10 September - 11 December 2011
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| © Scarlett Hooft Graafland
Vanishing Traces, Soft Horizons Series, 2006-2007 |
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SCARLETT HOOFT GRAAFLAND
10 September - 11 December, 2011
‘Sometimes I just get an idea, and if I think it’s really good then I have to make it happen, whatever it takes’
Scarlett Hooft Graafland is a sculptor and photographer. Her first ever
large solo retrospective, held in Huis Marseille, presents her
photographs of majestic landscapes – in China, on the salt flats of
Bolivia, the Arctic plains of northern Canada, and the lava fields of
Iceland. Her compositions make subtle use of ‘soft’ materials like
balls, balloons, fluids and pigments, as well as the participation of
the local people and, on occasion, animals. Her props are short-lived
and do not disturb the landscape in any way; they are almost
insignificant when compared to the overwhelming spaces of the landscapes
in which she works. But the perspective that Scarlett Hooft Graafland’s
imagination brings to bear on these vast spaces brings images to life
which are as playful as they are succinct.
In combination with these unexpected elements, the landscape takes on a
new dimension. Two bare legs poke out from under a polar bear skin in
the icy cold of the polar circle, curl around the prickly trunk of a
giant Bolivian cactus, or drape over the roof ridge of a small house in
the middle of an Icelandic lava field. Magical effects are also achieved
through the use of colour: an igloo is turned a lollipop orange-red,
and a carpet of paprika appears on the sweeping salt fields. Some of the
works make subtle reference to art history: Bolivian bowler hats
suspended along a fishing line above a geyser evoke Magritte, balloons
floating on water are a featherweight remake of Spiral Jetty, and a snow
pyramid circled with rope is almost Arte Povera. More frequently,
though, her images arise from her clear social engagement and her deep
concern for the natural environment. Using drawings and sign language,
she directs the process that shapes her temporary monument of, and to,
these local communities. Scarlett Hooft Graafland masterfully captures
the essence of their arduous lives in clear, poetic, and expressive
visual statements.
In brief: Scarlett Hooft Graafland (1973, Maarn) graduated from the
Royal Academy of Art in The Hague in 1999 in the Autonomous Textiles
monumental arts programme. She then completed postgraduate studies in
Belzalel, Jerusalem and a Master’s in sculpture in Parsons, New York.
She has since become an internationally acclaimed photographer with
numerous exhibitions, prizes and nominations to her name.
Simultaneously with the opening of the exhibition the publication
Scarlett Hooft Graafland, Soft Horizons will appear (Kehrer Verlag,
2011). The publication will be available at the shop of Huis Marseille
during the exhibition.
www.huismarseille.nl
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