ASFF 2011 | In Pictures

From Australia, to the Netherlands, South Africa and France, crowds descended on York for the inaugural ASFF. See who came out to play for this year’s event!

ASFF 2012
We will be accepting submissions for ASFF 2012 in December 2011 so check back soon for more information!

Jim Poyner Photography - www.jimpoyner.co.uk, ASFF, Aesthetica, Short Film Festival, York ©jim poyner 2011 all rights reserved

The Orchestrated Spontaneity of Ryan McGinley | Wandering Comma | Alison Jacques Gallery | London

For his first London exhibition since his celebrated Moonmilk series, Ryan McGinley has assembled seven new photographs, all in the largest format the American artist has yet worked in. Scale is one of the central variables in McGinley's practice, as each photograph taken is initially printed in an array of sizes in order to fix the exact dimensions that allow the image to speak most effectively to the viewer. All prints in other sizes are then discarded. McGinley rarely produces his artworks at this 280 x 180 cm format, the maximum size, and only does so when the photograph truly calls for a vast canvas - an expanse that demands a heightened scrutiny from the viewer, as it does more attention on the part of the artist.

Ryan McGinley's aesthetic has evolved over the past decade from a verité snapshot style to one that is more cinematic, even epic. More director than documentarist, McGinley has recently made photographs in which his imagination has become imprinted on the reality he captures. His working method involves a careful balance of the orchestrated and the unpredictable, the staged and the spontaneous. Although the images begin with choreographed scenarios, the images that result are never wholly pre-meditated. Indeed, it is this very sense of the potential for randomness that is alluded by the exhibition's title, which refers to a kind of fluttering butterfly. McGinley determines the activities and locations of his shoots in advance, preparing elaborate studio-style lighting - despite these contingencies, McGinley's models are encouraged to behave on their own initiative, taking actions as utterly unpredictable as a fall from a cliff or a tumble down a cascade. When photographing his models jumping in a haystack, sliding down a rushing river or holding a wild animal, he cannot know what image will result. The subject matter of his recent work occupies a profound middle ground between reality and the artificial: McGinley's images are dreamed worlds willed into existence.

The taking of the photograph is only the beginning of McGinley's artistic process, as his chromatic interventions and manipulations of scale are central to the emotional and spiritual landscapes evoked by each image. He applies effects to the entire image, rather than to individual sections, printing each image in an enormous variety of colour variations and grain amplifications before deciding on its final appearance. In Purple Beacon, for instance, the artist chose a filter that radically changed the colour of the sky and water, but left the tone of the girls' bodies unchanged. The grain amplifications endow the images with a familiarity and immediacy, relating them to the kinds of casual photography found in family photo albums. McGinley's adherence to apparent realism is not an attempt to trick the viewer; rather, it serves only to make the images that much more evocative and accessible.

McGinley's orchestrated spontaneity also plays heavily into his studio work. In one sense, the physically confining studio offers more freedom than the great outdoors: the element of illegality, a significant concern when shooting nudes in public spaces, is removed. McGinley never demands a pose; he prefers to offer only light direction, allowing for the models position themselves naturally. When making the photograph Jessica, he did not ask the girl to pair a sweet smile with a profane gesture; it was simply what he got, and captured.

McGinley's current practice, which alternates between lengthy cross-country journeys and studio shoots, repeatedly breaks down the barrier between private and public spaces - between nature's space and culture's; between what is personal and what is constructed. Whereas he once photographed his close friends, his elaborate casting process now involves photographing hundreds of people he meets - on the streets, at concerts, through the internet - before selecting a small group with which to travel, and on whom to turn his camera. Although McGinley is no longer so personally involved with his subjects, however, his technique still constructs a powerful sense of intimacy and pathos - particularly when rendered at a scale which commands such physical and emotional presence.

Ryan McGinley: Wandering Comma, 24/11/2011 - 22/12/2011, Alison Jacques Gallery, 16-18 Berners Street, London, W1T 3LN. www.alisonjacquesgallery.com

Captions:
Ryan McGinley Taylor (Rushing River) 2011
Ryan McGinley Purple Beacon 2011
Ryan McGinley Brandee (Midnight Flight) 2011
Ryan McGinley Amanda (Haystacks) 2011
All courtesy the Artist and Alison Jacques Gallery, London

Time and Memory | Cecilia Edefalk and Gunnel Wåhlstrand | Parasol Unit | London

Parasol Unit presents a major exhibition of works by two of Sweden's leading contemporary artists, Cecilia Edefalk and Gunnel Wåhlstrand, on show until 12 February 2012.

