Ruud van Empel "Souvenir, Dawn, Moon, World"
57 STUX + HALLER Gallery
This event has ended.
STUX Gallery presents Dutch artist Ruud van Empel's third solo exhibition at STUX Gallery. Presented alongside the artist's thoroughly unique photographs, for the first time, van Empel will further push the reality of his illusions by including cast bronze sculptural renditions of some of his iconic characters, allowing viewers a voyeuristic glimpse into a fully realized 3-dimensional world of new and seemingly improbable settings filled with evocatively harmless childlike characters.
In Souvenir, a new body of work, van Empel invites us to join him on a self-referential journey towards the source of his artistic inspiration, presenting tantalizing images "rescued" from his childhood home. In Dawn, also a premier series, van Empel entices us with glimpses of seemingly enchanted characters; prepubescent children set amidst digitally collaged landscapes that create a striking balance between the real and the unreal, the possible and the impossible.
These fascinating new works are counterpointed by van Empel's now classic series Moon and World. Two sides of the same coin, these high gloss and richly saturated photographs are comprised of hundreds of individual photographs that were taken by the artist himself, then digitally compiled and edited to produce what, in reality, would be impossible to capture in one, or even multiple film exposures. The juxtaposition of the artist's hyper-realistic elements, lushly filled backgrounds that contain the haunting gaze of children, create a mysterious relationship between two conspicuously diverse visual worlds.
Media
Schedule
from January 29, 2009 to March 21, 2009
Opening Reception on 2009-01-29 from 18:00 to 20:00