In this previously unpublished body of work, Gary Schneider presents a haunting series of nudes and faces that emerge and seem to float above a receding black ground. Each image is rendered through a long exposure and by exploring the surfaces of the skin with a small handheld light. Due to the prolonged time required and the inevitable movements and consequent distortions that occur in the process, the results both reveal and obscure the intimate physical details and personality of the individual who poses. The sensibility and the obsessions of the artist are reflected by his decisions to expose certain areas more than others. The skin-tones are lush and luminous as they emerge from the darkness, yet these portraits also disturb as a result of the exaggerations and irregularities--the blurred traces of unconscious gesture matched with a stiffness that implies the innate physicality and mortality within each body.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
South African artist Schneider has long been fascinated with the possibilities of photographic portraiture. From his early work, Portrait of Ralph (1975), a fragmented set of extreme, black-and-white close ups, to his 55-panel installation, Genetic Self-Portrait (1997-1998), which used photo microscopy to take images of his organs, his work has manipulated technology and presentation, subject and performance in intriguing and thought-provoking ways. His latest series extends a work he began in 1989, when he started to take long-exposure headshots of his friends using a small flashlight as his only source of light. Employing the same technique, he has now created a series of full-body portraits, each of which takes about an hour to expose. "Just as a movie unfolds in real time, so I build the image by exposing one part of the person after another with my tiny light," he explains. "If I add more light, it emphasizes that body part; conversely, not enough light and that area never becomes visible." The result is an eerily mottled image, one that makes its subject look both exposed and embalmed. Some of the darker portraits even appear as if they've been rubbed over with charcoal, although they haven't. Almost all the images are particularly bright around the face, hands and genitalia. This long, black hardcover-elegantly designed to keep the focus on the photos-is a must-buy for any serious Schneider fan.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Review
“Schneider illuminates the interdisciplinary issues of contemporary art and science, conceptual art and performance, portraiture and identity, and privacy within the public sphere.” –Deborah Martin Kao
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