Disappearances at Parker Projects
Parker Projects
CANADA
Disappearances
David Ellingsen, Yasmeen Strang
Parker Projects
March 14th - April 27th, 2019
Reception April 11th, 5-7pm
Artist Talks April 13th 2-4pm
How do we contend with looming threats to ecological and cultural diversity? This exhibition will present the notion of Disappearances as seen through the lens of two photo-based artists: David Ellingsen and Yasmeen Strang.
Ellingsen’s works are a response to the ravages of human activity on the natural world. His solarized Polaroid negatives reveal deep mixed feelings of preservation and loss; we are allowed such close intimacy with life forms we would rarely see in person, and yet, they are removed so profoundly from living nature.
Strang’s portraits of the Suri tribe in Ethiopia offer us a rare view into this remote culture. Juxtaposing traditional dress with graphic texts of westernized teachings, Strang’s images raise questions about the encroachment of western culture on tribal knowledge and practices.
There is hope in these photos. Through their subjects, we come face to face with existing species and cultures that have not been driven to extinction. But even as they persist, transformation is occurring. Be it through shifting ecosystems or cultural pressures, previous ways of being and living have disappeared.
Both artists achieve a remarkable intimacy in their photographs, employing a light hand to draw our attention to these complex social and ecological disappearances.
Parker Projects
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