Transparency Leads to Epiphany
framed analogue C-type photographic print
105 x 140 cm
2021
Edition 1 of 3 + 2AP
(Install image)
On his travels, Grabowsky seeks spontaneous encounters to capture on film. These catalogued encounters are treated like ‘found objects’ to be re-purposed. Here the original image has been abstracted in the darkroom, transforming it into an entirely different image. Intricate, improvised markings have been merged with the original image, instilled within its surface. Grabowsky refers to these markings as a visual language that divorces photography’s seemingly intrinsic index to the natural environment, and instead locates it within its own identity and contemplation. These markings propose a meta-dialogue about the genre of image which they encompass. This particular image, for example, could be ironically linked to such genres, (or tags) as “street photography”, “photos of flowers” or “trendy images” etc…Grabowsky is fascinated by our relationship to these categories of image-genre and how they alter they way we see and perceive the “real” world.
framed analogue C-type photographic print
105 x 140 cm
2021
Edition 1 of 3 + 2AP
(Install image)
On his travels, Grabowsky seeks spontaneous encounters to capture on film. These catalogued encounters are treated like ‘found objects’ to be re-purposed. Here the original image has been abstracted in the darkroom, transforming it into an entirely different image. Intricate, improvised markings have been merged with the original image, instilled within its surface. Grabowsky refers to these markings as a visual language that divorces photography’s seemingly intrinsic index to the natural environment, and instead locates it within its own identity and contemplation. These markings propose a meta-dialogue about the genre of image which they encompass. This particular image, for example, could be ironically linked to such genres, (or tags) as “street photography”, “photos of flowers” or “trendy images” etc…Grabowsky is fascinated by our relationship to these categories of image-genre and how they alter they way we see and perceive the “real” world.
Sapphires Lay in Broken Emeralds
framed analogue C-type photographic print
112 x 140 cm
2021
Edition 2 of 3 + 2AP
(Install image)
Grabowsky’s practice opposes traditional notions of photography as a tool to document reality. To do this he draws upon techniques derived from the improvisational practices of the 1920s Dadaists and the Surrealists’ foray into the unconscious and imagined realm. Grabowsky utilises the film negative in unconventional ways. Instead of using a camera to create an image, Grabowsky scratches, paints and engraves into the surface of the film negative to form an image, thus challenging the viewer’s perception and understanding of their relationship to visual cues and the production of images. These images of the psyche represent a projection of Grabowsky’s subconsciousness, depicted as a ‘chaotic’, parallel time and space. At times these photographic prints partly reference selected elements within trends or tropes that regularly circulate Grabowsky’s algorithmic image feed. For example ‘Sapphires Lay in Broken Emeralds’ which comprises the colour Green. Or ‘Encrypted, Lost then Found’, partly inspired by an image depicting a luxury item of clothing with the brand repeated around the circumference of its collar; “I’m interested in the irony it alludes to, as if someone is being strangled by branding”.
framed analogue C-type photographic print
112 x 140 cm
2021
Edition 2 of 3 + 2AP
(Install image)
Grabowsky’s practice opposes traditional notions of photography as a tool to document reality. To do this he draws upon techniques derived from the improvisational practices of the 1920s Dadaists and the Surrealists’ foray into the unconscious and imagined realm. Grabowsky utilises the film negative in unconventional ways. Instead of using a camera to create an image, Grabowsky scratches, paints and engraves into the surface of the film negative to form an image, thus challenging the viewer’s perception and understanding of their relationship to visual cues and the production of images. These images of the psyche represent a projection of Grabowsky’s subconsciousness, depicted as a ‘chaotic’, parallel time and space. At times these photographic prints partly reference selected elements within trends or tropes that regularly circulate Grabowsky’s algorithmic image feed. For example ‘Sapphires Lay in Broken Emeralds’ which comprises the colour Green. Or ‘Encrypted, Lost then Found’, partly inspired by an image depicting a luxury item of clothing with the brand repeated around the circumference of its collar; “I’m interested in the irony it alludes to, as if someone is being strangled by branding”.
