1.
Michael Bell-Smith
Kota Ezawa
Takeshi Murata
Jennifer Steinkamp
2.
Jonas Dahlberg
Jesper Just
Yang Fudong
PKM GALLERY Beijing presents a video exhibition entitled "Two-Fold Faction" running from January 26th until March 8th. Composed of two sections, this exhibition includes seven video artists from China, Denmark, Germany, Sweden and the USA, who have been exploring diverse possibilities in video art by means of film, animation, digital technology, or video installation encompassing multiple media.
The four artists in the first section (first floor) create video animation, fully or partially produced by digital technology, dealing with various facets of our reality in their colorful and rich styles. Michael Bell-Smith (born 1978) takes scenes and figures from reality and transforms them into animated loops. Even through the computerized process, his digital imagery exhibits a painterly effect. Kota Ezawa (born 1969) creates graphically simplified animation through hand-tracing and computer manipulation. He uses found images, and footage from television, film or photography often addressing specific historical moments or events from popular culture. While Bell-Smith's and Ezawa's works show the re-organization or re-interpretation of reality, Jennifer Steinkamp's (born 1958) work simulates elements of nature such as trees, flowers and waves solely by the means of digital manipulation, evoking a stunningly hyper-real visual experience. Takeshi Murata's (born 1974) digital work renders abstract distortion of footages from old movies or other visual sources from pop culture. In his work, the transformation of enlarged pixels from impressionistic abstraction to a recognizable figure suggests another layer of perceiving animation and film.
The second section (second floor) includes three artists whose video works display the artists' ingenious interpretation and appropriation of the genre of film. Their beautiful black and white screen-creations reveal the poetic potential of video art with or without narratives. Jonas Dahlberg (born 1970) often engages architectural precision and an investigative approach in his work, while always contemplating on the aesthetics of space, light and existence. His new project, being shown for the first time at this exhibition, fascinatingly mingles these physical and psychological elements through a series of photographs and video projections. The film works by Yang Fudong (born 1971) and Jesper Just (born 1974) feature ambiguous narratives embellished with an outstanding visual aesthetic and technical mastery. Through the calm and atmospheric beauty of his unique cinematic expression Yang's films often refer to China's young generation's complex feelings towards tradition and modernization. Jesper Just's (born 1974) moody and sensitive scenes are densely imbued with emotional power. The enigmatic characters in his films challenge our preconceptions about human relations and desires.
Visually amusing and thought provoking, the works of the seven video artists in "Two-Fold Faction" weave stories of our world and highlight elements of our culture in the language of new media, presenting us with a memorable visual experience and a broader understanding of contemporary artistic practice.
Organized by Yoewool Kang, Director, PKM GALLERY, Seoul
