intimate objectivity
In an attempt to play a role in European integration, Modern Art Oxford are mounting a series of exhibitions featuring artists from the new member states. From now until 4th March the spotlight falls on Latvia and the Lett photographer Alnis Stakle. The manner in which his work is displayed can at first be disorientating as each of Stakle’s photographs are presented at different heights and different scales.
It becomes clear as soon as you enter, however, that each of the photographs in this small exhibition has been arranged with minute precision in order to create the overall effect. Everything is meticulously ordered in order to convey an impression of optimistic reflection. His pictures of Oxford which were taken while the artist was in residence, sit well alongside the somewhat more bleak images from his series Living Space-Daugavpils.
This latter collection depicts scenes from the the Soviet city of Daugavpils where the photographer grew up. From the lone dog in a park scene in one of his Oxford pictures, to the books that lie abandoned in a gutted building in Daugavpils, Stakle never fails to capture the very ordinary and the momentary. Through sympathetic observation of both cities his photographs are at once affecting and strangely intimate. This sense of intimacy is felt just as keenly in his still life photography.
Focusing on objects which are sometimes as banal as an unmade bed, what makes these compositions so powerful are the narrative structures that hint at the artist’s presence in the picture. Just as a deeply personal story is told in the pictures of his hometown of Daugavpils, Stakle’s still life compositions also have autobiographical significance. Together they form a pictorial representation of the sights and objects that form the backdrop to the artist’s life.
This is also an exhibition of impressive diversity. A more playful side of Stakle’s art can be seen in some of the other pictures from his Place for Dreams series. Here he performs in front of the camera, using time lapse photography in order to create bizarre and sometimes startling images. The momentary action, such as lighting a match, is captured in a way which evokes significance in a much greater time scheme.
Yet it is his Latvian images of the city of Daugavpils that remain the most interesting. They are imbued with a strange sort of love for the city of his youth. Despite the forbidding backdrop of semi-ruined Soviet buildings, the predominant theme is one of optimism, with glimmers of hope shining forth from the crumbling concrete.
2nd Feb 2006