Intre 15-30 noiembrie 2019, la 1001 ARTE (Calea Victoriei 91-93, Bucuresti), poate fi vizitata expozitia lui Suzanne Shortt – The Fragile Balance of Human Constellations, curator Cristian Cojanu, project manager Irina M. Damaskin.
for English, please scroll down
„Deseori copiii, chiar absorbiți intr un joc, se opresc văzând o fetita pe margine care ii privește. Urmează un set rapid de întrebări: „cum te cheamă/cati ani ai/vrei sa fim prieteni” si apoi invitația: „hai sa te joci cu noi”. Regulile se schimbă imediat si fetita devine membra cu drepturi depline a grupului atat de etanș si inabordabil pe care il privise pana atunci cu ochii unui micuț antropolog.
In viata adultă, acest scenariu devine improbabil. Bariere sociale, culturale, religioase, lingvistice sau de gen se formează in jurul grupurilor.
Pictand distantele dintre personajele unui grup (familii, membrii unor cluburi sportive, ai unor bresle, oameni aflați intamplator împreună) Suzanne Shortt ia in posesie dinamica grupului, imortalizata in imagine fixa.
Privitorul, un voyeur împătimit, atras de familiaritea jocurilor, se situează însă la o înălțime suficienta pentru a nu pierde nici un detaliu. Survoleaza cu atenție practici sociale, inregistrand mișcarea, si contopind intr un frame (cadru de film) gesturile si pozițiile trecute si viitoare ale personajelor.
Falsa prima impresie a unor fotografii aeriene pictate se îndepărtează prin interstitiile luminoase dintre modele, fiecare grup aparand in modul in care cerul nopții înfățișează privirii umane constelațiile.
Cliseului conform căruia suntem „toți suntem alcătuiți din stele”, Suzanne Shortt ii opune o viziune personala prin inversarea privirii (dinspre cer catre oameni): la urma urmei, si stelele sunt, in aceeași măsură, alcătuite din oameni.” (Cristian Cojanu)
EN: We can imagine a moment when a group of children stop their game, noticing a little girl watching them. A fast set of questions later (what s your name/how old r u/ wanna be friends) and the little girl becomes a full member of the group she was observing with the eyes of a tiny anthropologist. In the adult years, this situation becomes highly improbable. Around the groups there will appear barriers of social, cultural, religious, gender or linguistics nature.
Painting the distances between characters of a group (families, sport club members, people participating at an event or lying together on a beach) Suzanne Shortt takes into possession the group dynamics, immortalized in the fixed image. The observer is an intense voyeur, attracted by the familiarity of the games, but from a sufficient height as to record every detail. She overflies carefully social practices, filming the movement and afterwards distillates in a single frame the past, present and future gestures and positions of her characters.
A false first impression of some painted aerial photographs will fade away when you see the light forms between the models, every group appearing in the way that only the night sky will present to the human eye its constellations.
Opposing to the cliché of we are all made of stars, Suzanne Shortt comes with an original, very personal vision by reversing the point of view (from above to the human Constellations) : at the end of the day, the stars may be human, too.
SUZANNE SHORTT
Selected Exhibitions
Solo
2016 Perspectives, Taidesalonki Piirto, Helsinki, Finland
2013 Unwritten Rules, Residence of the Artist, Istanbul, Turkey
2009 Kom Loy, The Spot Gallery, Chiang Mai, Thailand
2003 Series, Residence of the Artist, Singapore
1993 Paintings & Prints, Rosedale United Church Gallery, Toronto, Canada
Group and Collaborative
2018 Dear Suomi, HIAA collective, Rantakasarmi Galleria (Suomenlinna), Helsinki, Finland
2016 Metamorphosis, HIAA collective exhibit, Caisa Gallery, Helsinki, Finland
2010 Soi Dogs, Look at This an Art Gallery, Chiang Mai, Thailand
2004 Orchids Artists’ Exhibit, Ottawa Orchid Show, Ottawa, Canada
2002-06 Group exhibitions, Red Seas Gallery, Singapore
1999 Bom Dwen Exhibit, Residence of the Ghanaian High Commissioner, Ottawa, Canada
1996-99 Bom Dwen Touring Exhibit, (Toured 6 Canadian cites: Toronto, Truro,
Charlottetown, Brandon, Vancouver & Ottawa )
1993 Artist in Community, Kingston, Canada, group show
1992 Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Kingston, Canada, group show
1992 Outdoor Art Exhibition, Toronto, Canada, juried show
1990 Red Room Exhibit, Kingston, Canada, group show
Collections Paintings are held in private and corporate collections throughout Canada, the United
States, the United Kingdom, France, Turkey, Austria, Thailand, Singapore and Finland.
Education
- Bachelor of Fine Art, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
- Bachelor of Education, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
- Diploma of Computer Animation, Sheridan College, Oakville, Ontario, Canada
- Diploma of Technical Animation, Sheridan College, Oakville, Ontario, Canada
