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Ce nouvel opus du photographe néerlandais démontre une fois encore que la beauté plastique poussée à son extrême peut produire un vide psychique et humain. La perfection des corps répond à la perfection du décor, dans un univers glaçant aux natures mortes plastifiées dans lequel des personnages silencieux aux visages dénués d'émotion mettent le spectateur mal à l'aise.
About the author
Erwin Olaf (born in Hilversum, Netherlands, 1959; died in Groningen, Netherlands, 2023) is a Dutch photographer known for his highly stylized, daring, and often provocative work addressing social issues and taboos. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Johannes Vermeer Award (2011), a Lucie Award (2008), and Photographer of the Year in the International Color Awards (2006). His work is shown in museums and galleries around the world. Olaf also received a commission to design the new national side of the Dutch Euro, launched in 2013.Francis Hodgson, former head of the photographs department at Sotheby’s, is professor in the Culture of Photography at the University of Brighton, England. He is also the photography critic of the Financial Times.
Summary
Erwin Olaf's approach to storytelling is uniquely evocative and enticingly ambiguous. Critic Francis Hodgson writes of Olaf's images, "They lead us to a "Stimmung" (a sense of atmosphere) which is broad enough to repay many second readings of the pictures and so keep us viewers interested." In this presentation of his most recent work, Olaf expands on his established, highly polished and stylized color studio images to include a series drawn from his sculptural video installation, "Keyholes"; a group of black-and-white images he has exhibited as carbon prints; and photographs created on location in Berlin--a departure from the constructed mises-en-scène of earlier work produced in his Amsterdam studio. "Erwin Olaf: Volume II" showcases the artist at the height of his powers, as an artisan of atmosphere and a craftsman who uses high polish to both perverse and seductive effect.
Erwin Olaf (born 1959) is a Dutch photographer known for his highly stylized, daring and often provocative work addressing social issues and taboos. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Johannes Vermeer Award (2011), a Lucie Award (2008) and Photographer of the Year in the International Color Awards (2006). His work is shown in museums and galleries around the world. Olaf also received a commission to design the new national side of the Dutch Euro, launched in 2013.
Additional text
The striking tome.. [has].. a lush and decadent feeling permeating it--from the cloth-bound cover to the rich and evocative images within.--Katie Olsen"Cool Hunting" (10/08/2014)
