Foam press release | 18 April 2011
Capricious Presents: Continuity of Chaos
9 June - 4 September 2011
At the invitation of Foam, Sophie Mörner, photographer and founder
of Capricious Magazine, has created an exhibition of young
(emerging) photographic talent from the United States. Capricious
is a major innovative platform for contemporary photography.
The exhibition Continuity of Chaos shows the work of Luke Gilford,
Nicholas Gottlund, Aaron McElroy and Sarah Palmer. These young
(emerging) photographers have all been inspired by the concept of
'chaos'. Chaos is often considered as an anarchistic lack of order,
not as an independent, harmonious phenomenon. But it is precisely
because that lack of order is constant that it is considered within
some philosophies as a state of unity and stability. Furthermore,
the permanent unrest that is characteristic of chaos is necessary
to allow new ideas to germinate - like the singing of the Muses.
The works which are part of Continuity of Chaos show chaos as the
basis of serenity, but also emphasise the impulse which is
characteristic of chaos to distance itself from the natural
order.
The work of Luke Gilford (Colorado, 1986) is a feast of forms and
colours which have been extracted from their usual context. The
abstracted figures and forms are never fully revealed, and chiefly
evoke wonder in the viewer. Luke Gilford earned his bachelor's
degree from UCLA in 2008. He has exhibited work at MoMA (New York),
the MUSAC in Spain and galleries in Los Angeles, San Francisco and
New York. He has also created work for Art Basel Miami, Maison
Martin Margiela, Miss America and The New York Times
Magazine.
Sarah Palmer (California, 1977) isolates objects from their
ordinary surroundings in a way that evokes tranquillity as well as
tension. The work has an alienating effect that challenges the
viewer to see more than the sum of the parts. Sarah Palmer received
a bachelor's degree from Vassar College in 1999 and a master's
degree from the School of Visual Arts in 2008. Her work has been
shown at the Wild Project in New York, Like The Spice (Brooklyn),
the Irish Museum of Contemporary Art, the Center for Photography in
Woodstock and in 'G/IRL: Women Photographers Emerging in Digital
Culture,' (New York). Palmer teaches fulltime at Parsons The New
School for Design.
In the photos of Aaron McElroy (US, 1978) close-ups of bodies and
body parts blur into hazy, misty contours. Identities are concealed
and abstracted, creating new forms and visual landscapes. Aaron
McElroy lives and works in New York and graduated from the New
England School of Photography in 2007. His work appeared in the
annual photo edition of Vice Magazine in 2009 and in Capricious
Magazine nr.11: Being Fashion. His first solo exposition
(exhibition? )was at dalla Rosa Gallery in London.
Nicholas Gottlund (Pennsylvania, 1981) finds disorder - in nature
or man-made - and frames it without wanting to bring order to it
but in a way that creates the suggestion of purposefulness. He
studied visual arts and graphic design at Parsons The New School
for Design and the Maryland Institute College of Art. In 2007 he
founded the Gottlund Verlag publishing house. His books are in the
collections of the Baltimore Museum of Art and the Whitney Museum.
Previous exhibitions have been at the Capricious Space in New York
and Bodega in Philadelphia.
Capricious Presents is a roving curatorial project, an extension
of the former Capricious Space gallery, based in New York. The
collection of projects and publications by Capricious occupies a
rare and whimsical place between commercial and fashion
photography. It is both a tool for discovering new talent and an
artists' oasis. Sophie Mörner (Stockholm, 1976) founded
Capricious Magazine and the publications that have stemmed from it.
She studied at the Tisch School of the Arts, part of New York
University. Following numerous group exhibitions, in September 2010
Mörner had a solo show in New York. In collaboration with
photographer Anne Hall, she self-published the book The Known
World. Her photos have been featured in a variety of international
publications. As curator, she has also been responsible for
exhibitions in New York, the Netherlands and Sweden.
Capricious Presents: Continuity of Chaos can be viewed from 9 June
to 4 September 2011 at Foam. Open daily 10am to 6pm, Thurs/Fri 10am
to 9pm. Tickets: € 8.
Note to editors: For more information and to request
image material, please contact the Communication Department,
e-mail: foam[at]foam.org or telephone: +31 20 5516500
Foam receives support from the BankGiro Loterij, the VandenEnde
Foundation and De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek.
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