Irene Kung, Project 06/03 July 18 – August 9, 2008 Opening reception, Friday, July 18th from 5-7pm
Chiaroscuro Contemporary Art announces a major exhibition of new works by European photographer Irene Kung from July 18 – August 9 titled Project 06/03. The opening reception is Friday, July 18 from 5 to 7pm.
Project 06/03 consists of a series of dramatic large scale photographs that accentuate the singular beauty of architectural masterpieces and plant forms at Chiaroscuro this summer. Her subjects take her across Europe, Asia, and the Americas. In Kung’s images, details of such monumental structures as Big Ben and the Empire State Building emerge from the surrounding darkness with a startling suddenness. Kung’s stunning technique of allowing her subjects to dominate the center of the photographs emphasizes their character and the details of their ornate decorative elements. The subtle gradation from light to dark as the eye moves to the outer edges of each image is total, leaving the center in sharply defined focus. Her images of exotic plants are reminiscent of undersea life caught in an otherworldly light or emitting a phosphorescent glow. Like her architectural prints, they are also haunting and sublime.
Born in Switzerland, and currently residing in Rome, Italy, Kung has traveled extensively and has worked in a variety of different mediums. Her photographs have a quality like that of still-life painting, a genre for which she is known. Though she has only been active in photography for a few years, her images are mature and bold, the mark of someone experienced at seeing with an artist’s eye. She has primarily shown her work in New York, Rome and Paris. This will be her first exhibition in Santa Fe.
