Roger Ballen

Listings(s)

'Boarding House'

Roger Ballen at Durban Art Gallery

Roger Ballen returns to the Durban Art Gallery with 'Boarding House', a new collection of photographs bathed in his particular take on the surreal. Showcasing over 70 black and white images, mostly unseen, this is Ballen's most formally sophisticated work to date. The tableaux have a greater emphasis on drawn and sculptural elements, and the sense of collaboration between the artist and his subjects is increasingly relevant. exhibition is curated by David Travis who addresses the work in an accessible way, locating the images in the wider context of Ballen's career.

03 June 2009 - 19 July 2009

Roger Ballen's 'Boarding House' in Sydney

Roger Ballen at Stills Gallery

Similar to his critically acclaimed series 'Outland' and 'Shadow Chamber', Roger Ballen's 'Boarding House' is a journey of discovery in which we leave our ordinary selves behind and confront a primitive part of the human condition and its psyche. Whether the place is real or imaginary is both indecipherable and irrelevant. It is a place where Ballen's subconscious and the viewer's inhibitions can meet.

'Boarding House' is Ballen's most formally sophisticated work to date. The tableaux have a greater emphasis on drawn and sculptural elements, and the sense of collaboration between the artist and his subjects is increasingly relevant. He depicts a space of transient residence, of comings and goings, of people sheltered in a place they are using for their immediate survival. The altered sense of place of this temporary abode creates a sense of alienation, which acts as a jumping off point for the imagination to run wild.

21 April 2010 - 29 May 2010