The artwork features a black-and-white photographic portrait of a smiling individual whose face is partially obscured by a framed landscape image. The landscape depicts a railway track winding through a mountainous, forested scene with a snow-capped peak in the background. The contrast between the human subject and the natural landscape creates a surreal, dreamlike quality to the composition. The artist's use of collage and photomontage techniques blends the realms of the physical and imagined, inviting the viewer to contemplate the relationship between the inner and outer worlds. This piece reflects the artist's intention to challenge perceptions and explore the interplay between human experience and the natural environment. ...
John Stezaker was born in Worchester, in 1949. He lives and works in London.
A cult figure in post-war British art, through a range of techniques made up of sparse and rigorous actions, Stezaker re-examines the role of the photographic image in contemporary culture, challenging its unreliability as a document of reality or a stronghold of memory, investigating the drift of its meanings. In his studio in London, the archive of images collected and catalogued obsessively by the artist are implemented as genuine readymades, transformed through juxtaposition, re-framing, and other editing tools to form small to medium-sized collages, seductive yet on the verge of the disconcerting. ...
The Approach is co-directed by Jake Miller and Emma Robertson. Located in Bethnal Green above The Approach Tavern, for over twenty years it has operated an internationally recognised programme from its East London base. The gallery is known for discovering artists and establishing their careers as well as making inter-generational curated group shows a strong focus. The list of represented artists includes the Estates of important overlooked female artists Heidi Bucher and Maria Pinińska Bereś, as well as seminal British collage artist John Stezaker, together with established and emerging artists including Magali Reus, Peter Davies, Lisa Oppenheim, Sandra Mujinga, Pam Evelyn, Sara Cwynar, Sam Windett and Caitlin Keogh. Over the years the gallery has operated parallel programmes in additional gallery spaces in London’s West End (The Approach W1) and in Shoreditch (The Reliance). The gallery is currently based solely in its original East End location and continues to expand its programme, showcasing its represented artists in the main gallery space, and both represented and non-represented artists in The Annexe, a smaller, more experimental space at the back of the building. ...
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