Mikhael Subotzky (South Africa 1981-) Boat 2 ,2008
Provenance : [Propriété non datée]
- Private collection, Cape Town
- Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg
Exhibited : Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation, Sydney, 'W.Y.E', 18 March to 21 May 2016, another example from the edition exhibited.; Goodman Gallery, Cape Town, 'Surfacing / 2014', 22 March to 26 April 2014.; IZIKO South African National Gallery, Cape Town, 'I Was Looking Back', 2012, another example from the edition exhibited.
Literature : Gradwell, M. (2017). 'Ellerman House Art Collection'. Cape Town: Ellerman House, another example from the edition illustrated in colour on p.192.; Vladislavic, I. (ed). (2012). 'Retinal Shift'. Gottingen: Steidl. another example from the edition illustrated in colour on p.197.; Rose, J. (eds). (2016). 'W.Y.E'. Sydney: SCAF, another example from the edition illustrated on p.23.
Notes : Notes: Mikhael Subotsky made his first smashed work when, as part of his career catapulting series on the Western Cape prison system Die Vier Hoeke, a photograph of a prisoner who had been burned to death in his cell, titled Christopher Sibilla’s Body I was taken on the request of Sibilla’s Mother. This was the first time Subotzky saw a dead body and the intimate process disturbed him. The thought of the photograph continued to haunt him, he became frustrated that his feelings of the photograph were not visually evident in the work itself. Plagued with these emotions, Subotzky smashed the glass frame of the work, clouding Sibilla’s body. Assessing his action in retrospect, Subotzky realised that his emotions around the violence and cruelty of what he witnessed in photographing Die Vier Hoeke became evident. This launched the theme of smashed glass in Subotzky’s creative process. Subotzky has since selected over 40 images to smash. He notes that, “Smashing started provoking a whole load of different thoughts for me. There was the obvious relationship to Roland Barthes' concept of punctum – the puncture that actually connects the viewer to the emotional quality of the photograph – and to death as well. Then I realised that smashing also draws attention to the surface and the materiality of the photograph, preventing the viewer from having this complacent relationship with what a photograph is. The smashing got in the way of the viewer's ability to consume the photograph”.[1] [1] Mikhael Subotzky: In Conversation (2018). Available at: https://www.phillips.com/article/37490275/mikhael-subotzky-in-conversation (Accessed: 14 October 2022). Collections: The artist is represented in numerous local and international collections, notably, the Museum of Modern Art, New York.; Guggenheim Museum, New York.; National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.; Tate Modern, London and Centre Pompidou, Paris.
Condition_report : The overall condition is excellent.
