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duo exhibition
05.Dec.2015 - 06.Mar.2016
brussels

From Walter Benjamin (The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, 1936) to Roland Barthes (Camera Lucida, 1980), the 20th century has mostly taken photography as a multipliable art form. « What the photograph reproduces to infinity has occurred only once. » wrote Roland Barthes. In this exhibition, two artists, Zane Mellupe and Paulina Surys, take a different stance towards photography as a unique art piece. Photography here frees itself from the two-dimensional medium, exploring both new artistic fields and technical supports, becoming thus a physical object, a unique creation. We rediscover the emotion contained in that instant through a no longer reproductable picture, since its reality has already been altered by the artist’s own hand.

Studying photography since the age of 14, in Riga, London and Shanghai, Zane Mellupe conceives her artistic works as a way of « thinking in images ». Her installations, or multi-medium photographic works, centre around the hidden interpretations of our emotions. She employs the photographic medium as a tool that inspires her creative process. As such, her installations are often composed of everyday objects with an added photographic element, the collision of two universes from which arise new meanings. Zane Mellupe takes to an extreme the language of objects and photography, bringing together different materials, employing innovative techniques of printing on metal, wood, material, or even intervening manually on the negatives. Her artistic approach could be considered a return through sensuality to the original meaning of photography, that of capturing sensations of reality.

A recurrent element in the work of the artist, the photographed body, becomes an object itself. It is often presented naked, in foetal position, curled up, closed off and solitary. In « Functions or speaking in the terms of tools », the naked body of a woman is printed on the interior of a carpenter’s toolbox. The object becomes the visual metaphor of different roles and uses of the feminine body. The photography of Zane Mellupe cannot be read in isolation from their integrated object, giving a poetic narrative of thei history. The work of Zane Mellupe, in all its variations, consists in a questioning of photography, treating the image as an object, and at the same time multiplying the suggestions power of the image.

Paulina Surys studied at the National Art Academy of Fine Arts in Wroclaw (Poland) before her studies in photography in London. Her approach to photography is inspired in classic visual references while employing a singular and modern method. She uses entirely argentic photography, not only for its aesthetic value but also for the magic of the chemical reaction, fixing objects and people to a unique result, unlike in digital photography. The traditional process of photographic development cannot be dissociated from the work of the artist, it is the motor of his artistic creation. Printing in black and white is a basis allowing an ulterior intervention of colour, collage, embroidery or other materials. Influenced by surrealism, the creative act must, through photography, proceed from an instinctive state arising from the depths of the subconscious. Paulina Surys uses in a particular way Baryta matte paper, which was used in the 19th century for portraits, by Nadar among others. Her photographs, embellished with the stroke of her paintbrush, create an experimental universe inspired by Georges Bataille evoking eroticism, narcissism, death, manipulation, beauty and love. They become timeless photographic objects.

The artist uses also the Polaroid, another approach to point out the unique photographic work. Invented in 1948, this instant film allows for errors, imperfections; it can only be produced once. Paulina Surys creates using this technique spontaneous clichés, repainted, pasted or even stitched to create unique photographic objects. This appears in her series « Notes of Blindness », in which she seeks to transcribe a seemingly imperceptible truth through piercing her clichés with threads that penetrate the body. The resulting work affirms itself, sensual, provocative and surrealist.

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Functions or speaking in the terms of tools

Functions or speaking in the terms of tools

print on wood toolbox

Zane Mellupe
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Still Life

Still Life

c-print on silk

Zane Mellupe
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Im sad and happy, both together at the same time

Im sad and happy, both together at the same time

hand-painted folded silver gelatine print

Paulina Otylie Surys
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Untitled II

Untitled II

hand-painted and embroidered on silver gelatine print

Paulina Otylie Surys
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Bites

Bites

bites on negative, print on silk mounted on aluminum composite panel

Zane Mellupe
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Mao Tongyan—Investigation 1 Lane 101 Chongde Road House 11

Mao Tongyan—Investigation 1 Lane 101 Chongde Road House 11

c-print on stone acrylic frame

Zane Mellupe
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Mao Tongyan—Investigation 1 Lane 179 Wulumuqi Road House 62

Mao Tongyan—Investigation 1 Lane 179 Wulumuqi Road House 62

c-print on stone acrylic frame

Zane Mellupe
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How Do You Feel

How Do You Feel

print on scissors

Zane Mellupe
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The Geography of Thought

The Geography of Thought

fiber-glass, Chinese ink

Zane Mellupe
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Feasting on Light

Feasting on Light

photo printed on acrylic with ink

Zane Mellupe
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Locating self destination

Locating self destination

c-print on full transparency lightbox

Zane Mellupe
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Thinking of Ostriches

Thinking of Ostriches

c-print on acrylic, water in acrylic box, wood frame

Zane Mellupe
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untitled

untitled

silver gelatine print

Paulina Otylie Surys
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untitled

untitled

split toned on silver gelatin print

Paulina Otylie Surys
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untitled

untitled

silver gelatine print

Paulina Otylie Surys
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The Phenomenon of False Memories II—fig.CLXX

The Phenomenon of False Memories II—fig.CLXX

silver gelatine print on wood painted

Paulina Otylie Surys
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The Phenomenon of False Memories IV—fig.CMXXX

The Phenomenon of False Memories IV—fig.CMXXX

hand-embroidered on Polaroïd IMPOSSIBLE type 600, wood

Paulina Otylie Surys
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The Phenomenon of False Memories—fig DCXXX

The Phenomenon of False Memories—fig DCXXX

hand-embroidered on Polaroïd IMPOSSIBLE type 600

Paulina Otylie Surys
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Why you look ugly in photos and how to solve this maybe

Why you look ugly in photos and how to solve this maybe

hand-painted on silver gelatine print, wood

Paulina Otylie Surys
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I need to see your face

I need to see your face

burnt photography on silver gelatine print, on knife sharpener

Paulina Otylie Surys
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Notes on blindness—fig.IV

Notes on blindness—fig.IV

HAND-EMBROIDERED ON POLAROÏD IMPOSSIBLE TYPE 600

Paulina Otylie Surys
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Notes on Blindness—fig.XLIV

Notes on Blindness—fig.XLIV

hand-painted, embroidered on Polaroïd IMPOSSIBLE, type 600

Paulina Otylie Surys
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Notes on blindness—fig.XXII

Notes on blindness—fig.XXII

hand-embroidered on Polaroïd IMPOSSIBLE type 600

Paulina Otylie Surys
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Notes on Blindness—fig.XXIII

Notes on Blindness—fig.XXIII

hand-embroidered on Polaroïd IMPOSSIBLE, type 600

Paulina Otylie Surys
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Notes on Blindness—fig.XXIV

Notes on Blindness—fig.XXIV

hand-embroidered on Polaroïd IMPOSSIBLE type 600

Paulina Otylie Surys
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Chocking Hazard II

Chocking Hazard II

hand-painted on silver gelatine print, wood

Paulina Otylie Surys
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Notes on Blindness—fig.XXI

Notes on Blindness—fig.XXI

hand-embroidered on IMPOSSIBLE Polaroid type 600

Paulina Otylie Surys