Magasin 3

Following an exhibition of objects by Siobhan Hapaska, Charles Long and Ernesto Neto, at the Stockholm-based gallery Magasin 3, is presenting an exhibition combining works by contemporary photographers Annika von Hausswolff, and Jane and Louise Wilson with a extensive collection of documentary photographs by Usher Fellig, who better known as Weegee (1899-1968). His Manhattan crime shots from the 1930s and 1940s are interpreted as a virtual source of inspiration for contemporary artists assembling pictures to appear like documentary photos. Annika von Hausswolff’s latest series shows the empty spaces of an anonymous, abandoned building whose history is told through accidental peculiarities such as a knocked-over flower pot and a chair jammed in the door. The ambivalence between documentary and arranged photographs is further highlighted by an installation in which individual images are surrounded by the normally hidden gallery facilities. Similar empty spaces make up the setting for her photographs of bodies, which she presented at last year’s Venice Biennial. Jane and Louis Wilson set their photographs in environments with precise points of reference such as the House of Lords and Las Vegas casinos. A casino is also the site for their video footage shown at the exhibition. The two seemingly contradicting spaces—a symbol of democratic tradition and. a symbol of consumer entertainment—show surprising similarities on the precisely composed images. The similarities however do not only include the surveillance cameras monitoring visitors at both sites. Additional parallels are the floral ornaments on both the carpets in casinos and on the wallpaper in the House of Lords; the chairs casino visitors sit in while they have their shoes polished correspond to those occupied by members of the House of Lords. As if one was but a reflection of the other.

01.04.2000