photography

Good medicine...

Submitted byJeeraik009 onFri, 09/16/2011 - 14:31

 

Diaspora artist Albert Chong was present to answer questions at the opening of his exhibition at the Mutual Gallery in Kingston last night. The show offered a selection of the artist's most successful photographs and prints on canvas from years past, as well as new works on tile and an installation featuring a hand cart and palm leaves. Whereas Chong's earliest works were shot through with nostalgia and a longing for 'home', by including his most recent works that are photographic compositions on stone tiles, he showed how his ideals have become less sentimental, more earth-bound, radicalized and edgier. His use of the camera that was once focussed on the self, the intimate, and the personal, has set aside ego to consider a greater good, challenging what the artist considers 'the most pressing issues of our time.' Chong explained how recent works such as Hope Deferred (2011) shown here, reflect his interest in world affairs and America's two unpopular wars. His exhibition, almost retrospective in its selection, offers a glimpse into his life and thought in pictures that embrace both nostalgic idealism and a healthy dose of political realism.

Brilliant Photography

Submitted byJeeraik009 onSat, 09/10/2011 - 04:07

 

The catalog arrived only recently by mail, although the exhibition took place in Ethiopia during the summer. Yet it is extensive enough to give the viewer an understanding of Jamaican born artist/author Danijah Tafari's recent work and display. Every page brims with the energy of his new technique that forgoes formal photographic representation to capture the play of light and energy in increasingly technology overloaded cityscapes of Kingston, London, Paris and New York. In his personal statement, the artist calls his process 'drawing and painting with light', using traditional medium format cameras. He explains why his recent images such as Ethereal Body shown here, fall outside of mainstream taste and have more often been discarded by professional photo labs that consider them rejects. Yet, Danijah Tafari is drawn to what these single exposure photographs that have not been digitally enhanced communicate about the ethereal and electric auras that pervade the atmosphere around us. The idea of presenting that which is normally unseen, appeals to this artist who has long since been attracted to rastafari philosophy and a deep concern for humanity. The catalogue does not tell us how this exhibition came to take place in Addis Ababa but we sense that these brilliant images and the artist have found a spiritual home in that city of light.

Renee Cox

Renee Cox is perhaps Jamaica's foremost contemporary photographer. Educated in the USA, her images explore issues of identity through the use of her own shifting personas such as female super heroes Raje, Nanny and Aunt Jemima. Additionally, she challenges perceptions of the Caribbean  and island life by exploring stereotypes that inform visitor's fantasies. Cox is not afraid to be controversial and she regularly exploits norms of sexuality by including her own naked body in daring and dramatically re-constructed settings. Perhaps her most debated work is Yo Mama's Last Supper in which she portrays herself as a modern feminized Christ surrounded by her disciples. The photograph drew the ire of religious communities (especially in New York when it was shown at the Brooklyn Museum) and raised questions related to art, ethics and public funding.