Amsterdam's Unseen Photo Fair shook up the photography art world last year by launching a new model for a photography event — it's a hybrid fair/marketplace/festival that delighted collectors, galleries and a large and curious public.
Unseen is an international photography fair focused on undiscovered photography talent (and unseen work by established photographers). Unseen has selected galleries from around the world to participate in the second edition (which takes place in Amsterdam’s Westergasfabriek, from 26 to 29 September), with 50 galleries participating this year. The selected galleries fully embrace the Unseen concept — which emphasizes the presentation of new photography — and provide a perspective on what’s next in photography.
Enjoy LensCulture short preview of 22 images that will be on display; they look especially good in our full-screen slideshow presentation.
Enjoy LensCulture short preview of 22 images that will be on display; they look especially good in our full-screen slideshow presentation.
More than a fair, Unseen is a meeting place for art professionals and art lovers. With photography at the centre, Unseen encourages the exchange of dialogue, artistic expression and ideas. The fair is enriched by an extensive accompanying program. From inspiring lectures and fierce debates at the Unseen Speakers’ Corner to thought- provoking films at the Unseen Cinema, and special exhibitions (Unseen Exhibition, Unseen Collection, Bright Young Things Pavilion, and Foam Magazine Talent Exhibition). Unseen combines all elements of a traditional fair with those of a festival. Visitors can immerse themselves in a world full of new insights, experiences, and adventures.
Unseen: foto als begin kunstwerk
Lucette ter Borg
Recensie AMSTERDAM., Reportage
AMSTERDAM., Fotobeurs
AMSTERDAM., 53 internationale galeries tonen fotowerk op de tweede editie van de fotobeurs Unseen,die gisteren in Amsterdam opende.
Wat weten we eigenlijk van Doug? Dat hij een houten cabin heeft ergens in British Columbia. Dat de gravelroad door de wildernis naar zijn huis lang is en leeg. Dat de nacht een haast abstract schilderij is, vol strepen van vallende sterren. Dat bergen mist kunnen ademen. De nieuwste foto's die de in 1979 in Leeuwarden geboren fotografe Karianne Bueno (ex-Sint Joost, ex-HISK in Gent) op de gisteren geopende fotobeurs Unseen in de Westergasfabriek in Amsterdam laat zien, bewijzen dat je geen boek hoeft te schrijven om een verhaal te maken.
Het is de tweede editie van Unseen en nu al is de beurs uitgegroeid tot veel meer dan alleen de Westergasfabriek, de hoofdlocatie waar zich dit keer 53 internationale galeries (twee meer dan vorig jaar) en vier kunstenaarsinitiatieven presenteren.
De beurs vertakt zich dit jaar naar de Zuiveringshal, de Machinekamer, het Transformatorhuis en speciaal gebouwde ruimtes buiten. Daar staat de komende dagen alles in het teken van fotografie. Er zijn lezingen, een filmprogramma, een boekenmarkt. Er worden prijzen uitgereikt aan jonge talenten.
De sfeer gisteren bij de opening was een gemoedelijke mengeling tussen die op een popfestival en een museumtentoonstelling. Alternatief en fancy gaan hand in hand, galeriehouders en fotografen zijn graag tot praatjes bereid, en ook voor minder dan 500 euro is er iets moois te koop (bijvoorbeeld het werk van Bueno).
Opmerkelijk is het grote aantal foto's dat niet alleen foto is, maar vertrekpunt voor de maker om met schaar, pen, potlood, borduurgaren of verf in de weer te gaan.
De Duits-Australische Natascha Stellmach schotelt bij het Berlijnse Wagner + Partner met knalroze inkt, pen en uitgeknipte foto's het gewraakte Duitse verleden voor als een recept voor een gezellig theepartijtje.
Foto's zijn bewerkt met schaar, pen, inkt en borduursels of verf
Info: Unseen Photofair. 26 t/m 29 sept. Open: do 12-20u, vr 12-22u, za 12-20u, zo 12-17u. Westergasfabriek-terrein, Amsterdam. Inl: www.unseenamsterdam.com
Op dit artikel rust auteursrecht van NRC Handelsblad BV, respectievelijk van de oorspronkelijke auteur.
U.P.- 0694, 2010 © Martin Hyers and William Mebane/Steven Kasher Gallery
Steven Kasher Gallery specializes in fine art photography, contemporary and vintage. The gallery works with important photographers and major photographic archives such as the National Geographic Society, The New York Times, the Andy Warhol Foundation and Magnum. Under the imprint SteidlKasher we have published books on John Chamberlain, Mike Disfarmer, Chauncey Hare, Andy Warhol and others. Founded in 1995, we've been a member of AIPAD since 2000.
