Whitechapel Gallery London - John Stezaker Exhibition

On my trip to London I was able to see an exhibition by an artist I have been researching, John Stezaker. I think his work is fascinating and very unique. He has taken old images and given them new meanings, creating illusions that force the viewer to reassess the image.When looking at his work, I looked at each composition in a new way, paying extra attention in case my eyes were deceived. By inserting new meanings into old photographs, Stezaker manages to re establish the power of the image.

Here is a link to an interview with the artist:

http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/exhibitions/triennial/video.shtm#stezaker




Tabula Rasa XV 2009
I think it is very effective when Stezaker removes sections of the image he is working with. In his collages of film stills he cuts sections away, interfering with the image and interrupting the narrative. While viewing the images I was filling the gaps with my imagination. I asked myself questions such as who are they talking to? How does the photograph look when it is complete?



Mask 1982
In the 'Mask' series Stezaker has fused the profiles of glamorous sitters with caves, hamlets or waterfalls resulting in an image of eerie beauty. He has placed colour postcards over the monochrome portraits. In the image above there is a gap in the postcard where there is a gap in the image of the two faces. The faces are coming together in the image, like the two cliffs in the Gorges de L'Aar coming together. The images are perfectly aligned, at a quick glance I did not even release it was a postcard.



Mask 1982
In the image above, the two bridges remind me of her two eyes, the arches of the stone bridges look like a pair of gawping eyes. Stezaker manages to sublimely make the image work.





The Bridge (from the castle series) 2008

These images from The Bridge series is similar to my photographs where Stezaker has used two images and put them together.








Marriage series 2010
These images look weirdly unsettling however they seem to work together. The faces are aligned together perfectly. He joins the faces together focusing on the facial features such as the eyes or nose. The images are confusing and play with the mind. I think they are similar to my work, working with two images and putting them together.




From the love series 2006

It is often through the eye that Stezaker makes his incision, either vertically or horizontally. In the 'Love' series a narrow strip of the same image is inserted along the eye line, so that the subject stares out at us with expanded, blurry, alien eyes. The subject is staring out at the viewer, giving a spooky eerie feel. The eyes remind me of refraction in water.

Blind 2006

In the series 'Blind' the eyeballs have been razored out along a straight line and the edges of the photographs brought together again.