 |
||||||
 |
||||||
|
||||||
511 PROJECTS is pleased to present Nuits américaines, a curated exhibition of photographs by Canadian artist Isabelle Hayeur. This series of large-scale digital photomontages is part of an evolving body of work she began in 2004, and will be on view at the New York Photo Festival from May 14th to May 18th, 2008.
The photographs are varied in their composition, ranging from endless panoramas to sweeping architectural vistas and intimate indoor scenes. Her images are sourced from her visits to urban landscapes throughout the Americas-a juxtaposition of images that seamlessly merge the varying social, economic, cultural, and geographic landscapes of places such as Canada, Mexico, Argentina, and the United States. These images present a constructed reality to the viewer that contextualizes our progression towards globalization, a process that is continuously reshaping our inhabited environments. Although fictitious, these contrived settings are incredibly lifelike in their presentation and execution, prompting several relevant observations about our society. The viewer is confronted with the eradication of nature and rural areas due to urban sprawl; we see growing economic disparities and social divisions in our culture; contemporary forms of segregation, such as the creation of free trade zones or gated communities; and the outsourcing of jobs overseas.
This series defines the current political horizon and all it represents: gentrification, working-class communities, business districts, poverty-stricken neighborhoods, outcasts, run-down apartments and threatened natural areas. The more we-the public-relinquish control of development in our own communities, the more private contractors are granted a carte blanche to redevelop, and fundamentally change, our neighborhoods, our homes, and our lives. We are witnessing these gradual changes-politically, economically, socially-on a global scale; however, the effects of these changes manifest themselves most destructively in our local communities. Hayeur likens this gradual shift in the overall mood to the fleeting moment before daybreak, or at dusk, that one sees in her work. Twilight, used here as metaphor, is meant to suggest the many losses stemming from this evolution. Additionally, the strong contrast found in these compositions-the battle between light and shadow-represents the struggle between development and nature. In these scenes, Hayeur depicts the devastating consequences of a society suffering from mounting social inequalities and a crumbling infrastructure, ultimately leaving the viewer to question our progress as a society.
Isabelle Hayeur is a Canadian artist primarily known for her large digital photomontages, but has also produced several site-specific installations, public artworks and videos. Hayeur lives and works in Montréal, and received her BFA and MFA from Université du Québec à Montréal. Her work has been widely exhibited across Europe, Canada, the United States, Mexico, Argentina and Japan. She has exhibited at the Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal, MASS MoCA (USA), the Museum of Contemporary Photography (Chicago), the Casino Luxembourg forum d'art contemporain (Luxembourg), the Neuer Berliner Kuntsverein (Berlin), the VOX image contemporaine (Montreal) and at the Rencontres de la photographie à Arles (France).
For more information about NYPH, please visit: http://www.nyphotofestival.com/
