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Roger Ballen
Metamorphosis – Roger Ballen, Black and White, Staged, Vintage, Nude, Animal

2006

$25,355.12
£18,978.94
€21,500
CA$34,895.87
A$38,895.09
CHF 20,406.92
MX$474,972.43
NOK 258,395.95
SEK 244,223.48
DKK 163,673.14

About the Item

Roger BALLEN Metamorphosis, from the series 'Boarding House', 2006 Vintage silver gelatin print Image 45 x 45 cm (17 3/4 x 17 3/4 in.) Sheet 50 x 50 cm (19 3/4 x 19 3/4 in.) Edition of 10 (#5/10) Signed and dated verso in pencil Print only Christophe Guye Galerie offers a selection of vintage prints from the series 'Boarding House' and 'Shadow Chamber', which have never been published before. – About Roger Ballen Considered one of the most original image-makers of the twenty-first century, American-born photographer Roger Ballen has lived and worked in South Africa for four decades. His latest work, Asylum of the Birds, is set within the confines of a makeshift house on the outskirts of Johannesburg, a place inhabited by individuals at the absolute margins of society. In this anarchic place, the human and animal inhabitants collaborate as Ballen’s cast in an on going series of quasi-directed performances. As we enter Ballen’s layered netherworld the images simultaneously repel and compel our gaze and transport us to an even darker dream world, that of the fears within our own imagination. The omnipresent birds, both alive and dead, signal a foreboding reminiscent of Hitchcock, while simultaneously suggesting hope and freedom. While the word ‘asylum’ could be defined a place of insanity, it also suggests refuge and persists in our mind as a metaphor for redemption. Says Ballen of his work; “My purpose in taking photographs over the past forty years has ultimately been about defining myself. It has been fundamentally a psychological and existential journey.” The photographer studied psychology at the University of California, and later his PhD at the Colorado School of Mines, specialising in Mineral Economics. Ballen was originally drawn to South Africa to work as a geologist, but his enthusiasm for photography strengthened, and he has been taking images there for nearly fifty years. Ballen has had over 50 exhibitions worldwide, and his work is being collected by some 40 museums worldwide, including the Folkwang, Essen, LACMA, Los Angeles, Musée de l’Elysée, Lausanne, Stedelijk, Amsterdam, Victoria and Albert, London, Centre Pompidou, Paris, and the MoMA, New York, just to name a few. – Roger Ballen, Photography, B/W, Animal, Human, People, Abstract, Surreal, Disturbing, Piano, Vintage, Boarding House
  • Creator:
    Roger Ballen (1950, American)
  • Creation Year:
    2006
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 19.69 in (50 cm)Width: 19.69 in (50 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Period:
  • Framing:
    Framing Options Available
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    Zurich, CH
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU1280112370522

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