In the 1930s, the painter Ben Nicholson saw a shoe shop called 'Au Chat Botté' ('Puss in Boots') on a street in Dieppe, France after which he named a 1932 painting. The red lettering on the shop window attracted him, drawing his attention to intriguing juxtapositions between real objects and 'unreal' reflections. The experience of looking at as well as through glass made him think about a further, imagined dimension. http://www.manchestergalleries.org/the-collections/search-the-collection/display.php?EMUSESSID=91f86f1b8ef55e950f79befb1da100c7&irn=5640
Symbolic Ambiguities is in this tradition. These multi-layered photographs capture dense textures imminent in the everyday. Such reflections highlight the ambiguity in what we choose to see, challenge the privileging of what we perceive to be real, point to alternative realities, and underscore the intricacy and complexity of the commonsense we take for granted. |
