ALL THAT ONCE WAS WILL NEVER BE AGAIN
Jenny Gagalka, Laurie Kang, Jacinthe Lessard, Andrea Pinheiro, and Patryk Stasieczek
GALLERY 295
Vancouver, BC
March 15 - April 13, 2013
Since the inception of photography, the defining characteristic of the medium has been its ability to represent the real. Technologies such as the lens and camera made focusing light onto emulsion possible. With the ability to capture specific moments in time, the construct of ‘photographic truth’ emerged as a common notion. But as technologies have progressed and as photography has shifted from chemical to digital based mediums, not only has photography become more accessible to the masses, but the image has also become easier than ever to manipulate. With these advancements, the foundation on which ‘photographic truth’ was built has been eroded, leaving the viewer questioning the authenticity of the images.
The artists presented in All That Once Was Will Never Be Again have in many ways rejected the traditional lens based image making of the photographic medium. Patryk Stasieczek and Jacinthe Lessard use analogue darkroom techniques to create their non-representational imagery, whereas Jenny G and Andrea Pinheiro use the photographic image as both the ground for their photographic ‘paintings’, and in Jenny’s case, the paint itself. Laurie Kang has abandoned the photographic image entirely and employs unexposed photographic paper and film to create sculptures and collages.
Photography at its most rudimentary level is a photosensitive material being exposed to light. For these artists, the ‘photographic truth’ does not lay in the capturing of decisive moments, but rather rests in exploring the limits of the materials that make up the medium.
Exhibition text by Jason Gowans.