In Berlin’s Mitte district, the Chaussee 36 gallery presents the first solo exhibition in Germany by the mysterious Swedish-British artist AdeY. Conceived as a nod to Instagram and its rigid censorship of nudity, Uncensored questions our relationship to the body and human relationships through a dialogue between photography and dance.
AdeY is a plural artist: choreographer, dancer, photographer… His artistic practice explores in a transversal way the themes of identity and perception, particularly with regard to contemporary socio-cultural norms. His dual identity leads him to draw his influences from artistic movements such as minimalism and conceptual art. UNCENSORED asserts his refined aesthetic, where light and color become vectors of emotion. Each composition is meticulously constructed in visual spaces of pure shapes and pale colors. His subjects, presented naked without an ounce of sexualization, are professional dancers whom he assembles to offer scenes with different levels of interpretation.
Interdependencies
Two female figures stand together in the heart of the dunes. Their slightly leaning bodies form a fragile arch, symbolizing the subtle balance of human relationships in a raw, almost childish innocence. This scene opens up a vast field for exploring interpersonal connections. In another image, a duo merges in uncanny symmetry: a white woman kisses her reflection in a mirror held by a black man. Here, AdeY plays with notions of otherness and self-projection, blurring the boundaries between unity and duality.
Another scene shows two white women hanging a black man from the ceiling. This time defying the laws of gravity, this composition opens up various interpretations: interdependence between genres? Relationships between colors? To deconstruct any fixed analysis, AdeY switches his subjects from one image to another, transforming each photograph into a search for universal emotions behind the facade of appearances.
Space exploration
The bodies float, intertwine or pile up, evolving in natural settings or refined interiors. For the artist, the human body is both a tool of expression and a space of freedom that he knowingly frees from social conventions. The subjects seem animated by a (re)discovery of the world through their movements. The looks, gestures and interactions reflect a natural curiosity, questioning our way of inhabiting space. The palette of colors contributes to this light, almost naive atmosphere, reinforcing the idea that each image is an invitation to explore the essence of human relationships, the human body and the space in which it fits.
“Dear Instagram”
Behind this aesthetic and philosophical research, UNCENSORED has above all a political dimension. The exhibition takes an opposig view to the censorship imposed by Instagram, where nudity is systematically associated with sexuality, without distinction between artistic expression and pornographic content. This reduction of nudity to a simple sexual impulse is the reflection of a puritanical and standardized vision of the human body, which the artist strives to deconstruct, scene after scene. AdeY thus offers a counter-narrative: that of a body freed from social and cultural injunctions, where nudity becomes a tool for emotional and relational exploration, rather than an object of stigmatization. To record his response, AdeY accompanies his exhibition with a work opening with a direct address to the social network: “Dear Instagram…”, questioning the standards it conveys and their impact on the perception of art and the body.
AdeY’s work aims to celebrate an inclusive and universal humanity. Each body – whatever its shape, gender or color – is presented with kindness, although the subjects are mainly professional dancers and therefore not truly representative of humanity in all its diversity. However, by making their movements a visual story, AdeY transforms the human figure into a place of strength and vulnerability, of interactions and connections. Images which also remind us that nudity expresses a sweetness inherent to the human condition.
Noémie de Bellaigue
Chaussee 36
Chausseestraße 36,
10115 Berlin
https://www.chaussee36.photography/
