Binh Danh: In the Eclipse of Angkor
Above Left: Avalokiteshvara, Daguerreotype, 11" x 9"
Above Right: Memories of Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum 3, chlorophyll print on nasturtium, resin,
12.75" x 9.75"
Dates: May 7th , 2009 – June 27th, 2009
Reception with Binh Danh: Thursday, May 14th, 2009 7:00pm – 9:00pm
Lisa Sette Gallery is pleased to present In The Eclipse of Angkor, an exhibition of chlorophyll prints and Daguerreotypes that explore themes of memory, mortality, and spirituality by Vietnamese
artist, Binh Danh. A reception for the artist will be held on Thursday, May 14th from 7:00-9:00pm. The artist will be in attendance.
Angkor Wat is a temple complex at Angkor, Cambodia, built for the king Suryavarman II in the early 12th century as his state temple and capital city. As the best-preserved temple at the site, it is the only one to have remained a significant religious center since its foundation—first Hindu, dedicated to Vishnu, then Buddhist.
The artist’s interest in science and photographic technique led him to the discovery and invention of what Danh termed the chlorophyll print, a unique process for transferring photographic images onto the surface of leaves by the use of photosynthesis. This process is as important to Danh’s work as the imagery itself. He states, “The histories I search for are the hidden stories embedded in the landscape”.
His stories are memorials, whether portraits of executed Vietnamese and Cambodian victims of war or images of the Buddha. Cast on the surface of a leaf to observe death and convey its influence on the living, each piece is both reverent memory and a renewal. Danh's work is especially timely because of the recent trials of senior Khmer Rouge commandants who were responsible for the torture and killing of thousands of people in the Tuol Sleng prison.
The exhibition will draw from Danh's series Iridescence of Life and Memory of Tuol Sleng. Also included are unique Daguerreotypes created from Danh's photographs of Buddhist monks and the landscape of ancient Cambodian temples. These Daguerreotype images create a dialog with historic portraits of executed prisoners and sites from the Killing Fields, the genocide carried out by the Khmer Rouge.
This great sense of storytelling in the work of Binh Danh not only communicates his exploration into the worn-torn history and memory of his native country of Vietnam, but also his interest in science and the interconnection of matter. This path of thought leads to a shared interest with the viewer in the act of transformation, both physically and spiritually; a notion that invokes the past and comments on the way actions continually shape the future, a continuum that presents itself with poetic exploration in each body of his work.
Lisa Sette Gallery maintains a very active exhibition schedule, mounting approximately 10 exhibitions a year ranging in theme and genre. For more than 22 years, the gallery has been committed to showcasing a range of contemporary photography, sculpture, painting, installation and performance art.
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