The Valletta Contemporary gallery in Malta presents those eyes – these eyes – they fade. The exhibition brings together photographs by Nigel Baldacchino, Bénédicte Blondeau, Bernard Plossu and Awoiska Van der Molen.
Conceived by Anne Immelé, the exhibition approaches metaphysical photography, from the apparent clarity of the day to the evanescent depths of night shadows.
The exhibition invites the visitor to move through environments with striking contrasts, provoking a multiplicity of perceptions. Like the images perceived with each blink of the eye, the exhibition articulates visions of a reality that is sometimes close, sometimes distant. From the vast dusty deserts of Bernard Plossu to the rocky and humid caves of Bénédicte Blondeau, from the urban parks crossed by the lights of dawn by Nigel Baldacchino to the empty and disturbing urban architectures of twilight by Awoiska Van Der Molen, the photographs transport the viewer towards imaginary spaces, oscillating between the first signs of life in the light of day and their disappearance.
Singular captures of natural or human-made objects and structures, these photographs recall the paradoxical nature of photography characterized by its ability to record and represent the visible, as well as by its ability to disturb it. The presentation of photographic “evidence” conveys doubt and introspection, the outside of things makes it possible to apprehend the inside.
Both intimate and distant, these images illustrate the personal vision of each photographer, they call to be visually felt more than understood. The spirit of this work, its silent universe, resides outside the frame, reinforcing the paradox of photography as a form of evocation rather than representation. The exhibition does not present the subjects and spaces photographed in a hierarchical or narrative order. Beyond the objective of photographic testimony, the exhibition is conceived as a prolonged meditation, an active and poetic contemplation.
curator Anne Immelé
Photographers exhibited: Nigel Baldacchino (MT), Bénédicte Blondeau (BE), Awoiska van der Molen (NL), Bernard Plossu (FR)
those eyes – these eyes – they fade
Until August 13, 2022
Valletta Contemporary
15, 16, 17, Triq Lvant (East Street)
Valletta, VLT1253, Malta
www.vallettacontemporary.com
Bernard Plossu also has two exhibitions as part of the BPM, Biennale de la photographie de Mulhouse
http://www.biennale-photo-mulhouse.com/2022/bernard-plossu