Encrypted, Lost then Found
framed analogue C-type photographic print
112 x 140 cm
2021
Edition 2 of 3 + 2AP
(Install image)
framed analogue C-type photographic print
112 x 140 cm
2021
Edition 2 of 3 + 2AP
(Install image)
Broken and wrecked
framed hand printed silver gelatin fogged photographic print with mixed media
105 x 133 cm
2021
Unique work
(Install image)
framed hand printed silver gelatin fogged photographic print with mixed media
105 x 133 cm
2021
Unique work
(Install image)
Untitled Ruins
framed analogue C-type photographic print
120 x 155 cm
2020
Edition 1 of 3 + 2AP
(Install image)
framed analogue C-type photographic print
120 x 155 cm
2020
Edition 1 of 3 + 2AP
(Install image)
Flowers Bloom from Opals
framed analogue C-type photographic print
120 x 155 cm
2020
Edition 2 of 3 + 2AP
(Install image)
framed analogue C-type photographic print
120 x 155 cm
2020
Edition 2 of 3 + 2AP
(Install image)
Manicure, Grima
framed analogue C-type photographic print
120 x 155 cm
2020
Edition 2 of 3 + 2AP
(Install image)
framed analogue C-type photographic print
120 x 155 cm
2020
Edition 2 of 3 + 2AP
(Install image)
Symbiotic Surface 2020
framed analogue C-type photographic print
120 x 155 cm
2020
Edition 1 of 3 + 2AP
(Install image)
framed analogue C-type photographic print
120 x 155 cm
2020
Edition 1 of 3 + 2AP
(Install image)
Symbiotic Surface 2019
framed analogue C-type photographic print
120 x 155 cm
2019
Edition 1 of 3 + 2AP
(Install image)
framed analogue C-type photographic print
120 x 155 cm
2019
Edition 1 of 3 + 2AP
(Install image)
Another Sunset
framed analogue C-type photographic print
67 x 88 cm
2019
Edition 1 of 3 + 2AP
(Install image)
framed analogue C-type photographic print
67 x 88 cm
2019
Edition 1 of 3 + 2AP
(Install image)
The Image
framed C-type photograph
180 x 250 cm
2018
Edition 2 of 3 + 2AP
Robert Hughes: “It’s not hard to see the erection of the Eiffel Tower as the beginning of theModern Age and the death of the twin towers as its terrible end”
‘The Image’ was captured in Milan, Italy (2018) using 120 film and printed in Düsseldorf, Germnay due to its tremendous scale. Due to a collision within theframe of the camera lens, a mutation occurred, birthing a fictional, alternate reality viewedthrough glass and wood. All aspects of The Image, from its title, through to its tremendousscale, suggest an exaggeration, alluding to the anxiety of photography; from algorithmicsurveilling and auctioning off human predictive behaviour, to fake news and beyond....
The Image forces the viewer to confront and question its authenticity.
framed C-type photograph
180 x 250 cm
2018
Edition 2 of 3 + 2AP
Robert Hughes: “It’s not hard to see the erection of the Eiffel Tower as the beginning of theModern Age and the death of the twin towers as its terrible end”
‘The Image’ was captured in Milan, Italy (2018) using 120 film and printed in Düsseldorf, Germnay due to its tremendous scale. Due to a collision within theframe of the camera lens, a mutation occurred, birthing a fictional, alternate reality viewedthrough glass and wood. All aspects of The Image, from its title, through to its tremendousscale, suggest an exaggeration, alluding to the anxiety of photography; from algorithmicsurveilling and auctioning off human predictive behaviour, to fake news and beyond....
The Image forces the viewer to confront and question its authenticity.
Reflex
hand printed analogue C-type photographic print, dry-mounted onto aluminium
50 x 60 cm
2018
Edition 1 of 3 + 2AP
(Install image)
hand printed analogue C-type photographic print, dry-mounted onto aluminium
50 x 60 cm
2018
Edition 1 of 3 + 2AP
(Install image)
