THE EYE IS A LONELY HUNTER - IMAGES OF HUMANKIND

Fotogalleriet is pleased to announce the upcoming group photography exhibition THE EYE IS A LONELY HUNTER - IMAGES OF HUMANKIND, which will include internationally acclaimed names like Pieter Hugo, Jacob Holdt, Gohar Dashti and Paolo Woods. The exhibition is curated by Katerina Gregos and Solvej Helweg Ovesen for Fotogalleriet and presents a selection of works earlier shown at the 4th Fotofestival Mannheim Ludwigshafen Heidelberg and the Grimmuseum, Berlin, in 2011 and 2012 respectively.

The exhibition is conceived as a photographic case study on the human condition as we enter the second decade of the twenty-first century. Bordering between the practices of documentary and artistic photography, the works present different subjective perspectives of a voyage into the realm of humankind and the challenges we face today. The photographers presented in the exhibition conduct sociological, ethnographic and often counter-anthropological research in the light of globalization, the aftermath of colonialism and collapsed ideologies.

The viewer will bear witness to images that advocate a new photographic humanism, an approach to photography which is more directly engaged, acknowledges the responsibilities and problematics of the politics of representation, and the pitfalls of stereotyping and fiction underlying the capturing of the ‘other’. THE EYE IS A LONELY HUNTER emphasizes direct communication and asks whether constructed pictures can be as true as documentary ones? Can interaction and intimacy from the photographers’ side sometimes replace ‘objective’ social analysis or activism in a survey on the human condition?

Participating artists: Ravi Agarwal (India), Said Atabekov (Uzbekistan), Sofia Burchardi & Plamen Bontchev (Denmark / Bulgaria), Gohar Dashti (Iran), Fouad Elkoury (Lebanon), Hasan & Husain Essop (South Africa), Jacob Holdt (Denmark), Pieter Hugo (South Africa), Barbara Metselaar Berthold (Germany), Paolo Woods (Netherlands/Haiti).

The exhibition is accompanied by a series of lectures and talks to present the artists’ projects and discuss the notions of creating counter-anthropological observations, recognition and the base of social change through photographic images.

Wednesday, 16 January at 19.00: Katerina Gregos gives a presentation on her recent exhibitions including Manifesta 9 and Newtopia: The State of Human Rights (2012), which similar to THE EYE IS A LONELY HUNTER explores the relationship between politics, democracy, new global production circuits and humanism. Lecture in collaboration with The Academy of Fine Art, Oslo Location: The Academy of Fine Art, Oslo

Thursday, 24 January at 19.00: Barbara Metselaar Berthold gives a presentation related to her work The Tall Tale of Free Will on the transition of the former East Berlin (1978-2011) and screens her documentary film Frozen Margaritas (1998/99), which evolves around the love relationship between homeless Frederick Caruthers and artist Dagmar Demming, while teaching at the Art Centre in Pasadena. The film follows their battle to overcome the prevailing notion of destiny, even taking it to Demming’s next destination, the Oslo Academy of Fine Arts. More Information on: www.metselaar-berthold.de Location: Fotogalleriet, Oslo

Thursday, 7 February at 19.00: Teheran-based Gohar Dashti talks about her artistic practice in relation to her work commenting on Iranian daily life including Today’s life and war (2008) shown at Fotogalleriet. Dashti also presents her latest work concerning the supervision of public life in Teheran. More information on: www.gohardashti.com Location: Fotogalleriet, Oslo

Thursday, 14 February at 19.00: Jacob Holdt presents his acclaimed slide show American Pictures, described as a journey through the American underclass demonstrating institutionalized poverty, fear and insecurity. More information on: www.american-pictures.com Location: Fotogalleriet, Oslo

KATERINA GREGOS (born in Athens, Greece, living and working in Brussels, Belgium) is an art historian, curator and writer. She is currently one of the curators of the next edition of the Göteborg Biennial and co-curator (with Luigi Fassi) of an exhibition for Steirischer Herbst Festival in Graz, Austria (both 2013). In 2012 she also curated “Newtopia: The State of Human Rights”, in Mechelen and Brussels (various venues) and was on the curatorial team of Manifesta 9. In 2011 she curated the Danish Pavilion for the 54th Venice Biennial (2011), with the exhibition Speech Matters, an international group exhibition on freedom of speech. Gregos has also curated several other international large-scale exhibitions including Contour 2009 – The 4th Biennial for Moving Image, Mechelen, Belgium (2009) and the 6th E V+A Biennial in Limerick, Ireland (2006). From 1997 to 2002 she was director and curator of the Deste Foundation, Athens, and during 2006 and 2007 she was the artistic director of Argos – Centre for Art & Media in Brussels. Currently she is also the artistic director of Art Brussels.

SOLVEJ HELWEG OVESEN (born in Copenhagen, Denmark, living and working in Berlin and Copenhagen) is a curator, writer and cultural studies theoretician. She also completed the De Appel Curatorial Training Program in Amsterdam, 2004. She is currently curating “Either-Or” in Kunsthallen Nikolaj, Copenhagen and Haus am Waldsee, Berlin (2013) on the occasion of the 200 years of Søren Kierkegaard as well as the mural exhibition “how far away is the horizon?” in Holbæk and Copenhagen in collaboration with the Images Festival “Occupy Utopia”, 2013. She has curated a number of exhibitions internationally including the first Copenhagen Quadrennial: “U-TURN Quadrennial for Contemporary Art”, Denmark (2008), the 6th Werkleitz Biennial, “Happy Believers”, Halle (2006), the group exhibition “Die Welt als Bühne” at the Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, Berlin (2009–2010), „Folklore Now – Old new forms“ at exhibition hall 44Møen, Denmark, and „Never odd or even“ at Grimmuseum, Berlin, 2011.

THE EYE IS A LONELY HUNTER - IMAGES OF HUMANKIND
A Selection from the 4th Fotofestival Mannheim Ludwigshafen Heidelberg
Kuratoren: Katerina Gregos, Solvej Helweg Ovesen

Künstler: Ravi Agarwal, Said Atabekov, Sofia Burchardi & Plamen Bontchev, Gohar Dashti, Fouad Elkoury, Hasan & Husain Essop, Jacob Holdt, Pieter Hugo, Barbara Metselaar-Berthold, Paolo Woods.