1-2 June 2013
Up(date)
12/4/2013
Dr Chris Barlow blogs on Parallax Art Fair
01/02/2013
Applications open for P(AF)7 JUNE 2013
Dr Chris Barlow blogs on Parallax Art Fair
01/02/2013
Applications open for P(AF)7 JUNE 2013
Blog: http://drchrisbarlowparallax.blogspot.co.uk/
Parallax AF: Invitation to Think
Gayane Umerova
Gayane Umerova
© Barlow Fine Art 2011
Parallax AF showcases kitsch, beauty, sexuality, humour, and encourages the viewer to think, seek and be inspired. Unlike traditional art fairs, it builds into its structure an element of “unity” by curating specific details, colour experimentation, and dynamic compositions with a nerve of contemporariness. The selected artists are inspired to maximise the space, and the curator is challenged to “cohere” a divergent group of practitioners.
Parallax AF corresponds to the evolution of the viewer’s interior/exterior environments, as objects metamorphose into a hub of competing references, evoking individual/collective scenarios, historical events and intimate encounters. It deliberately avoids a common theme like other fairs. The “theme”, if it can be called that at all, is one of a chaotic retrospective intended to alter the viewer’s sense of space and reveal hidden qualities in a familiar world. We see the present as fragmented and inconsistent, and the endless streams of information only reinforce our sense of disorientation. Within this atmosphere of visual intensity and abstract contemplation, we urge the viewer to find their own means of interpretation and interaction with objects.
The past generates unexpected connections with the present and takes on a new and topical meaning. In an age that attempts to synthesise found and made materials, where aesthetics of minimalism often clash with astonishing brushwork, the value of art remains the same. It lies in the unpredictability of an individual’s perception. Personal recollections in Parallax AF clash with official pasts, or are derived from the marginal zones of culture. Ultimately, they direct the viewer to the ephemerality and volatility of contemporary expression.
With its focus on the quality of ideas, Parallax AF attempts to showcase works that often translate globally, the iconography and symbols representative of all genres. Utilising new technologies, as well as manipulating traditional techniques, the artists exhibit personal investigations that drive their own histories, stages, and personalities, expressing these unique reflections through postmodernistic synesthesia. However, despite the differences of research, it is interesting that each, often unconsciously, expresses something of their nationality within their postmodernist principles.
Parallax AF has a direct association with the legacy of functionalism and practicality in its apparent “genres”: figurative and new media. However, there is little simulation of the objective environment. The artists are more often interested in creating perfect spatial structures, the possibilities of transforming objects, and the dynamics of audience perception.
Parallax AF is very important on the international art calendar, not least because it provides artists, particularly emerging artists, with an opportunity to present their work in a context utilising some of the latest, and most challenging, art-historical thinking to emerge in recent times; artists as researchers, as all good artists should be, collaborating in research exhibitions that attempt to actually shape our visual culture. However, it also involves what a good art market should entail for viewers: the excitement of contemporary art, access to exploring artists from around the world, and an opportunity to learn more about artists through in-depth content.
Parallax AF corresponds to the evolution of the viewer’s interior/exterior environments, as objects metamorphose into a hub of competing references, evoking individual/collective scenarios, historical events and intimate encounters. It deliberately avoids a common theme like other fairs. The “theme”, if it can be called that at all, is one of a chaotic retrospective intended to alter the viewer’s sense of space and reveal hidden qualities in a familiar world. We see the present as fragmented and inconsistent, and the endless streams of information only reinforce our sense of disorientation. Within this atmosphere of visual intensity and abstract contemplation, we urge the viewer to find their own means of interpretation and interaction with objects.
The past generates unexpected connections with the present and takes on a new and topical meaning. In an age that attempts to synthesise found and made materials, where aesthetics of minimalism often clash with astonishing brushwork, the value of art remains the same. It lies in the unpredictability of an individual’s perception. Personal recollections in Parallax AF clash with official pasts, or are derived from the marginal zones of culture. Ultimately, they direct the viewer to the ephemerality and volatility of contemporary expression.
With its focus on the quality of ideas, Parallax AF attempts to showcase works that often translate globally, the iconography and symbols representative of all genres. Utilising new technologies, as well as manipulating traditional techniques, the artists exhibit personal investigations that drive their own histories, stages, and personalities, expressing these unique reflections through postmodernistic synesthesia. However, despite the differences of research, it is interesting that each, often unconsciously, expresses something of their nationality within their postmodernist principles.
Parallax AF has a direct association with the legacy of functionalism and practicality in its apparent “genres”: figurative and new media. However, there is little simulation of the objective environment. The artists are more often interested in creating perfect spatial structures, the possibilities of transforming objects, and the dynamics of audience perception.
Parallax AF is very important on the international art calendar, not least because it provides artists, particularly emerging artists, with an opportunity to present their work in a context utilising some of the latest, and most challenging, art-