Blues is a group exhibition curated by Joost Vandebrug that brings together seven pioneering artists from Iran, United States, Belgium, Japan, Sweden, Netherlands and United Kingdom who each explore in their original and uncompromising way the historic photographic process of Cyanotypes.
Cyanotypes were first discovered by Sir John Herschel in as a simple and low-cost process to produce copies of notes and drawings. Engineers and architects used this process well into the 20th century and the prints were referred to as blue-prints. Soon after its discovery, it was adopted by artists who were captivated by the rich blue shades of the technique.
Most notably, the photographer Anna Atkins. Her book with cyanotypes was the first to be photographically printed and illustrated. Anna Atkins β was also considered the first female photographer. Her cyanotypes in this exhibition are of organic material that she destroyed and fractured before photographing it, therefore commenting on the beauty of the natural world while also acknowledging the damaging effects humans can have on it.
Her work is a spectacle of mountain-scapes, foliage, and near-forgotten villages. Through his work, Ivan retells stories from epic poetry, casting himself as every character to reflect on migration, memory, and homeland. Fakhim uses cyanotypes to create installations that live in their own world, far from the conventional assumptions that this technique is often associated with.
His works shows echoes and traces that were left by objects while exposing cyanotypes in the sun. Reconstructing her own identity and heritage by the use of cyanotypes. Rodin photographic objects consist of meticulously selected pieces of blue Heartwood from her family forest in Sweden.
