Amy Simon
Manège: from the Central Park portfolio
February 1 – 24, 2008
Kulturhuset Stockholm – photos
Galleri Mårtenson & Persson – drawings
www.kulturhuset.stockholm.se
www.gallerimartenson-persson.se
Amy Simon works with and in places that have special meaning for her during different stages in her life and has consequently returned to over and over again. It can be Central Park in New York, Wengen in Switzerland, Marrakech in Morocco, or Miami in Florida. What distinguishes the choice of location is that they touch on memory and feelings of belonging. She uses images to strengthen and re-experience. These images are keys to enhancing a cathartic experience, which anchor the memories and make them extremely personal. Editing takes place at the moment of shooting. Through the lens she sees the final result.
As far back as the Byzantine kingdom there existed simple carousels. The author Anatole France (1844-1924) explained why we ride carousels: the need for movement, of dizziness, a secret longing to be taken away, to be astounded. Originally the carousel was a type of riding contest. The French word manège, as in the exhibitions title, makes no discrepancy between the carousel and riding a horse.
In the exhibition at Kulturhuset, photographs from 2007, are horses with kicking hooves, wild, overwrought eyes and silent screams, along with snorting dragons. The strong clear colors have been repainted many times throughout the years but are still vivid. Amy Simon has used the carousel as a starting point in several works since 1990. The over-dimensioned horse sculptures, along with the rest of the carved figures are equally beautiful as horrifying.
The drawings exhibited at Galleri Mårtenson & Persson rely on this same theme, but now in segmented miniature. The essence of the larger works can be sensed, only here it has manifested into private delicate colored pencil encounters with metal, wood, and paint.
Amy Simon has exhibited at Malmö Konstmuseum and several galleries in Stockholm, at Centre Culturel Suédois in Paris as well as in New York. Her artworks encompass photography and drawing. In earlier exhibitions she has amongst other issues touched upon the question of places and their importance and our realistic understanding of them. She has also made a documentary film. Born and raised in New York City, Amy lives in Stockholm, Sweden since 1993.
Kulturhuset Stockholm
Sergels Torg
10327 Stockholm, Sweden
Tel: +46 8 508 314 00
E-mail: info@kulturhuset.stockholm.se
Galleri Mårtenson & Persson
Karlavägen 20
114 31 Stockholm, Sweden
Tel: +46 8 660 68 02
Email: info@gallerimartenson-persson.se