Ben Cauchi
Photographer
For the past decade Ben Cauchi has engaged in a practice examining the nature of photography, the passage of time, and the psychological dimensions of viewing. His work is made using the very earliest photographic techniques; the wet-collodion photographic process, producing ambrotypes and tintypes; one-off positives on glass or metal. It is a process invented at a time of pioneering discovery in the worlds of science, industry and reason, yet also a time when spiritualism and mesmerism held the public imagination. This dichotomy is at the centre of Cauchi’s work; he stages scenarios in the studio and, using the photographic process itself, blurs the lines between what is, and what is not; and in so doing investigates the space between the empirical and the incorporeal.
As writer and critic Gregory O’Brien has said: Cauchi “has not only mastered long outmoded photographic techniques but he has revitalized those traditional ways of making and seeing within the context of contemporary photography and the present day world. Beyond their mystery and occasional sense of menace, his immensely refined images are also repositories for lyricism and, at times, a dark but nonetheless exquisite beauty.”
[Ingleby]
Ben Cauchi
Photographer
For the past decade Ben Cauchi has engaged in a practice examining the nature of photography, the passage of time, and the psychological dimensions of viewing. His work is made using the very earliest photographic techniques; the wet-collodion photographic process, producing ambrotypes and tintypes; one-off positives on glass or metal. It is a process invented at a time of pioneering discovery in the worlds of science, industry and reason, yet also a time when spiritualism and mesmerism held the public imagination. This dichotomy is at the centre of Cauchi’s work; he stages scenarios in the studio and, using the photographic process itself, blurs the lines between what is, and what is not; and in so doing investigates the space between the empirical and the incorporeal.
As writer and critic Gregory O’Brien has said: Cauchi “has not only mastered long outmoded photographic techniques but he has revitalized those traditional ways of making and seeing within the context of contemporary photography and the present day world. Beyond their mystery and occasional sense of menace, his immensely refined images are also repositories for lyricism and, at times, a dark but nonetheless exquisite beauty.”
[Ingleby]
•
-
Gilles Aillaud: Political AnimalOct 4, 2023 – Feb 24, 2024When asked about his decision to paint almost nothing but animals, Gilles Aillaud replied “because I like them”. Contemporaneous with early Pop Art works, with their varying degrees of fascination with consumer products and mass communication, the paintings of Gilles Aillaud (who died in 2005) have nothing exotic about them. (more…)
-
Jam Wu: Shadow PuppeteerOct 7, 2023 – Jan 27, 2024Mysterious shadows lurking in various scenes in life; we catch a glimpse and lose sight of them in the next moment, somehow still able to decipher their physical form. Taking place in an underground exhibition venue, Jam Wu: Shadow Puppeteer employs shadows as puppets, rendering the core of subconsciousness in the human body. (more…)
-
Pauline Boudry / Renate LorenzNov 10, 2023 – Feb 25, 2024This winter, we have the pleasure of presenting an exhibition by the Berlin-based artist duo Pauline Boudry and Renate Lorenz: Walk Silently in the Dark Until Your Feet Become Ears in our skylight halls. With five choreographers and performers, Pauline Boudry and Renate Lorenz have developed the two-channel film installation Les Gayrillères (more…)
-
International Women’s Day / 2023March 8, 2023International Women’s Day: Founded over a hundred years ago evolving through various names and dates, this fulcrum of women’s rights was adopted by the United Nations only in 1975 and is still largely overlooked in many countries. (more…)
-
Marina AbramovićSep 23, 2023 – Jan 1, 2024An art world icon and a performance art pioneer – Marina Abramović has captivated audiences by pushing the limits of her body and mind, for the past 50 years. Marina Abramović Hon RA has earned worldwide acclaim as a performance artist. She has consistently tested the limits of her own physical and mental endurance in her work, subjecting herself to exhaustion, pain and even the possibility of death. (more…)
-
Made in Paris / Chagall, Matisse, MiróSep 1, 2023 – Jan 7, 2024For 130 years, Paris has been a centre for the production of original graphic works of art. As early as the late 19th century, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec or Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen created prints and original lithographic posters here, which were enthusiastically received and passionately collected by their contemporaries. (more…)
-
Wonders and Witness: Contemporary Photography from KoreaNov 18, 2023 – Jan 27, 2024Wonders and Witness: Contemporary Photography from Korea is an exhibition that invites you to explore the diverse facets of Korean life – its desires, anxieties, frustrations, and mysteries. It delves into pressing issues such as urbanization, the intricacies of family dynamics, the search for identity, and the enduring hope for a brighter future. These photographs act as more than just witnesses to societal conditions (more…)
-
Rencontres d’ArlesPhotography FestivalEvery summer since 1970, over the course of more than forty exhibitions at various of the city’s exceptional heritage sites, the Rencontres d’Arles has been a major influence in disseminating the best of world photography (more…)
-
The Observatory: Art And Life In The Critical ZoneSep 23, 2023 – Jan 5, 2024The Observatory: Art And Life In The Critical Zone revolves around the intricate relationships among humans, animals, plants, earth material, and other forms of life. The exhibition brings together a collection of new and existing artworks by twenty-six artists who, in diverse ways, actively engage with the multifaceted elements present in the “critical zone.” (more…)
