Dougle Take, group show, Last Tango, Zürich, Switzerland
24.08.18 – 03.11.18
Curated by Linda Jensen & Arianna Gellini
Photo cre­dit: Kilian Bannwart

Fluid in its approach the exhi­bi­tion Double Take fea­tures the­ma­tic jux­ta­po­si­tions, conti­nui­ties and rup­tures with many works per­tai­ning to the poten­tial of the misi­den­ti­fied, misheard and the ambi­guous space of the inex­pres­sible. The exhi­bi­tion explores sub­jects such as the limi­ta­tions of lan­guage, the act of muting, sub­jec­ti­vity, imma­te­ria­lity, mon­tage and hybri­dity, the pro­cess of sedi­men­ta­tion as well as his­to­ri­cal memory. A double take is a moment often­times depic­ted in car­toons when a cha­rac­ter glances at some­thing without much reac­tion, turns away, and then, in a moment of rea­li­za­tion, snaps their head around with a big expres­sion.

Manon Wertenbroek (b.1991, Lausanne) and the artist duo Chérif Defraoui (b. 1932–1994, Geneva) & Silvie Defraoui (b. 1935, St. Gallen) use expe­ri­men­tal methods in pho­to­gra­phy and video (through reflec­tion or super­im­po­si­tion) and have been wor­king intui­ti­vely with tra­di­tio­nal sub­jects of still-life and por­trai­ture whe­rein the nar­ra­tives relate to com­plex and ambi­guous emo­tio­nal states and to per­so­nal expe­rience. Engraved onto PVC mir­ror, Wertenbroek’s sub­jects, be they still lives or figures, are car­ved and appear blur­rily ren­de­red, yet at the same time also care­fully detai­led (such as with the conti­nuous out­lines of hair strands). Prior to pho­to­gra­phing the image Wertenbroek uses the glow of the com­pu­ter as her light source and in pho­to­gra­phing the metal­lic mir­ror sur­face she ​‘freezes’, flat­tens and cap­tures the other­wise fluid and refrac­tive sur­face. What other­wise would be an inti­mate bust por­trait comes across dis­tan­ced due to the lack of facial details, making for the per­sona to be conju­red by the onloo­ker.

Artists:
Chérif & Silvie Defraoui /​Manon Wertenbroek
Jason Dodge /​Bruno Jakob
Per Kirkeby /​Katja Schenker
Vittorio Santoro /​Simon Starling
Gregory Hari /​Samson Young
Michael Etzensperger /​Christoph Hefti