Photo Image Gallery is happy and proud to present two new artists, Jo Stanness and Karim Alaoui, in a combined show that will start on Saturday June 3rd. A vernissage will take place on June 3rd in presence of one of the artists, Karim. The exhibition will be ongoing until June 18th.
Karim's "Architexture" and "Trees" are two series of photographs from his studies on man's inner landscape. Strongly influenced by his works as a psychiatric nurse and a Shiatsu Yoseido practitioner, his art is heavily impacted by his day job. He uses photography as a medium in order to discover the world and develop new perceptions.
Jo's series, ‘Slices of Brutalism’ saw the light in 2015. They came from an idea she had had for an illustrated book. Drawn to the clean lines and geometry of brutalist and modernist architecture, she always found the background clutter frustrating. To Jo, the solution was simple: use scissors and paint to cut away the clutter and reveal the clean forms.
The exhibition, strongly centered on architecture versus nature, shows two artists’ struggles and attempts to create an improved version of their surroundings.
On the one hand, Karim’s black and white trees and buildings subdued in a flustered and abstract light as if swept off the ground to a new reality.
“The shapes and spaces emerge in a dreamlike mood. The rhythm of each structure pops up out of chaos, like a signature, an unintentional fingerprint. Aren’t we constantly seeking to check the reality of what is around us? Photography here is no longer the faithful witness but the indicator of something which highlights our senses and maybe reconnects us…”
On the other, Jo’s cut out brutalist buildings, which are given a new lease, a new life and a new dimension by the carefully chosen colour patterns that emerge from its angles.
“Architecture can slice through and divide up physical space; I am interested in using images of structures or elements of buildings as a catalyst for the division of pictorial space. In this work I follow one simple self-imposed rule: I only follow or extend lines and angles which already exist within the photographic image.”
Jo was born in Sunderland in the North East of England where she now teaches in a primary school. She finds inspiration in the numerous books she reads, in art, be it in galleries, books, or on Instagram, and by visiting new towns and cities with her camera in hand.
Karim was born in Brussels, Belgium, in 1970. Aside from his work as an artist photographer, he has been working as a psychiatric nurse in a day hospital for the last 30 years. As of 15 years ago he added Shiatsu Yosheido practitioner to his occupations.
