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Exhibition
'Composed' solo exhibition by Yael Argov Hacmun at the Vitrina gallery.
The exhibition 'Composed' presents photographs taken by Yael Argov-Hacmun from 2004 to 2017.
Argov-Hacmun's photographs revolve around the mundane. Such snapshots bring to mind a wandering photographer, immediately reacting to what she sees, but at the same time also propose a reflection on directorial editing and voyeurism. Joining these images together is an act which seeks to piece together, create a story or solve a mystery.
Argov-Hacmun’s work is inspired by some of the great photographers whose works engage with ordinary life and family. Perhaps the most notable of these are the American artists William Eggleston and Nan Goldin, whose works depict standard and seemingly uneventful moments from their immediate surroundings while employing “imperfect” or "incorrect" techniques.
Many of the works create a melancholy feeling, while at times they seem to capture an ambiguous moment in time, creating an elusive impression of something bad that has happened or is about to happen, an ominous feeling.
Any and all photographs are first and foremost an attempt to capture a certain moment in time. In her works, Argov-Hacmun not only captures the moment as it is, but is also fascinated by the memory of that moment. She explores the mechanisms of memory, why we remember certain moments and forget others. Her eye seeks for the visual expression of memories, as she experiences them.
The exhibition’s title relates to several aspects in Argov-Hacmun’s works. One of the definitions to the Hebrew title is reservation, which brings to mind associations to a nature reserve – green expanses that recur in many of her recent works. Another aspect touches on the feeling that arises from viewing Argov-Hacmun’s body of work as a whole – photos that were taken in recent years, yet seem like scenes from a different era, an archive of memories. Above all, the title, both in English and in Hebrew, reflects something of the artist’s state of mind that imbues her entire work, a distant, reserved and composed feel.
The arrangement of the exhibition space is designed to reflect the content of the works, as well as the artist’s working process. Argov-Hacmun photographs a myriad of images that comprise the memories that she documents and the story that she wishes to recount. Alongside the narrative element, there is also significance to each individual image, and so several images were chosen to stand in their own right, enlarged and separated from the group.
The table at the center of the space serves as a small archive of works that were photographed over the years, alluding to the multitude of moments and memories that she documents. A collection of works on another wall at the gallery is a carefully selected group of works from different times and situations, which together unfold the story of the artist’s real and staged memories.
The exhibition wishes to create a space in which we join the artist on her quest, a journey that is still in progress. This is a proposal to approach the photographs from the perspective of looking at private memories and at their presence in the past and in the present.
Curator: Maya Anner
Opening date: 21.12.2017
Closing date: 22.1.2018
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