Steven Kasher Gallery is expert in selling and appraising large and important photographic archives. We have been instrumental in selling numerous archives in part or in whole such as Magnum, The New York Times, Culver Pictures, Black Star, Sovfoto and more.
Reinier Gerritsen is an Amsterdam based photographer who in recent years has worked extensively in New York. He subject is people, ranging from individual portraits to group situations and in recent years utilizing digital technology to combine multiple exposures which appear seamless.
He studied from 1968-1973 at the Vrije Academie and the Fotoschool in the Hague. Gerritsen has had solo shows at the Foto Museum, Rotterdam, the Nederland Bank in Amsteram, and has been included in group shows at the School of Visual Arts, New York, The National Portrait Gallery, London, and the Stedelijk Musuem, Amsterdam, among others. His first monograph Wall Street Stop, was published in 2010 by Hatje Cantz and his second monograph The Last Book will be published in 2014 by Aperture.
For the exhibition at Unseen 2013 Van Zoetendaal has chosen to present an installation – a display/layout of images around the theme of textiles/patterns in which contemporary artists play a leading role, but where their work is positioned in a context of historical photographs varying from photograms from Belgium (ca.1890), autochromes of Persian carpets (ca.1930) to a photo of a Congolese child taken by Cas Oorthuys, wearing clothes of Vlisco (1953). Van Zoetendaal’s aim is to show his audience that the art of collecting is more than simply purchasing some random object. It is rather the manifestation of specific personal desires. The contemporary artists taking part in Unseen are Marie-Ilse Bourlanges, Harold Strak, Johannes Schwartz and Wynolt Visser. Also some works of other artists will be shown like Koos Breukel, Anika Schwarzlose, guest artist Diana Scherer and new special editions and photobooks.
Gordijnen, 2007 © Johannes Schwartz/Van Zoetendaal Collections
Johannes Schwartz (Munich 1970) makes photographic still lifes, documenting the absence of people who leave their tracks behind in nature, architecture and interiors. The photos are abstractions, occasionally with a surrealistic effect, alluding to what was or what was left behind. Schwartz, whose earlier works – including Gordijnen (2002) and a special edition for Marks of Honour (2006) – ideally suit the exhibition concept, has created new work especially for the Unseen presentation.
For the fifth in the series Unseen offers you a sneak peek at the work of Michael Wolf available as a part of the Unseen Collection for sale during Unseen. Michael Wolf will be represented by Galerie Wouter van Leeuwen.
Michael Wolf's Scout # 33 will go on sale (including a frame) for €970. The work was made in 2012 and is an edition of 21. For more on the work itself we asked the gallery that told us:
"Scout Shots are preliminary studies. Michael Wolf takes these with a small, digital camera when he is out looking for suitable locations. They are a digital sketchbook which he uses to decide which places to revisit later. Wolf then uses large format cameras and digital backs for the final image. Michael Wolf (Munich, 1954) won universal recognition and acclaim for his long-standing project on densified architecture in an explosively expanding China. To satisfy the insatiable need for homes and offices, skyscrapers and tower blocks are shooting up everywhere. Because space is so scarce, particularly in Hong Kong, these new buildings stand shoulder to shoulder. Wolf photographed the endlessly repeating patterns of horizontal and vertical lines of the facades with a lens that flattens the image so that all sense of dimension is lost. Nowhere is there a horizon, nor foreground or background, making it is impossible to form an idea of the scale. ‘No-exit compositions’ is the term Wolf uses for these images. He takes his photographs at the end of the working day, when dusk falls and the lights inside are switched on but outside there is still enough light to pick out the detailing on the facades."
Besides Unseen, Wolf's work has been exhibited extensively in galleries and at art fairs throughout the world since 2005, including shows at the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago, at the Museum Centre Vapriikki in Tampere, Finland, and at the Aperture Gallery in New York. Michael Wolf won a first prize in the World Press Photo Award Competition in 2005 (Contemporary Issues Series) and in 2010 (Daily Life Single) on both occasions with topics photographed in Asia.
Michael Wolf's Scout # 33 will go on sale (including a frame) for €970. The work was made in 2012 and is an edition of 21. For more on the work itself we asked the gallery that told us:
"Scout Shots are preliminary studies. Michael Wolf takes these with a small, digital camera when he is out looking for suitable locations. They are a digital sketchbook which he uses to decide which places to revisit later. Wolf then uses large format cameras and digital backs for the final image. Michael Wolf (Munich, 1954) won universal recognition and acclaim for his long-standing project on densified architecture in an explosively expanding China. To satisfy the insatiable need for homes and offices, skyscrapers and tower blocks are shooting up everywhere. Because space is so scarce, particularly in Hong Kong, these new buildings stand shoulder to shoulder. Wolf photographed the endlessly repeating patterns of horizontal and vertical lines of the facades with a lens that flattens the image so that all sense of dimension is lost. Nowhere is there a horizon, nor foreground or background, making it is impossible to form an idea of the scale. ‘No-exit compositions’ is the term Wolf uses for these images. He takes his photographs at the end of the working day, when dusk falls and the lights inside are switched on but outside there is still enough light to pick out the detailing on the facades."
