Aesthetica‘s must-see shows for mid-October investigate the politics of image-making, using documentary photography, post-production and installation to question history and ideas of post-truth.
Laurent Chehere, Jules & Jim, Paris
With an interest in exploring urban and residential spaces, French photographer Chehere (b.1972) traces the city streets using both reportage and conceptual imagery. Inspired by cinema, Flying Houses repositions recognisable buildings in the sky, flying through the air with inhabitants dangling from the windows and telephone wires twisting out into the distance.
Alfredo Jaar: Lament of the Images, Lia Rumma, Milan
Presenting a series of installations – including a new site-specific work – this exhibition explores the politics of images in the 21st century, offering socially conscious reflections on grief and trauma. As Jaar notes: “In these so-called ‘post-truth’ times, it is urgent to return to the real. The powerful light emanating from the [works] will illuminate us, and only us, without representations.”
David Goldblatt: Photographs 1948–2018, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney
“My real preoccupation was with our values … how did we get to be the way we are?” Internationally renowned photographer Goldblatt documented South Africa’s inhabitants and turbulent history through powerful black and white images. This retrospective looks to his legacy, celebrating a selection of key series. Until 3 March.
Bruce Nauman: Disappearing Acts, Museum of Modern Art, New York
Traversing the artist’s full career and comprising a range of media, the shows investigates timely ideas of truth and fiction; omission and loss. Neon installations, videos and sculptures combine with painting, drawing and performance to draw a rich portrait of Nauman’s oeuvre to reveal how time, space, movement and language can be used to reflect universal experience. From 21 October.
Offering a unique insight into individual stories from 16 photographers including Antoine d’Agata, Alec Soth, Olivia Arthur, Elliott Erwitt, Moises Saman, Alex Webb and Thomas Dworzak, this collection highlights personal and universal narratives associated with identity, family and unique histories. Until 28 October.
Credits:
1. Laurent Chehere, The Flying Houses (2009-2015)
2. Laurent Chehere, The Flying Houses (2009-2015).
3. David Goldblatt, Woman on a bench, Joubert Park, Johannesburg, 1975, silver gelatin photograph on fibre-based paper, image courtesy Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg and Cape Town and Marian Goodman Gallery, Paris © The David Goldblatt Legacy Trust
4. Bruce Nauman. One Hundred Live and Die. 1984. Neon tubing with clear glass tubing on metal monolith, 118 × 132 1/4 × 21″ (299.7 × 335.9 × 53.3 cm). Collection of Benesse Holdings, Inc./Benesse House Museum, Naoshima. © 2018 Bruce Nauman/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo: Dorothy Zeidman, courtesy the artist and Sperone Westwater, New York
5. Alfredo Jaar, The Sound of Silence, 2006. Courtesy the artist, New York and YSP. Photo: Jonty Wilde.
6. Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, 2017 © Alec Soth / Magnum Photos · © Alec Soth / Magnum Photos.
