In early July, I embarked on my annual pilgrimage to Arles. I wandered around the city, meeting artists and photography lovers, dining at Le Galoubet, and visiting the exhibitions on photography and contemporary Art at Luma.
One of my favourite exhibitions is “I’m So Happy You Are Here,” an exhibition by Japanese women photographers. It showcases over twenty-five artists from different generations, starting from the 1950s. The exhibition is thoughtfully curated around three major themes: everyday life, critical perspectives on Japanese society, and bold experiments with the photographic form.
I was particularly struck by the work of Yamazawa Eiko (1899-1995), one of Japan’s earliest women photographers. Her work bridges the pre-and post-World War II eras, offering a unique glimpse into the evolving landscape of Japanese photography.
Wandering through the exhibition, I encountered the powerful street photography of Watanabe Hitomi (born 1939). Her images from the streets of Shinjuku, documenting the Zen-Kyoto student movement, are captivating. They capture the era’s raw energy and political fervour, and I couldn’t help but feel the sense of pioneering spirit in her work.
Sugiura Kunié (born 1942) fascinated me with her daring experiments in her “Photo-Painting” series (1975-1981). The black-and-white stills, printed in monochrome on canvas, delve into themes of chance and failure. Her innovative approach challenges traditional photographic techniques and aesthetics, offering a fresh perspective that I found incredibly thought-provoking.
Tawada Yuki (born 1978 in Hamamatsu, Japan) intimately and expansively engages with themes of spirituality and healing. Her use of scraping and burning the surfaces of photographs, alongside creating sculptural installations with intricate cutouts, creates a tactile and immersive experience. I was particularly interested in how she blends photography with sculpture and video, making her work a rich, multi-sensory journey.
One of the most poignant moments for me was experiencing the work of Katayama Mari (born 1987). Her art, rooted in her personal narrative of living with tibial hemimelia and undergoing lower leg amputation, is profoundly reflective and empowering. The hand-sewn and handmade objects, including embellished prostheses, create a carefully constructed scene for her self-portraits. These images breathe life into her own sense of self while inviting viewers to question the nature of representation. Being surrounded by her embroidered and stuffed objects felt like stepping into her own world, and it was both intimate and expansive.
I spent a long time at l’Eglise des Frères Prêcheurs delving into Cristina De Middel’s “Journey to the Center.” Inspired by the atmosphere and structure of Jules Verne’s “Journey to the Center of the Earth,” De Middel presents a striking narrative of the Central American migration route across Mexico to Southern California. This journey culminates in the small town of Felicity, which is officially designated as the “Center of the World.”
I was completely absorbed by De Middel’s dystopian narrative. Her photographs, with their saturated colours and evocative sense of void and emptiness, offer a profoundly personal perspective on the complex phenomenon of migration. The imagery creates a vivid and haunting portrayal of the migrant experience, making the viewer reflect deeply on the challenges and hopes of those undertaking such a perilous journey.
As an avid admirer of Sophie Calle, I couldn’t have missed her new exhibition, “NEITHER GIVE NOR THROW AWAY” in the Cryptoportiques. With her renowned sense of humour, lucidity, and acute awareness of mortality, she orchestrated the destruction of her cherished work, The Blind, which has succumbed to mould. I recall discovering The Blind in Arles several years ago and being profoundly moved by its poetic essence. In the ancient underground chambers, dating back to the Greek and Roman periods, Calle presents a striking scenography of The Blind, offering a poignant farewell to her beloved creation, which I had the chance to rediscover and revisit.
On Tuesday morning, after having coffee with Scarlett Coten, the Arles-based photographer who will have a solo exhibition in Paris at the prestigious photography gallery “Les Filles du Calvaires” in the autumn, I hopped on my Cyclo and crossed the city to go to Luma.
I started with The Astrid Ullens de Schooten Whettnall Collection. Featuring 5,500 photographs by around 100 photographers, this collection, amassed over the last 30 years, offers a comprehensive and impressive overview of the conceptual documentary photography genre. It includes works by notable figures such as Ed Ruscha, Bernd and Hilla Becher, Hans-Peter Feldmann, Robert Adams, Diane Arbus, and Sergio Trujillo.
I really enjoyed the exhibition “Lee Friedlander Framed by Joel Coen” at Luma Tower. It showcases an engaging dialogue between the acclaimed film director and the legendary photographer. Friedlander’s distinctive “urban social landscape” photographs are brimming with humour and poetry, and Joel Coen has accurately captured these elements.
The highlight of my trip to Arles was visiting with Jean de Loisy the exhibition “Van Gogh and the Stars: A Cosmic Journey,” which he co-curated with Bice Curiger. The exhibition centres around Vincent Van Gogh’s painting “Starry Night” (1888), an exceptional loan from the Musée d’Orsay in Paris. This exhibition features a wide array of works, including 165 pieces by 78 artists such as Helen Frankenthaler, Thomas Houseago, and Anselm Kiefer.
I discovered that Van Gogh was deeply fascinated by the stars, accumulating extensive knowledge of astronomy and the solar system over the years. De Loisy and Curiger have created a daring dialogue between Van Gogh’s masterpiece and contemporary art.
Once again, Arles does not disappoint and remains the most important photography rendezvous of the summer.
Arles: Les Rencontres de la Photographie 1 July – 29 September 2024
Visit Here
Luma Arles
Visit Here