Shot and Go — Suzie Walshe

The suc­cesses of the pre­vi­ous pho­to­graphic exhi­bi­tions “Ital­ian Cam­era” and “Lampi sull’acqua San Ser­volo Servizi” have paved the way for this year’s sur­vey “Shot and Go—A Vision of Today’s Inter­na­tional Pho­tog­ra­phy.” “Shot and Go” is an exhi­bi­tion group­ing the works of 15 emerg­ing artists on the inter­na­tional art scene. “Shot and Go,” with Raf­faele Gavarro as its cura­tor, is one of many cul­tural events tak­ing place on the Venet­ian island of San Ser­volo dur­ing the 52nd Inter­na­tional Venice Biennale.

The loca­tion of this unas­sum­ing exhi­bi­tion on the small island of San Ser­volo was trans­formed into a visual event itself, spe­cial­iz­ing in the arts of video, film and pho­tog­ra­phy. The event “Light on San Ser­volo” also included the V/07 Video Art fair and plays host to the Pavil­ion of the Repub­lic of Slove­nia, whose artists’ work focused pri­mar­ily of time-based media such as video and photography.

“Shot and Go” is the third stage of an exhi­bi­tion path ded­i­cated to pho­tog­ra­phy. The project is part of the cre­ation of an exhi­bi­tion and research cen­ter ded­i­cated to pho­tog­ra­phy in Venice. This year, the exhi­bi­tion shows a matured and devel­oped selec­tion devoted to the inter­na­tional scene of pho­tog­ra­phy. Pre­vi­ous shows focused on emerg­ing Ital­ian pho­tog­ra­phers and Venet­ian tra­di­tions. The exhi­bi­tion focuses its atten­tion on how the lan­guage of pho­tog­ra­phy in today’s art has changed as it finds new modes of expres­sion and an abil­ity to explore and min­gle in other lan­guages. The show car­ries a strong exis­ten­tial vibe since the artists deal with every­thing from the human con­di­tion, anx­i­ety and beauty, to the hor­ror and humor of mankind, with a bit of par­ody and humor thrown into the mix.

The work of Span­ish artist Ale­jan­dro Vidal is a strong exam­ple of such visual ideas. Vidal’s work is con­cerned with issues address­ing social con­flict, activism, self-defense and vio­lence. His prac­tice involves sev­eral media such as video, pho­tog­ra­phy, draw­ing and instal­la­tion. Vidal sees his work as a “wicked” exer­cise exam­in­ing today’s society’s state of mind. In the last years, he has been inves­ti­gat­ing the aes­thet­ics that accom­pany the moment prior to the act of violence—fom video-manuals on self-defense to 80s punk, early rave techno or 90s cult movies. By bring­ing together all of these influ­ences and con­cepts, this is his attempt to orga­nize them is his way of under­stand­ing a his­tor­i­cal moment and its impli­ca­tions. Vidal stands out as an artist sig­nif­i­cantly affected by the cur­rent social cli­mate. His work speaks vol­umes about society’s cur­rent state. Other artists, like Rémy Lid­ereau and Elina Brotherus, look closer to home and deal with per­sonal pol­i­tics, the indi­vid­ual verses the envi­ron­ment, and other clas­sic themes of pho­tog­ra­phy. Lid­ereau is an observer of the urban land­scape and of its trans­for­ma­tions, while Brotherus’s work roots her work in the doc­u­men­tary tra­di­tion and self-portraiture.

Work­ing in a sim­i­lar vein to con­tem­po­rary female pho­tog­ra­phers Nan Goldin and Gillian Wear­ing, Elina Brotherus’ pho­tographs cap­ture events and hap­pen­ings in her life, as they occur. She made the series “Wed­ding Por­traits” when she mar­ried, Divorce Por­trait when she divorced and I Hate Sex, when she felt that way. The con­nec­tion between art and expe­ri­ence is key: “Cre­at­ing images shakes me up; and when life is shaky, I get the urge to take pho­tographs,” she says.

Pub­lic and pri­vate jour­neys are also themes within the show. The con­cept can be seen in the work of other artists like Tarin Gart­ner and Brigitte Nie­der­mair. How­ever, at the core of “Shot and Go” is a recur­ring socio-political theme: the recog­ni­tion of the pho­to­graph as both an image and a phys­i­cal object that exists in time and space and, there­fore cul­tural and social experience.

“Shot and Go” seeks out a reac­tion from view­ers, not with shock­ing words, but instead with pas­sion­ate imagery moti­vated by each artist’s urge to com­mu­ni­cate. This aspect of the project echoes the posi­tion of the major­ity of con­tem­po­rary art­works, as they con­stantly work to respond and adapt to chang­ing social and polit­i­cal conditions.