"Jacklighting"

January 27, 2020

French artist Anne-Charlotte Finel presents Jacklighting at The Chimney for her first solo show in the US. Referring to the nocturnal hunting practice of shining bright lights throughout dark fields in order to momentarily stun animals, Jacklighting proves itself both weird and wonderful. Finel's work, focused on spaces affected by unnatural lighting systems, is composed of four reels. And with each video being manipulated both digitally and physically, the story from viewer to viewer may be rather ambiguous.

In Triste Champignonniste (Sad Mushroom Farmer), 2017, Finel films a mushroom farm in a former underground gypsum quarry—although it may look more like the ground for a nuclear bomb shelter as bursting shapes and foggy landscapes are cast upon a pink velvet backdrop. Only upon closer inspection may one gradually discern the actual rotting of elements played upon the deteriorating pixels of the film for a versatile look on decomposition.

As is the case with all of the show’s remaining components, nothing is quite as it seems in Jacklighting. The rhythm of the subjects and the landscapes of the environment speak to the title’s permanent state through the relationship between man and nature, attesting to Finel’s expertise in observing the unordinary and inclination to search for truth in the otherwise vastly unseen.

Text by Caroline Brown
Photos courtesy of The Chimney and the artist; Photography by Reggie Shiobara

Jacklighting is on view at The Chimney until February 23, 2020.

Art

Early

Art

Check out the Volta art fair this week

February 28, 2017

Tomorrow evening, the Volta New York art fair launches for previews and VIPs (the fair will be open to the public from March 2nd to the 5th). In a sea of New York art fairs, Volta stands out with its specificity of purpose—it highlights solo art projects, truly putting the spotlight on the artists. The fair was founded at Basel in 2005 and it first came to New York in 2008, but it still retains its original purpose: to be a fair "by galleries, for galleries."

This is Volta's ten year anniversary, so we would imagine that they're going to go all out. The fair is located at Pier 90, and it will play host to works from 96 galleries from five continents and 36 cities. Woah. Get ready for a feast for the eyes.

Volta is open to the public at Pier 90 on March 2nd-4th from 12 PM - 8 PM, and on March 5th from 12 PM - 5 PM. Get your tickets here.

Image by Sofie Bird Møller, courtesy of Volta.