Viviane Sassen, Now & Than, 2007,
courtesy the artist and Motive Gallery Amsterdam
Viviane Sassen, Menthe, 2010, courtesy the artist and Motive Gallery Amsterdam
VIVIANE SASSEN
FLAMBOYA
Exhibition opening: Tuesday, 18 January 2011, 7 pm
Introduction: Prof. Peter Weiermair
Duration: 19 January 2011 – 5 March 2011
Vivien Sassen’s Flamboya cycles were created in places in Africa where she lived as a child. In these groups of works the Dutch photographer addresses issues such as the perception and reception of human images; their open concept is such that they can be situated within the context of both staged and documentary photography.
With the play of light and shadow and the use of colourful symbolism - Flamboya refers to a species of flowering plant or tree with a particularly flamboyant display of flowers - the scenes featuring her protagonists transpose them from their everyday lives to a surreal setting. Far from the West’s conventional clichés of the continent as a whole the artist succeeds, thanks in part to her personal history and identity, in reflecting herself in those standing before her and in inscribing herself in an archaic yet also highly contemporary image of Africa.
Viviane Sassen was born in 1972 in Amsterdam, where she lives and works. She is represented by Motive Gallery Amsterdam.
For more detailed information please visit www.vivianesassen.com and www.motivegallery.nl
Peter Weiermair, publicist, exhibition organiser and publisher, lives and works in Innsbruck, Frankfurt and New York.
Fotohof gratefully acknowledges the support of the Mondriaan Foundation Amsterdam.