Cecilia Edefalk (b.1954) uses traditional methods of oil and tempera in her paintings, which are executed on small canvases. Edefalk often places her work in carefully choreographed arrangements, using mirror effects, displaying paintings at 90-degree angles or turning canvasses upside-down, which lends a quality of performance to her shows.

Gunnel Wåhlstrand (b.1974) uses a meticulous technique, painting with only black ink and water to create photo-realistic drawings on large sheets of paper. Her work is based on photographs found in her family album of her father's early childhood in Sweden. These images present deeply personal scenes of family life, given a haunting resonance as imposing, monochromatic drawings of an era frozen in time. The precise and demanding work of depicting this archive allows Wåhlstrand to physically and psychologically connect to her father who died when she was one year old.

Aesthetica caught up with Cecila and Gunnel to find out more after the opening earlier this month.

Gunnel Wåhlstrand

A: The family photograph is one of the major motifs in your work. Could you talk us through what this type of photograph means to you?
GW: Before I started painting in this photographic way, I used to paint really fast, often finishing one painting a day where I allowed the ink to spread and chance came into play. I used images, photos of people unknown to me or photos I had staged myself, but this way of working eventually came to an end because it felt too made up to me and I had a sense of circling, avoiding something more essential.

Since my father died when I was only one year old, the photos that remained of him were always very important to me throughout my whole life. At one point, I began every day by flickering through these photos to become focused, and soon realised I needed to find a portal into these pictures, a technique that allowed me to remain in each one of them for as long as possible, since when they were finally finished, I would never return to that certain image or moment.

The black ink is extremely permanent - you can only work from the light quality of the paper towards the darkness of the ink, and never take anything back. Once it's there it's permanent - like a slow developing process, which I liked. The level of concentration this technique demanded from me was somehow similar to the concentration within the image, and this similarity made me feel close to them in a very intimate way.

A: This concept of remembrance is a key one in your work. How do you both perform and interrogate the idea of memory, and remembrance in the work on show in this exhibition?
GW: They are not my own memories, but through painting them they somehow become mine. I can't just paint the mere surface of the photo, I have to go further and understand how everything works and what it looks like from all angles. Only then can I delve into the picture and almost experience the feeling of having been there in that moment. Through recreating the past, that which will be is also added. Therein lies one of the many differences between photography and painting.

A: The family photograph is often discussed as the place for the identification and the formation of identity. Is this something you can relate to?
GW: Yes. They are the origin and the very core of me.

A: What aspect of Edefalk’s work first appealed to you?
GW: The first time I saw her work was at a large exhibition at the Moderna Museet in Stockholm. She was showing grey paintings, some of which are part of the show at Parasol unit. They stayed with me and helped me take the leap into grey myself.

A: And now you know her work better?
GW: I have been following her work since that first time, but some of the older paintings included in the show were new to me. It's nice to see all the stages she has gone through over the years, and how the spiritual, ethereal quality has always been there. One of the striking things about her work is how the ever present inner bright light almost obliterates itself and makes the air vibrant.

Cecilia Edefalk

A: The relational nature of your work requires the physical installation of your paintings to become an integral part of your practice. Could you talk us through how you have installed the work in the current show at Parasol Unit?
CE: The space itself is the starting point for the installation and also the distance between the works. First I was very confused as the different works I am showing are picked from my entire career as an artist and Ziba Ardalan (Director/Curator at Parasol) helped me with the outlines of the installation. She knows the physical space and I know the space in my works. It was very excitng to put the exhibition together, linking the paintings and sculptures together and thereby creating a new and old story that exists physically during the time the exhibition is up but that also exist as a memory for those who had the opportunity to see the exhibition.

A: What aspect of Wahlstrand’s work first appealed to you?
CE: The vibrating stillness.

A: And now you know her work better?
CE: The way she is investigating and creating darkness , shadows and light.

Time and Memory: Cecilia Edefalk and Gunnel Wåhlstrand, 23/11/2011 - 12/02/2012, Parasol Unit, 14 Wharf Road, London. www.parasol-unit.org

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Caption:
Gunnel Wåhlstrand, By the Window, 2003–2004.
Ink-wash on paper, 151 x 198 cm, The Michael Storåkers Collection.
Photograph Björn Larsson