Mona Kuhn: THE SCHINDLER HOUSE, A LOVE AFFAIR
Photography, Multimedia and Sound Installation
Opening Reception: Saturday, September 7, 2024 5:00 PM
September 7 - October 12, 2024
Mona Kuhn, Silhouette
Mona Kuhn's portraits visualize an uncanny love story. The enigmatic subject of Kuhn’s solarized pictures is a fictional, ethereal figure inspired by a letter from the architect R.M. Schindler to a mysterious lover. Shot in the 1920s modernist house designed and built by the architect on Kings Road in West Hollywood, Kuhn’s impressionistic photos capture the physical presence of this mysterious woman even as it seems to be dematerializing, resulting in fleeting images that question the very nature of lyrical fiction and photography as a record.
The technique of solarization, favored by Kuhn for this body of work, recalls Lee Miller and Man Ray's experimentation in the 1920s, which radically expanded the horizons of photography beyond straight-forward representation.
Beyond photography, the exhibition takes the form of large cinematic projections which, choreographed with an original musical score by composer Boris Salchow, underscore the fiction’s spatial and temporal qualities. Special thanks to Marmol Radziner for including the R.M. Schindler furniture in the exhibition.
The exhibition opening will coincide with the 30th anniversary of Bergamot Station Arts Center and PST Art: Art & Science Collide, a J. Paul Getty Museum event. In addition, it is also part of the Digital New Art Festival DNA Santa Monica. The cinematic projections at Galerie XII are made possible by Epson with their laser projectors.
Mona Kuhn. Entrance. 2021
About the artist: Acclaimed for her contemporary depictions, Kuhn is considered a leading artist in the world of figurative discourse. Throughout a career spanning more than twenty years, her work often reflects on humanity’s longing for spiritual connections. Her distinct aesthetics have propelled her as one of the most collectible contemporary art photographers. Accompanying publication:Kings Road, published by Steidl.