Besides Unseen, Wolf's work has been exhibited extensively in galleries and at art fairs throughout the world since 2005, including shows at the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago, at the Museum Centre Vapriikki in Tampere, Finland, and at the Aperture Gallery in New York. Michael Wolf won a first prize in the World Press Photo Award Competition in 2005 (Contemporary Issues Series) and in 2010 (Daily Life Single) on both occasions with topics photographed in Asia.
Pieter and Sophia Hugo, Cape Town, 2010 © Pieter Hugo / Cokkie Snoei
Over the past eight years Hugo has turned his eye on cramped townships, contested farmlands and abandoned mining areas; psychologically charged still lifes in people's homes; sites of political significance; drifters and the homeless; his pregnant wife, and his daughter moments after her birth; the domestic servants who have worked for the Hugo family over three generations. The series alternates between intimate and public spaces, with particular emphasis on the growing disparity between rich and poor, and reveals Hugo's deeply conflicted feelings about his home. It confronts complex issues of colonisation, racial diversity and economic disparity. Kin endeavours to locate his young family in a country with a fraught history and an uncertain future.
Kin is a bittersweet perspective on Hugo's homeland of South Africa. It is a meditation on the ideals of home, both familial and humanistic. It explores the tenuous ties that both bind us to and repel us from others.
French photographer JR will present his project INSIDE OUT, inviting guests to be the first in Europe to participate via a specially designed photo studio.
The INSIDE OUT project has travelled from Ecuador to Nepal, from Mexico to Palestine to New York and is next headed to Amsterdam. Visitors are invited to have their portrait taken in a mobile photo booth and instantly printed on poster-scale format to then become a part of the exhibition and an ever-growing, global artwork. You will become the artwork, your face the statement.
About INSIDE OUT
INSIDE OUT gives everyone the opportunity to sound their voice and give it a face. By positing photo booths around the world, everyone is invited to step in, show their face and have their portrait shared on a global platform on which these posters are displayed as works of public art and vessels with which to make a statement. Over 150,000 people from over 100 countries have become the face of INSIDE OUT.
About JR
JR is represented by the biggest gallery in the world: the city's streets. His work mixes Art and Act and deals with commitment, freedom, identity and limits. After winning the TED Prize JR began his global participatory art project INSIDE OUT. Hoping to change the world one photo at a time, INSIDE OUT provides a platform for everyone the world over to share both their portrait and what they stand for.
VIA PANAM
Why do people migrate? Where to and for what reasons? What is the fate of the different indigenous populations in the Americas? In Via PanAm, Kadir van Lohuizen investigates the roots of migration in the Americas, a phenomenon which is as old as humanity but is increasingly portrayed as a new threat to the Western world.
Via PanAm follows Van Lohuizen’s footsteps from the very south of Chile to the very north of Alaska. Travelling almost 40,000 km along the Pan-American Highway and crossing through 15 countries, Van Lohuizen visualized the stories of the communities, regions and societies he encountered. His work reflects a diverse range of migration experiences both historic and contemporary. The photo stories reflect the complexity of migration – the diverse motivations for coming and going, the struggles and successes, the economic, political, social and environmental contexts, as well as the intimate moments and personal stories - some touching upon current issues, some on topics long forgotten but not resolved.
AMSTERDAM.- The second edition of Unseen Photo Fair 2013 closed its doors last night, with continued reports of strong sales to both museums, international collectors and first-time buyers, praise of the excellent quality of ‘unseen’ work, and buzzing atmosphere.
General Manager Sasha Stone was delighted with the sales results, and also with the increased visitor figures: "We have welcomed collectors from across Europe, the United States, Dubai, Russia and Japan this week. These were supported by the strong Dutch love of contemporary photography.
At Unseen we see a knowledgeable and experienced public visiting the fair and festival ground." Fifty-three top international galleries attended Unseen Photo Fair 2013, including Stevenson (Cape Town, South Africa), Aperture (New York, US), Kuckei + Kuckei (Berlin, Germany), Juliette Jongma (Amsterdam, The Netherlands), NextLevel Galerie (Paris, France), The Wapping Project Bankside (London, UK) and M97 Gallery (Shanghai, China). Strong sales were reported throughout the fair.
Significant among them were Cristina de Middel at first-time exhibitor Galeria Tagomago (Barcelona, Spain & Paris, France), who sold her series SYFW (Snap Your Fingers and Whistle), ed. 2 of 5, for €25,000 to a private buyer.
