Installation view from Jorge Molder 1998 solo show.
This will be Jorge Molder’s first show in England. His large-scale, black and white pictures of people, places, events and objects have an imposing presence. Most recently his work has revolved around the self-portrait, emphasising light and shadow, extreme angles and off-centre composition in an elegant visual language. The body comes back like a leitmotif in all the pieces up to the most recent.
Faced with a series of enlarged photos the viewer is confronted with intimacy at both the psychological and physical levels. The scale of the pieces evokes the cinematic screen while their occupation of space lends them a sculptural dimension. The viewer’s physical proximity and his consequent involvement in the space of the work are actively sought.
Although the photographs suggest narratives if taken together, no interpretative key or dramatic sequence is ever given. Instead, a series of mysterious clues, enigmatic objects and incomplete journeys force the spectator to become a detective and inventor of fictions. Photography becomes the medium in Molder’s work for exploring the relationship between the subject and the object.
Jorge Molder is a prominent representative of the mid-generation of Portuguese artists and an outstanding exponent of contemporary photography. This exhibition will include works selected from his most recent series Anatomy and Boxing, and others from earlier series including The Sense of the Sleight-of-Hand Man, 1993-4, TV 1995-6 and Points of No Return, 1995.
Molder lives and works in Lisbon. His work is shown internationally and is represented in private collections around the world. He is the author of several books on photography.
