Under the title “Unfold”, Brussels gallery and restoration workshop Braam presents a group exhibition showcasing the works of five different rising talents, all KASK graduates. Each one of them explores the theme of memory in their very own way while bringing together different artistic practices from video and photography to painting. A gripping, extremely thoughtful show that’s heavy on emotions and filled with nostalgia.
“Shattered”, Eva Giolo‘s intimate and tender 9-minute-long short movie zooming in on the life and fragmented mind of her Alzheimer-ridden grandmother, is especially touching, and undoubtedly quite disturbing: a sensitive, non-judgemental exploration of a ghastly illness, mortality and the meaning(lessness) of our lives. Jeroen Vranken equally turned to his family’s history, retracing the steps of his deceased father and collecting puzzle pieces on a quest to reconstruct his life and persona. When Jeroen received a box with objects of his dad, from hotel bills to stickers, he started to question his mother about them and returned to the places they originated from. His photo series is the intriguing visual account of this voyage back in time. R’m Aharoni uses a similar approach in his work: by researching the lives of particular individuals, he tries to expose the different factors which shape one’s identity. With “All You Need” he also concentrates on his own family, more specifically his parents. Combining a film, old photos and newly written texts, he takes his parents’ partly Western, partly traditionally Yemenite wedding ceremony as an entry point to examine hybrid identities, mixed cultures, and more.
Pauline Miko takes a step into a different direction, directing the viewer’s attention to our notion of time, its effects on memory, and the relationship between memory and photography. The standout eye-catchers are two large-scale prints of images she had buried in metal boxes underground at the age of 12. The results are beautiful, textured, almost three-dimensional works which illustrate time’s passing in a fascinating, tangible way. Over the years Pauline buried more boxes all over the world as part of “A Project for Later”. Her photographs are accompanied by an installation featuring dug-up small objects and images creating a kind of personal map and fuelling a dialogue between past, present and future. Italian-born painter Falcone however takes a whole different path by turning his eye to art history, attempting to establish a dialogue with Tintoretto’s works. Falcone’s multi-layered paintings are based on x-ray radiographs analyzing ancient works, revealing what the artist covered and hid from the viewer.
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Unfold runs until 3 December 2015
