28 Ott 2015

Hrair Sarkissian. Back to the Future

From 27 November 2015 al 21 February 2016
Opening Thursday, November 26, 2015 – 17:30

Foundation Carispezia
via D. Nail 36, La Spezia

Opens Thursday, November 26, 2015 at the venue of the Foundation Carispezia the first solo exhibition of Italian Armenian-Syrian photographer Hrair Sarkissian , one of the protagonists of the pavilion ” Armenity “, winner of the Golden Lion for best national participation at the 56th Biennale Venice.

The exhibition, curated by Filippo Maggia and visible until February 21, 2016, presents 86 photographs and a video that offer the viewer an almost exhaustive reading of the artist’s research, focusing on the themes of the uncertainty of the future and identity social, political, religious and cultural heritage to defend and preserve.

The relationship of individuals with the history and the past, the memory and the identity of places, beyond the mutations that over time may be subject, specify the entire artistic production of Sarkissian (Damascus, 1973).

” I use photography to tell stories that are not immediately visible on the surface , “says the artist introducing their work. Human events that a 4×5 analog camera during shooting and printing in medium and large format help to make perceptible to those who want to understand what lies beyond the paper.

That are real or constructed, the scenarios taken from Sarkissian are however the result of assembly of more elements combined with each other and, even for this, he often resorts to the series that allows him to highlight now one now the other. The artist applies the knowledge of the photographic medium and its expressive potential in a process of producing images that reconsiders the symbols of the history of Armenia, Egypt and Syria, in the past as the present, inviting the viewer to go beyond the immediacy of photography that, from simple document, can rise to the role of witness of time.

The exhibition presents the series ” prayer bump “(2007), 45 portraits of observant Muslims Egyptians who wear on their foreheads the mark of devotion and the act of prayer; the series ” Churches “- built in Amsterdam in 2009 and whose works are on display 5 – portraying only with the help of natural light some former places of worship now being used for other activities; 15 images in the dark sunken wooden structures of the series ” Construction “, which introduces a working method in which photography becomes a useful means to the narrative of an experience and no longer directly responsible for the representation of places or people; ” Stand Still “(2009-2010), 6 of the 14 large-format images of abandoned buildings under construction in the immediate vicinity of Damascus; ” Sarkissian Photo Center and My Father & I “of 2010, consists of a view of the photo lab and portraits of father and son, and the video” Homesick “of 2014 in which the model of the palace of Damascus where Sarkissian has grown – and where parents still live artist – is progressively destroyed.

The exhibition will be accompanied by a catalog published by Skira.

Hrair Sarkissian

Born in Damascus in 1973 by a family from eastern Turkey fled after the genocide of Armenians in 1915, and it is in the Syrian capital that his father opened in 1979 the first color photo lab in the country, the Sarkissian Photo Center. The shop is the place where Hrair Sarkissian grows and where you decide its fate: fascinated by the world of images, for twelve years, assists his father at the same time learning the shooting technique as that of the press, until he decided to complete his studies instead develop commercial activity. He moves well in France, in Arles, and then completed his artistic training at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam, where, in 2010, he graduated in photography. Since 2011 he lives in London, from which to travel and move residences even for long periods in the Netherlands and Jordan. He has exhibited his work at the Rencontres d’Arles (2004), the State Museum of Contemporary Art in Thessaloniki (2008), Istanbul Biennial (2009), the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo (2012), at the New Museum in New York (2014), the Tate Modern in London (2014-2015). He took part in the 56th Venice Biennale (2015), setting together with other artists in the pavilion Armenian, winner of the Golden Lion for best national participation.

Information

Opening hours
from 27 November 2015 al 21 February 2016
Tuesday-Friday 15-19
Saturday-Sunday 10.30-13 and 15-19
closed on Monday, 25, December 26, 2015 and
January 1, 2016

Free admission

Contacts
Foundation Carispezia info@fondazionecarispezia.it

(Photo: Hrair Sarkissian, prayer bump , 2007)

Material shows:

Press release Hrair Sarkissian. Back to the Future

Selecting print images