The strangeness of the past year is mirrored in the existential photographic dream world of artists Kuzma Vostrikov and Aujan Song.
Their first major UK exhibition Absolutely Augmented Reality was due to run at art project space Hoxton 253 last autumn, but was postponed due to Covid.
Chinese multimedia artist Song and American filmmaker and artist Vostrikov have imagined narrative scenes using models, costumes, and props to create surreal and playful images exemplifying their enigmatic response to contemporary life.
Drawing from fashion cinema, theatre, fine art, surrealism, photography and philosophy, their symbolic, hybrid characters reference Picasso, Warhol, Magritte and others.
The immersive exhibition of photographs, drawings and film is set to get visitors to see the world from their quirky colour-saturated perspective.
“We are prisoners of our imagination and circumstances," they said. "The work selected for this exhibition in its own way an image of our quarantine. More than just photography, our work is an investigation into metaphysics which creates a sense of exploration and melancholic intrigue. Absolutely Augmented Reality is more like an existential experiment.. reflecting on the circumstances of the observed object.”
The show's producer Halime Özdemir told the Gazette last year: “We didn’t want to dwell on everything that’s going on around us, so we created this space of respite through fun, and with questioning our existence and the impact of technology in mind. I guess it’s the marriage of the surreal and the unknown with the unease the work makes us feel that brings the two together.
“I’m hoping to achieve a reflection of the brilliant escapism of the art and that explosion of colour on film in a faithful and moving way.”
Absolutely Augmented Reality runs at Hoxton 253 in Hoxton Street from June 5 to 27.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here