Levi Van Veluw at Kranenburgh Museum, Bergen

Black | From charcoal to high res

In 2013, photographer Awoiska van der Molen donated the work Come on Charley, this is the right path to Kranenburgh. This photograph, which was hung on the wall in one of the museum’s stairwells, forms the point of departure for the exhibition BLACK. From charcoal to hi-res’. In her pitch-black photo prints, Van der Molen seeks to capture that mysterious moment marking the transition from darkness to light.

ZWART brings together a number of contemporary artists who are fascinated with omitting colour. They are connected by the conscious sparseness of their palette and the many possibilities created by using black. Even though we can create just about every hue imaginable in this digital age, these artists opt for simplicity. What is it that lures them to this non-colour – black 

Landscapes are heavily represented in this exhibition. Existing, often remote, places that are never – or no longer – visited by Man, or landscapes of the artists’ own design. Hovering between the perceptible and the invisible, these images question what is real. They appeal to our imagination and play with our fear of the dark, and our need for a clear view. The artists explore different degrees of ‘blackness’. Charcoal has a different look and feel than pencil, felt or a photo print. 

As the colourist Henri Matisse (1869-1954) already noted: ‘Black is a force.’

 

For more information please visit: http://www.kranenburgh.nl/exhibitions-upcoming/black-from-charcoal-to-high-res

January 17, 2017