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Leonce Raphael Agbodjélou
born 1965
Leonce Raphael Agbodjélou is a photographer from Benin. He is primarily a portrait photographer who produces staged portraits in an outdoor studio. The four images below are from a series of photographs of Yoruba Egungun masqueraders. The Egungun masqueraders are robed priests who are believed to become possessed by the spirits of ancestors. They dramatically perform the ethical and amoral behaviour that has occurred in the community since their last visit, and in doing so encourage their audience towards proper conduct.
Untitled (Vodou Series), 2011
Dogon Masks and Performances
Rabbit mask
Mali, Dogon
Wood, paint, fiber; Height 35 cm (mask only)
Colonial Exposition, 1931
Musee de I'Homme
Balinese Performance
Stills from The Miracle of Bali, David Attenborough, 1969
Body Adorned
Matthew Barney
Born 1967
Leonce Raphael Agbodjélou
born 1965
Leonce Raphael Agbodjélou is a photographer from Benin. He is primarily a portrait photographer who produces staged portraits in an outdoor studio. The four images below are from a series of photographs of Yoruba Egungun masqueraders. The Egungun masqueraders are robed priests who are believed to become possessed by the spirits of ancestors. They dramatically perform the ethical and amoral behaviour that has occurred in the community since their last visit, and in doing so encourage their audience towards proper conduct.
These four images are currently on display at the Saatchi Gallery, near Sloane Square underground station. The exhibition is called Out of Focus and runs until 22nd July. The prints are quite small but worth seeing in high definition in order to appreciate Agbodjélou's use of focus. If you do go, try to compare the technical aspects of his work with the other images in the exhibition.
Exhibition website: http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/artists/photography/
Untitled (Vodou Series), 2011
C-print
Untitled (Vodou Series), 2011
C-print
C-print
Untitled (Vodou Series), 2011
C-print
Crocodile mask
Mali, Dogon, Ibi village
Wood; Height 45 cm
Third Griaule expedition, 1935
Musee de I'Homme
Mali, Dogon, Ibi village
Wood; Height 45 cm
Third Griaule expedition, 1935
Musee de I'Homme
Mali, Dogon
Wood, paint, fiber; Height 35 cm (mask only)
Colonial Exposition, 1931
Musee de I'Homme
The Dogon are an ethnic and cultural group from Mali. Dogon cultural practices involve the making and masks and costumes for use in religious rituals. A documentary by David Attenborough from 1975 provides an introduction to Dogon culture:
If you are interested in viewing Dogon artefacts then visit The British Museum. There are usually displays of masquerade costumes and performances in the African galleries. You may also be interested in the permanent collection at The Horniman Museum.
The British Museum website: http://www.britishmuseum.org
The Horniman Museum website: http://www.horniman.ac.uk
Balinese Performance
Balinese classical performance is an highly complex field, famous for the integration of music and dances, some of which can only be performed by children. Balinese performance usually involved the dramatic staging of religious stories through dances that are closely choreographed to highly detailed musical scores. Bali is also famous for its traditional shadow puppet performances. A good documentary by David Attenborough called The Miracle of Bali, from 1969, can be watched here:
The documentary starts to focus on dances at 24:00.
Body Adorned is a current exhibition at The Horniman Museum. The Horniman Museum is a very short walk from Forest Hill train station. The museum's blurb for the exhibition:
The Body Adorned exhibition reveals how a diverse population clothe and adorn their bodies to find their place in the metropolis. Over time, saris, tattoo parlours, nail bars, distended ears and scarification have become a visible, everyday part of the London cityscape. But how did cultural adornments become integrated into urban London life?
The exhibition considers how the movement of people, objects and ideas influenced London dress in the past and explores body adornment in today’s world city of London.
Ultimately we invite you to look at how you dress your body and why.
The exhibition features hundreds of stunning objects from the Horniman’s collections including adorned figures, early tattooing instruments and headdresses, a film installation by The Light Surgeons, several wardrobes of London residents exploring why they wear what they wear and urban street portraits taken by young people.
The Body Adorned, ends 6th Jan 2013
FREE
Horniman Museum and Gardens
100 London Road
Forest Hill
London
SE23 3PQ
Open daily 10:30am-5:30pm
Matthew Barney
Born 1967
The images below are promotional pictures and video stills from Barney's The Cremaster Cycle. The project is an absolute classic of contemporary art: hate him, love him, or care little either way, still this cycle of films, installations and sculptures is an iconic example of multimedia contemporary practice.
Project website: http://www.cremaster.net
Still from Cremaster 4, 1995
Promotional image, Cremaster 3, 2002
Still from The Order, Cremaster 3, 2002
Still from The Order, Cremaster 3, 2002
Promotional image, Cremaster 5, 1997
Cremaster 1
Interview with Matthew Barney:
Rebecca Horn
Born 1944
Paris Is Burning
Paris Is Burning is a documentary film by Jennie Livingston, released in 1990. It documents an underground subculture in New York City based around drag balls. The drag categories in Paris Is Burning do not just consist of people dressing as the opposite sex: homeless teenagers 'drag up' as businessmen and college students. The dance form known as 'voguing' was developed in this subculture and is documented in the film. Madonna would later hire Willie Ninja, the head of one of the Houses (like at school, the drag societies were organised into houses that competed at the balls), to choreograph her video of the song Vogue when she contributed to (or capitalised upon) the popularisation of the dance.
Born 1944
Rebecca Horn is a German artist who started producing 'body sculptures' at the end of the 1960s. She produces performances, films, sculptures and installations, often in combination. Artist's website: http://www.rebecca-horn.de/pages/index_eng.html
The Feathered Prison Fan, 1978
Made for Horn's film Die Eintänzer
Pencil Mask, 1972
Pencil Mask (performance), 1973
Überstromer (Overflowing Blood Machine), 1970
Paris Is Burning
Paris Is Burning is a documentary film by Jennie Livingston, released in 1990. It documents an underground subculture in New York City based around drag balls. The drag categories in Paris Is Burning do not just consist of people dressing as the opposite sex: homeless teenagers 'drag up' as businessmen and college students. The dance form known as 'voguing' was developed in this subculture and is documented in the film. Madonna would later hire Willie Ninja, the head of one of the Houses (like at school, the drag societies were organised into houses that competed at the balls), to choreograph her video of the song Vogue when she contributed to (or capitalised upon) the popularisation of the dance.
Hyunkoo Lee
Born 1969
8E-P, 2002
From plastic helmets to concave and convex lenses, Lee Hyunkoo uses transparent mediums to portray magnified and minimized variations of the human body. Lee’s series The Objectuals emphasizes some of today’s most coveted features: large eyes, full lips, and a high pointed nose.
Altering Features with RH5, 2003
Altering Features with BH2, 2003
A Device (Gauntlet 1) that Makes My Hand Bigger, 1999
