ION CONSTAS Polaroids
Opening reception
Friday 16 November from 6pm
The exhibtion of over 200 polaroids taken between 2001 to date is primarily about the love of looking and the desire to preserve images. What is depicted alternates from reality to mediated reality so that the immediate surroundings and the visual cultural material (other images, film, art) have equal weight. The mundane contents of an apartment and the expanded field of cinematic truth collide in the space of the Polaroid. That he chooses this most “autonomous” medium is not accidental- the immediacy of the process (instantaneity), the relative slowness of the “click”, the specific limitations of technical possibilities resist manipulation but the truth that is extracted is only vague.
The inherent qualities of the Polaroid, its fleshiness, so contrary to the immateriality of digital photography, the inevitable saturation and liquidity turn the photographs to burgeoning paintings. (Parenthetically, Luc Tuymans paints after his polaroids).
In this way, the work is less about the snapshot aesthetic that revolutionized the way we perceive photography, and more about
a formal interiority. Although the any-instant-whatever rule applies here, there is precious little information about a scene,
a condition, or a life-style. The tapestry of isolated pictures or clusters, or repetitions are installed semi-arbitrarily on the gallery walls and will be accompanied by a changing soundtrack.
Ion Constas (*1960, Port-Said) studied at the London School of Economics (LSE) and the London Business School (LBS).
He has co-produced a number of feature and short films (100% Synthetic Films). His recent trilogy of short films is currently
in post-production (writer-director). This is his second exhibition with Nice & Fit.
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