© Sid White-Jones - Bérangère Fromont : ‘Except the Clouds’, Instillation at Offshoot Gallery, London.
Showing at Offshoot Gallery, London between the 17th Oct - 31 Oct is Bérangère Fromont’s 'Except the Clouds’. The completely monochrome exhibition, curated by Sandrine Servent for Mina Raven, provides an immersive experience by juxtaposing the scale and placement of Fromont’s photographic work.
© Sid White-Jones - Instillation View (Wide).
© Sid White-Jones - Instillation View (Close).
The shows title ‘Except the Clouds’ derives from a quote by the writer/philosopher Walter Benjamin focusing on human fragility within the earths violent landscape, a quote that speaks loudly within todays turbulent and fast paced enviroment.
‘'In a landscape where nothing was recognisable, except the clouds, and in the middle, in a field of forces crossing tensions and destructive explosions, the tiny and fragile human body.' - Walter Benjamin.
© Sid White-Jones - ‘Except the Clouds’ Panel Discussion.
Whilst assisting Mina Raven with this exhibition, I attended a panel discussion hosted by Max Barnett with Daphne Milner and Nicholas Ventourakis, during which Fromont charted her project from its inception in Athens’ Exarcheia District to its completion as ‘Except the Clouds’, a photo-book which explores notions of resistance and rebellion.
Bérangère Fromont : ‘Except the Clouds’, Instillation at Offshoot Gallery, London.
© Sid White-Jones - Performance by Anamarija Ami Podrebarac.
‘Athens is an oxymoron-city. Its flamboyant mythological heritage coexists with its dark and dramatic political-economic situation. Its sun shines with a thousand lights but crushes its streets. It is a blinding light that reveals its violence and its twilight faces. And yet we feel a life force much more intense than elsewhere. The idea of resistance takes on its full meaning. Bodies tirelessly rise up to face the chaos of history as one. In permanent revolution. My project is to give an account of this oxymoron in images, but also of the complexity of the contemporary in its different temporal layers. With this phrase of Walter Benjamin always in mind, as an invisible and obsessive thread, seek light in the ruins of Attica: 'In a landscape where nothing was recognizable, except the clouds, and in the middle, in a field of forces crossing tensions and destructive explosions, the tiny and fragile human body.' Except the Clouds is a work on Athens but not only. It is above all a reflection on the place of the human in a civilisation and its fragility.’ - Text by Bérangère Fromont.
© Sid White-Jones - ‘Except the Clouds’ Video Projection.
‘Except the Clouds’ was the first solo artists show to be held at Offshoot Gallery. The exhibition included a selection or dark works from Fromont’s photo-book printed on both plexiglass and vinyl. These prints were accompanied by a revolving moving image presenting footage from the Athenian Riots.
For more info on Bérangère Fromont, Mina Raven & Offshoot Gallery visit -
W: www.berangerefromont.com / www.minaraven.com / www.offshootartspace.com