Since 2011, German photographer Yoram Roth has been producing art based on fine art nude photography. In four series gathered under the title Nudes in Steel, he depicts male and female figures, printed on different paper and acrylics. By physically cropping the image and framing the various elements in steel, a layered version of the same image allows the viewer to focus on different parts of the composition. This marked the beginning of an increasingly sculptural approach to his work.
With Spatial Concepts, an exhibition currently on view in Berlin, Yoram Roth enters new territory, focusing on elaborate compositions while maintaining his vision and approach towards nude photography. Whereas light previously interacted with the bodies in his works at the moment of photographing the picture, Roth wanted to surpass this point and extend the meaning and exposure of light in his pieces. Inspired by the work of Italian 1960s avant-garde artists Lucio Fontana, Agostino Bonalumi, and Enrico Castellani, often referred to as “Spatialists,” Roth started merging photography, sculpture, and modern manufacturing technology. Building on his previous work, Spatial Concepts emerges from Roth’s investigations into what happens to surfaces when light lands on ridges and openings, and his aim to create spaces beyond the typical flat piece of art on the wall.
“I have attempted to combine all these elements in my Spatial Concepts series,” he says. “Fine art nude photography ties into the oldest art forms of humanity across the world, from prehistoric ‘Venus figurines’ to Indian cave paintings, which depict our bodies in their most vulnerable states and express ideals of beauty and other human qualities. This series pays its respects to the Italian Spatialists, who saw light in its rawest form, creating work that changed throughout the day as the sun moved across their manipulated canvas surfaces, at times sinuous, erotic, or even violent. Though the use of the most modern technology available allows me to make infinite copies, I make the artistic choice of producing only one, in the firm conviction that this art form should be considered as unique as painting, though the process may be different.”
Yoram Roth: Spatial Concepts
28 April – 9 June 2018
CWC Gallery
Auguststrasse 11 – 13
10117 Berlin
Germany
