Reuben Cox "Bagatelles"

Blackston

poster for Reuben Cox "Bagatelles"

This event has ended.

In Cox's latest series of C-Print photographs, explosions of smoke are generated by detonating black powder (traditional gunpowder) and photographed with manual shutter release and high-powered flashes in both studio and outdoor contexts. The resultant ambiguous smoke forms exist for a few seconds at most before dissipating into a shapeless mist. Given the volatile and evanescent nature of the subject matter, shutter control is key-- and largely reflexive. The element of chance in the process is further accentuated by experimental gunpowder arrangements and variable environmental conditions.

Cox's reliance on his instincts to capture the images invokes an echo of surreal automatism, a flash of subconscious expression -- the product of which, in turn, is solicitous of free association like that of a Rorschach blot, which creates a subjective bridge of subliminal resonance between artist and viewer. The fleeting vigor, the inherent appeal of an unrepeatable and seemingly random and short-lived phenomenon and the violent connotative associations of the explosions make for compelling images which, given the brief window of their existence, can only be captured on film. The title of the exhibition is a reference to music compositions that typically connote a lighthearted and fleeting simplicity and playfulness. The images in "Bagatelles" demonstrate all of these qualities and, indeed, convey a certain lyricism, whilst alluding to the familiar images of conflict that have become so much a part of our consciousness.

[Image: Reuben Cox "Untitled" (2007/2010) c-print 24 x 20 in.]

Media

Schedule

from April 18, 2010 to May 28, 2010

Opening Reception on 2010-04-18 from 18:00 to 20:00

Artist(s)

Reuben Cox

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