LOOK INTO MY OWL

“Tattoo and Taboo” is a solo exhibition of large scale photographs from Kim Joon currently on display at Sundaram Tagore Gallery in Beverly Hills.

Kim Joon, Fragile-Dragon, digital print, 2010.

Kim Joon gained a passion for tattoos while inking the skin of his fellow soldiers years ago in the Korean army. The practice was and still remains an anathema in the eyes of his fellow countrymen.

Kim Joon, Fragile-Mermaid, digital print, 2010.

In the face of social convention, Joon saw an art form that allowed individuals to communicate something from within and literally wear their passions on their sleeve. With the aid of a three dimensional computer graphics program he constructs his intense compositions. Parts of bodies are intermingled with pattern derived from a combination of traditional design and contemporary commerce. Enticing shifts in scale are common in these fantastic yet familiar photographic realizations. Like many artists before him Kim Joon’s affection has risen from a place that had been kept from him.

Kim Joon, Cradle Song-Ferragamo, digital print, 2009.

Kim Joon
Tattoo and Taboo
8 April – 8 May 2010
Sundaram Tagore Gallery
Beverly Hills

“Incredible Me,” is an exhibition of selected photographs from Ivonne Thein’s series “Thirty-two kilos”. The show is up now and runs through the end of February at Galerie Voss in Duesseldorf.

Ivonne Thein, o.T. 04 (32kg), photograph, 2008.

Thein photographed healthy models in fashion scenarios and with the aid of digital manipulation was able to transform the images into these extremes. “Thirty-two kilos” was inspired by the artist’s fascination with the Pro-Ana movement. Pro-Ana refers to the belief by some that anorexia should be considered a lifestyle choice instead of a mental illness.

Ivonne Thein, o.T. 07 (32kg), photograph, 2008.

Identities in this imagery have been hidden by wigs and bandages in a venture to negotiate the humanity of her subjects. This objectification approaches the nucleus of the problem by displaying the absurdity of the goal. When the body becomes object criterions that sustain life cease to apply.

Ivonne Thein, o.T. 12 (32kg), photograph, 2008.

Ivonne Thein
Incredible Me
22 January – 27 February 2010
Galerie Voss
Duesseldorf, Germany

“Library of Dust,” a series of large scale photographs from 2005 by David Maisel is on view at the Von Lintel Gallery in NYC.

David Maisel, Library of Dust 103-566, c-print, 2005.

His subjects are the canned remains from the formerly named Oregon State Insane Asylum. The patients became part of this unusual collection because their ashes were never claimed by family or friends. In the mid 1970’s the canisters were placed in an underground depository which flooded repeatedly over the past several decades.

David Maisel, Library of Dust 1834, c-print, 2005.

The response of the copper containers to the water formed some astounding chemical reactions. Metaphorically, it is as though the inmates of the asylum, forgotten by loved ones have reasserted their individuality in an attempt to be once more remembered. The size of the prints amplifies the anomalies accomplishing a ghostly impression of portraiture.

David Maisel, Library of Dust 1470, c-print, 2005.

David Maisel
Library of Dust
21 January – 27 February 2010
Von Lintel Gallery
NYC