Past Events
LAURA J. PADGETT
13
February 2008 – 21 March 2008
Images
Biography
The
Pharos Centre for Contemporary Art presents new work by
artist/photographer Laura Padgett. The opening of the exhibition
will be held on 13 February at 8.00pm.
Laura Padgett is an artist/photographer who also works in the
field of art history. Throughout the years she has combined
these two areas in her work as docent, writer and curator. It is
this balance between the practical and theoretical sides of the
art historical coin that has served her when creating work,
preparing exhibitions and when writing or speaking about art.
In
1981 Laura Padgett left the U.S. for Germany where she has since been
working primarily with short films and photography. Since
completing the film Hildegard of Bingen – which received
an award from the 43rd Film/Video Festival in
Montecatini Terme – in 1990, she has focused on photography,
concentrating on the relationship between image and text. She
writes: “Language
and images, when they enter an exchange, can create a
non-hierarchical space of expression. When this reciprocity
occurs, we open a door within visual/conceptual space, creating
a structural linkage, thereby making it possible to perceive in
a relational way.”
She
also works with digital video, making short documentaries and
work that is closely related to her photography. Her films are
often considered to be photographic, her photographs filmic.
The
artist herself talks about her artistic philosophy: “My work is
about my relationship to the world. I use the camera to find and
record things. My method has developed over the years, the
images I create becoming more and more dense with time. This
density is produced through means that are intrinsic to the
camera, the medium of photography and in many ways film.
Reflections, transparency and shadows become tactile; windows
become barriers, holding the viewer off while creating another
visual layer; these layers mesh into complex images that tell
stories. Sometimes I add short phrases or sentences to augment
the stories the photographs tell. My work makes things visible
that are often overlooked. It has nothing to do with tricks, yet
everything to do with perception.”
Laura Padgett has participated in numerous international group
exhibitions, including: Desire at the Ursula Blickle
Foundation, 2001, and at Galleria d’Arte Moderna in Bologna,
2002; Heimat Kunst in the House of World Cultures,
Berlin, 2002;
Relating to Photography,
Highlights from Private Collections, at the
Fotografie Forum International, Frankfurt am Main, 2004; her
film „Fragment“ was shown at the Centre Georges Pompidou, 2006;
work shown at the Galleries Seitz & Partner in Berlin and
Martina Detterer in Frankfurt and at the 7th
Architectural Biennial in Sao Paulo, 2007. This year her work is
being presented in the exhibition Arch / Scapes at the
Swiss Architecture Museum, Basel, and in 2009 and 2010 she will
be participating in the group show Flawless, Images for the
21st Century at the Kunsthalle Erfurt und
Kunstmuseum Ahlen. Her solo exhibitions include: KunstRaum -
Klaus Hinrichs, Trier, Goethe Institute, Warsaw, Herzogin Anna
Amalia Bibliothek, Weimar, 1999; Städel Museum in Frankfurt am Main,
2003; Odakule Art Gallery
in Istanbul, 2006.
Laura Padgett has taught Art Theory and Photography at the
Bauhaus University-Weimar, the
Art
Academy of the Johannes Gutenberg University-Mainz and the
Hochschule fur Gestaltung at Offenbach am Main.
She lives and works in Frankfurt am Main.
