Wednesday 23 February 2011

JH Engström, Laura Hynd, Michael Grieve and Tereza Zelenková @Oblong Gallery, London


What Oblong Gallery lacks in space it certainly makes up for with quality. In its next exhibition, the works of JH Engström, Laura Hynd, Michael Grieve and Tereza Zelenkova (all 1000 Words affiliated artists) have been brought together to explore the subjective approach of the authors in their search for meaning in an existential world. Together they embrace the tragedy of dislocation and beauty of absurdity through work that is grounded in the sublime impossibility of the documentary genre. The exhibition is a rare opportunity to understand the sensibilities of four extraordinary art photographers.

JH Engström (1000 Words issue #6 cover artist) is a Swedish photographer of notable distinction. His works, Trying to Dance, Haunts, From Back Home and La Residence have been published by Journal, Max Strom and Steidl, and he has exhibited widely including Galerie Vu in Paris, Gun Gallery in Stockholm and at Arles Photofestival where his project, Wells, was curated by Nan Goldin. At Oblong, Engström is showing photographs from his distinguished series, Trying to Dance.

Laura Hynd (1000 Words Workshop with Antoine d´Agata/Anders Petersen participant)was born in Scotland and is an accomplished photographer who is commissioned by prestigious, national and international magazines and publications. Her current work in progress, The Letting Go, is a significant departure from editorial concerns. With artistic expression, she depicts a deeply personal journey allowing chance to dictate the process, and in doing so explores her identity and her relationship to others. Much of the work is situated in the heart of the vibrant medina of Fez.

Michael Grieve (1000 Words Deputy editor) is a British photographer. His portfolios are regularly published and reviewed in contemporary art photography journals and his last project, No Love Lost, has been exhibited at various galleries and festivals in Europe. His new, on going, body of work, The Foreigner, is photographed in Morocco. It is a fictional documentation of a real place that represents the unfathomable inability to connect with the substance of life.

Tereza Zelenková (1000 Words issue #10 featured artist) is from the Czech Republic and is currently studying at the Royal College of Art. Her highly praised project, Supreme Vice, is a distinctively accomplished set of documentary visual metaphors inspired by the occult that studies the tension between the inability of science to provide satisfactory answers in a world where god is dead. Her work has been regularly reviewed and exhibited. The book, Supreme Vice, is published by Morel Books in 2011.

Oblong Gallery presents JH Engström, Laura Hynd, Michael Grieve and Tereza Zelenková
3-23 March 2011 (Private view 2 March)
69 Southgate Road
London N1