Likewise Robert Morat Galerie (Hamburg, Germany) sold his entire wall of Peter Puklus (some pieces several times over), and Flowers Gallery (London, UK) reported that they sold five works by Tom Lovelace to a museum collection. MORE VISITORS FOR THE FAIR AND FESTIVAL Over 24,000 visitors were welcomed to the fair and festival, a programme that included JR's INSIDE OUT Project, Unseen Book Market, Unseen Living Room, and firestarters presents Unseen Theatre. SPECTACULAR GROWTH OF THE ONLINE COMMUNITY The Unseen online community has grown spectacularly.
More than 2,500 people have started their digital photography collections on the Unseen website.
During the week of the fair and festival, the website was visited more than 50,000 times. The Facebook community has grown to 18,500 fans with a reach of more than 300,000 in the last week, while the Tumblr community has over 275,000 followers.
RISING STARS: DAISUKE YOKOTA AND PETER PUKLUS Daisuke Yokota (1983, Saitana, Japan) is the first recipient of The Outset | Unseen Exhibition Fund, the new institutional platform for emerging talent in contemporary photography.
A chosen international curatorial committee was asked to select one artist represented at Unseen Photo Fair who has not yet had a solo exhibition in The Netherlands to exhibit his/her work in the 3H solo exhibition room at Foam from February to March next year.
Sawako Fukai of G/P Gallery (Tokyo, Japan) commented that after the announcement of Daisuke Yokota as the recipient of The Outset | Unseen Exhibition Fund, buyers rushed to buy his works, with more than 15 pieces sold. The gallery also reported great improvement in sales from 2012, with collectors whom they had previously met now returning with more knowledge of the artists they represent. Robert Morat of Robert Morat Galerie (Hamburg, Germany) commented: “I had my first sale within five minutes of the opening, covering our costs on the first night. We have had great sales, with great sales still pending.
We sold many works of Peter Puklus (1980, Hungary). The fact that his work can now be seen in Foam, and he was also selected as a 2013 Foam Talent has helped enormously. I am really staying true to the Unseen concept because I have seen that it really works here.”
Daisuke Yokota and Peter Puklus were both selected as 2013 Talents of international photography magazine, Foam Magazine. Other Winners Ola Lanko (1985, Ukraine) won the ING New Talent Photography Award with her work Selective Encyclopedia For Visual Metaphor, a collection of social characteristics based on her research on the theme. And last but not least, Heikki Kaski (1987, Espoo, Finland) won the Unseen Dummy Award 2013 with his dummy, Tranquillity, named after a small town in California where the work was shot.
The dummy will be printed and published by Lecturis GALLERY COMMENTS Diana Stigter of Stigter Van Doesburg (Amsterdam, The Netherlands): “Last year it went very well: a dream debut. Everyone was so enthusiastic and we were curious to know if it would be the same.
We have done at least as well as last year.” Elie Domit of East Wing (Doha, Qatar): “Unseen is the ideal example of how a refreshing fair should be - the energy, the people, the environment and the staff. You can feel that everyone involved put his/her heart and soul into it, which creates a buzzing energy. As a gallery, Unseen gives you the possibility to be as brave as you can be in a fair context by providing an engaging audience. If the fair maintains this intimacy and content, it will stay a nurturing and progressive fair, looking into the future of photography.”
Timothy Persons of Gallery Taik Persons (Berlin, Germany & Helsinki, Finland) said: “Unseen has the potential to become a very essential fair for young artists. Unseen has great international meaning... As for sales we did exactly what we wanted, and more. I have been at many fairs and I think the organisation of Unseen is one of the best I have ever experienced.”
Hannes Kuckei of Kuckei + Kuckei (Berlin, Germany): “Everybody is very relaxed so we have had lots of time with curators and buyers. We were not expecting the fair to be so international.
We have met people from Tokyo, Los Angeles, London and Brussels. Unseen really did a great job with the website and communications in advance. We will definitely come next year!
Nina Gomiashvili of Pobeda Gallery (Moscow, Russia): “I am overwhelmed by how we have been hosted here. I have been at fairs in New York, Basel and Paris, and this is something really exceptional. This is my first time in Amsterdam and I feel pampered. We are showing three different artists with different approaches and each has received equal attention.”
Charlie Fellowes of Edel Assanti (London, UK): “We have had a tremendous response to the works we exhibited at this year's fair, particularly Noémie Goudal's forthcoming series. We made strong sales to new and existing clients, and were delighted with the broad institutional interest in several of the artists on our stand.”
Condé Nast Traveller of Unseen 2013: “Start planning your visit for 2014!”
More Information: http://artdaily.com/news/65315/Unseen-2103--Strong-sales--high-energy--and-great-content-reported-at-the-second-edition#.UkqY0obp3JI[/url][/url]
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