Press release | Amsterdam, 2 July
2012
Alex Prager
Compulsion
31 August - 14 October 2012
On 31 August, Foam welcomes a new exhibition by Alex Prager (Los
Angeles, 1979). Prager is the winner of the 2012 Foam Paul Huf
Award. This prize is organised by Foam and awarded annually to a
young, promising international photographer under 35. Part of the
prize is an exhibition at Foam.
Compulsion will be presented at
Foam from 31 August to 14 October. The exhibition will feature a
selection of colour photographs from the series, as well as the
artist's new short film, La Petite Mort, with accompanying film
stills.
Inspired by the photography of Weegee and Enrique
Metinides, and films such as Metropolis and Un Chien Andalou,
Compulsion confirms Prager's vivid cinematic aesthetic.
Unlike previous series as week-end (2010) and The Big Valley
(2008), the protagonists remain anonymous and distant. Prager's new
series investigates the complexity of observation within a society
inundated by compulsive spectators, as well as the recurrent
discourse in photography - that 'meaning' is often derived from a
multiplicity of gazes.
In her new short film, La Petite Mort, starring French actress,
Judith Godrèche, Prager navigates the mystery of death through a
woman experiencing the boundaries of her body and those of this
world. Prager's La Petite Mort declares that "the act of dying, and
the act of transcendent love, are two experiences cut from the same
cloth - the former a grand exit, and the latter a slow escape.
Indeed, many of the world's greatest poets have long considered a
passionate interlude as man's closest moment to seeing god." The
film features music by composer Ali Helnwein and Director of
Photography Matthew Libatique (Black Swan, Iron Man, Requiem for a
Dream).
Alex Prager
Born in 1979, Alex Prager is a self-taught American
photographer and filmmaker who lives and works in Los Angeles.
Featured in MoMA's New Photography 2010, Prager's work has been
exhibited at institutions worldwide. Prager's work has been
featured in publications such as Foam Magazine, the New York Times
Magazine, American Vogue, W Magazine, and Art in America.
Additionally, her photographs are in the permanent collection of
several major museums, including the Museum of Modern Art, New
York, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the San Francisco Museum
of Modern Art, Kunsthaus Zurich, and Moderna Museet, Stockholm,
among others.
Foam Paul Huf Award
The Foam Paul Huf Award was set up to commemorate Foam's
special connection with Dutch photographer Paul Huf (1924-2002).
Paul Huf was known for his innovative photographic style and was
personally involved in the foundation of Foam, Amsterdam's
Photography Museum, in 2001.
Alex Prager is represented at Unseen Photo Fair (19-23 September,
Westergasfabriek, Amsterdam) by Michael Hoppen Gallery, London. (http://unseenamsterdam.com/michael-hoppen-gallery-uk)
Compulsion by Alex Prager can be
seen from 29.8 - 14.10 2012 at Foam. Open daily 10 am - 6 pm,
Thurs/Fri 10 am - 9 pm. Tickets: € 8,50.
Note to editors: For information and visual
material please contact the communications department, e-mail
foam[at]foam.org or phone +31 (0)20 5516500.
Foam is sponsored by the BankGiroLoterij, De Brauw Blackstone
Westbroek, Delta Lloyd and the VandenEnde Foundation. This
exhibition has been made possible with kind help of Michael Hoppen
Gallery.
Foam
Keizersgracht 609
1017 DS Amsterdam
phone: + 31 (0)20 5516500
www.foam.org