a technological wasteland in Ghana littered with piles of discarded computers, many of which were donated by the UN in their effort to close the digital divide. Amid the toxic scene, Mr. Hugo takes portraits of the young people who make their living by burning down the plastics of old wires, disks and monitors to extract the metals inside.
Yuki Onodera’s ongoing Transvest series (2002-present) are life-size, gelatin silver prints of human figures in silhouette. From a distance, the figures appear to be easily recognizable characters: a flamenco dancer, cowboy or boxer. However, closer inspection reveals that each form is a cut-out shape clothed in fragmented imagery of diverse subjects that include animals, streetlights, portraits, microscopic organisms, or landscapes. These image fragments are collected and appropriated from photographs, magazines, video and other material. The figures are photographed against strong back-lighting, producing iconic silhouettes while obscuring details within the forms.
