Amsterdam’s Unseen Photo Fair opens today for a fifth year in the city’s Westergasfabriek. Unseen invites galleries from around the world — 53 this year — to show the work of upcoming photographers, and new pieces by well-known artists.
East Wing are showing a group exhibition of work by Caleb Charland, Maija Tammi, Mandy Barker and Yann Mingard. The natural world is given a surreal twist in all of the works, from Barker’s wing-like forms in Beyond Drifting Imperfectly Known Animals to Charland’s magically lit apple tree (which will appeal to fans of Netflix’s brilliant Stranger Things).
London’s Flowers Gallery are showing the lusciously-coloured works of Scarlett Hooft-Graafland, a mix of epic landscapes and human activity; in one work a huddled group of figures sits in the desert wrapped entirely in bright pink fabric, in another, a made-up face peers out from a groove in some sci fi-looking rocks.
Galerie Les Filles du Calvaire, Paris
Three artists are brought together for Galerie Les Filles du Calvaire’s booth, with Claudia Huidobro, Katrien de Blauwer and Benjamin Mouly. The works have similar threads running through them, with photographs sliced and chopped, faces obscured and body parts floating disconnectedly. There is a strong graphic element to all three series.
Isaac Julien is shown by Galerie Ron Mandos, in a characteristically monumental fashion. A still and lone figure disrupts an icy landscape in Onyx Cave (Stones Against Diamonds), as bright turquoise waves lash overhead, and snow-laden rocks lie out in front. A running theme at Unseen, this perfectly captures the enormity of nature against a single body, and inevitably invites contemplation of the damage a mass of human life could do to even the toughest of landscapes.
Elephant enjoyed Felicity Hammond’s House of Egorn installation in Berlin last week, and her work can also be found at South Kiosk’s Unseen booth. Shrouded 6, Stone Effect plays with similar surface-defying qualities, marbled perspex wrapped liquid-like around natural-looking stoney forms. Hammond’s work often crosses between photography and installation, and is an interesting departure here from the mainly wall-hung works.
‘Unseen Photo Fair‘ runs until 25 September
