HUGO TILLMAN: BETWIXT AND BETWEEN Will Be On View at Nohra Haime Gallery, 2/19-3/29

BETWIXT AND BETWEEN, a solo exhibition by photographer Hugo Tillman, will be on view at Nohra Haime Gallery from February 19th to March 29th.

Hugo Tillman walks towards a mental state of meditation and acknowledgement in his new series of black photographs. The catalyst that inspired him to explore and photograph culturally significant iconography throughout history originated from his great-grandfather Georg Tillmann's collection of objects. Acting as a rite of passage, these perpetually dark images are the portal into a space where Tillman can come close to, but never reach his great grandfather's spirit. They allow him to see but not see, exist Betwixt and Between, and dance on the border of the unknown.

The laborious photography process involved exposure times of 30 to 60 minutes, both indoors and outdoors, of ancient objects found in temples and ethnographic museums throughout the world. The result is a captivating group of minimally illuminated compositions, their definition mysterious. "This is a serious study in seeing everything in nothing," says Tillman, "...seeing the most amount of information with as little information...a meditative or transformative experience..."

The Venus of Willendorf, shot at the Natural History Museum in Vienna, Austria, connects not only with its conception as the starting point of the history of art, but also with fertility rituals at the dawn of human civilization. Tillman molds this physical iconography into photographic imagery, paralleling the concept of origin throughout history from one generation to another.

In similar spirit are the fertility statues of Lingam and Yoni of the Sokuh Temple in Java, Indonesia. When brought together, they symbolize the passive space and active time from which all forms of life originate, allowing the work to flawlessly move from one state to another.

With time and meditation, the images reveal an opulent and powerful history, crossed by a curtain of black transparency. They are to be seen and not seen, to unveil everything through almost nothing. They are at a crossroad in time, betwixt and between.

Born in London in 1973, Tillman moved to New York and received a Masters of Fine Arts from Pratt Institute in 2004. His has exhibited at the Guangzhou Museum of Art, China; The Today Art Museum, Beijing; The Birmingham Art Gallery, England; The National Portrait Gallery, London; Elementa Gallery, Dubai; F2 Gallery, Beijing; DF2 Gallery, Los Angeles, P.S.1, New York, among others. Tillman has also participated in a number of international biennales, such as the Guangzhou Photo Biennale (2009), Guandong, China; Shanghai Biennale, Moca (2006), Shanghai, China; and Berlin Biennale (2000), Berlin, Germany. He currently lives and works in London.

DATES: February 19 - March 29, 2014

RECEPTION FOR THE ARTIST: Wednesday, February 19th from 6 - 8 p.m.

NOHRA HAIME GALLERY is located at 730 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK, NY 10019. For more information, call 212-888-3550 or email gallery@nohrahaimegallery.com.

Artwork: LA PESTE, 2013, C Print mounted on aluminum, 48 x 96 in. 122 x 243.8 cm.