Jackson Fine Art presents two distingished European Artists
Opening Reception, Friday September 8th, 6 - 8 pm
Dutch photographer Ruud van Empel reveals to us the possibilities of infusing art and technology. Jackson Fine Art is proud to exhibit a selection of his most recent work. Trained as a graphic designer, he began applying digital manipulations to his work almost ten years ago. Unlike most photographers who expose their viewers, at least in some part, to reality, in that they photograph actual people and places, van Empel¹s vivid photographs of exotic environments and small children are entirely a product of his imagination. He gathers visual sources and collages them so flawlessly that they are recognizable only as his own creations. Van Empel fabricates lush tropical forests, where he decides which plants can grow there and which animals can live there. Within these jungles, either deep between the trees or thriving in the water, are small children, usually alone, never smiling. Girls are adorned in prim church clothes while the boys wear bright colored bathing suits. Why van Empel chooses these habitats and children is not as relevant as the mystery they evoke. These photographs, although stunning, are too pristine, too lifelike. Their imagined realness inverts, folds back onto itself, and we immediately determine that these images cannot be grounded in reality. The fantastical concoctions and disjointed narratives that he envisions might not answer all of our questions and may make us feel a little intimidated by their hyperrealism, but they will always fascinate and lure us into van Empel¹s world.
The fundamental methods of both science and art are not often considered to be shared in nature. Likewise, the motives that drive scientific research and artistic creation are generally perceived as disparate. However, Finnish photographer Sanna Kannisto, travels deep into the rainforests of Brazil, French Guiana, and Costa Rica in order to combine and challenge scientific and artistic approaches to visual recognition and classification. Jackson Fine Art is also please to exhibit the series of work that resulted from this expedition, Private Collection. As she collects various species of plants and animals to photograph in a small constructed ³field studio,² she calls herself a ³visual researcher.² By placing each specimen in this stark white box with black curtains, she puts them on stage, presents them out of context, and ultimately, in each beautiful and delicate photograph, provides an interpretation of nature. Herein is where science and art collide. Kannisto says, ³We want to outline and organize our world. Science and art use similar methods. Both define subjects, classify and document work in progress. Through both, we attempt to possess the world.² In her photographs she reduces the overwhelming vastness of the rainforest into tiny entities for the supposed purpose of understanding, just as science discovered electrons and cameras capture fractions of a second. Kannisto realizes, however, that understanding is limited and total objectivity is impossible. Kannisto¹s techniques, which are both endearing to and critical of art and science, simultaneously work together and against each other to create intriguing and deceptively simple studies of nature.
If you have any questions or would like further information or images, please contact Malia Stewart at [email protected]. Jackson Fine Art, 3115 East Shadowlawn Ave. NE; Atlanta, GA 30305, Tel: 404-233-3739 Fax: 404-233-1205 www.jacksonfineart.com
