The exhibition Spirit in the Inanimate presents a series of photographic images exploring details of Shubha Taparia’s current monumental studio installation ‘Silhouette of an Unknown Landscape’. The interplay of light and shadows that defined the installation has, here, been translated into abstract images that draw attention to the chance patterns and materiality of the every day.
Inspired by encounters with sunlight on scaffolding seen in an urban environment, the installation transforms industrial materials typically used to conceal, support or contain, into ethereal aesthetic arrangements that reveal the magical quality of form and nature in serendipitous throws of light.
The new photographic works recall the photogram experiments of early 20th century pioneers such as Moholy-Nagy, or the incisive exposure of x-rays. Composing these abstract landscapes much like a musical symphony, Taparia encourages the viewer to pause through visual harmonies, counterpoints, crescendos and moments of quiet. The weightlessness and the quiet of these images subvert our perceptions of a building site, revealing an unexpected beauty in the seemingly mundane, and thus continuing Taparia’s theme of exploring the everyday.