Mat Collishaw
RETROSPECTRE
26 February – 9 May 2010
Belvedere Road
London SE1 8XT
To coincide with our wider celebrations of the work of Paradjanov at BFI Southbank taking place in March, Collishaw has created a mesmerizing new exhibition for the Gallery inspired by the work of the Armenian director. For the project the artist has used a combination of antique objects and contemporary forms of moving image devices, from traditional photographic stills to digital imaging techniques in order to make a new installation which is defined by his very distinctive style and yet poetically conveys the spirit of Paradjanov’s artistic endeavor.
Collishaw and Paradjanov share a very perceptive understanding of the mechanics of beauty, which they both exploit in their art, especially through the juxtaposition of heterogeneous elements, of framing devices and a sensual use of colour. In the influential Shadows of our Forgotten Ancestors (1964), Colour of Pomegranates (1968) and Ashik Kerib (1988), films which show Paradjanov’s trademark style, each shot is a three-dimensional collage simultaneously self-standing and integral to the film, where heterogeneous elements are juxtaposed, framed and re-framed; where narrative is continuously fragmented. Similarly, in the Gallery, by projecting several, distinct images onto real historical objects, Collishaw fuses the moving image’s two-dimensionality with the three-dimensionality of sculpture; furthermore the unexpected re-framing of the newly shot footage creates a sense of displacement. Collishaw uses digitally manipulated images he shot in Armenia together with found images – still and moving – which he frames within authentic, antique sculptural objects and which he distorts through the use of mirrors. In so doing the real is stylised and re-framed in order to convey further meaning and to create a fairytale-like world where good and evil, sacred and profane, love and violence merge.
Supported by the Henry Moore Foundation and Arts Council England.
Gallery opening times: Tue – Sun (and Bank Holiday Mondays) from 12:00 – 20:00
Free admission
Events
Mat Collishaw in Conversation
with Elisabetta Fabrizi, BFI Head of Exhibitions
to explore the inspiration behind Retrospectre and its development.
Tue 13 Apr 18:20 NFT3
Shadows of Sergei Paradjanov: A Symposium
On the life and work of this 20th-century visionary and his contemporary legacy.
Sat 6 Mar 11:00 – 17:00 NFT3
Screenings
Retrospectre by Mat Collishaw coincides with a season of rarely seen Sergei Paradjanov feature films, shorts and documentaries about his life and work:
The Colour of Pomegranates
Dir. Sergei Paradjanov, 1968
+ Kiev Frescos
Dir. Sergei Paradjanov, 1965
Mon 1 Mar 18:00 NFT1 (with season extended introduction by Tony Rayns)
Sun 7 Mar 18:30 NFT1
Andriesh
Dir. Sergei Paradjanov, 1945
+ Sergei Paradjanov: The Rebel
Dir. Patrick Cazals, 2003
Tue 2 Mar 18:20 NFT2
Mon 8 Mar 20:40 NFT2
The First Lad
Dir. Sergei Paradjanov, 1958
Tue 2 Mar 20:40 NFT2
Wed 10 Mar 18:20 NFT2
Ukrainian Rhapsody
Dir. Sergei Paradjanov, 1961
Wed 3 Mar 18:20 NFT1
Fri 12 Mar 20:20 NFT2
Flower on the Stone
Dir. Sergei Paradjanov, 1962
+ Paradjanov: A Requiem
Dir. Ron Holloway, 1994
Wed 3 Mar 20:15 NFT2
Thu 11 Mar 18:00 NFT2
Shadows of Our Forgotten Ancestors
Dir. Sergei Paradjanov, 1964
Thu 4 Mar 18:00 NFT1 (with introduction by Ian Christie)
Mon 15 Mar 20:50 NFT1
The Legend of Suram Fortress
Dir. Sergei Paradjanov, 1984
Thu 4 Mar 20:40 NFT2
Sun 7 Mar 20:15 NFT2
Mon 8 Mar 18:20 NFT3
Ashik Kerib
Dir. Sergei Paradjanov, 1988
Fri 5 Mar 18:30 NFT1
Sat 6 Mar 18:20 NFT2 (with introduction by Roman Balayan)
Tue 9 Mar 14:00 NFT2 (seniors matinee, with introduction and discussion)
Sun 14 Mar 20:50 NFT2
I Died in Childhood
Dir. Georgy Paradjanov, 2004
Fri 5 Mar 20:50 NFT3
Sun 14 Mar 18:20 NFT2
For further information please visit www.bfi.org.uk/whatson or www.bfi.org.uk/gallery.
BFI Southbank, Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XT
Box office: 020 7928 3232 (11:30 – 20:30 daily)
