Guided tour of the DK: SCOTOMA exhibition
You are invited to join us at the regular Saturday guided tour of the "DK: Scotoma" exhibition. It is the first time DK has devoted an entire exhibition to abstract photographs.
DK has created an astonishing body of photographs taken in the immediate vicinity of his studio: although invariably abstract and containing no reference to the actual motif, the images are pregnant with visual elements that not only intensify the aesthetic impression but also serve as powerful vehicles for the content he is trying to convey.
Consisting of six independent series that combine to form a distinct whole, the exhibition invites the viewer to become aware of, and even transform, his or her own manner of seeing it. In the photographs in Memories of Tomorrow we can still make out archetypal dream landscapes: aided by the creative work of our consciousness, we are still able to follow the artist on his journey across the world. At the same time, the images act as a warning that the hopelessness of contemporary society must inexorably lead to the destruction of our planet as we know it today, leaving it to exist tomorrow only in the form of memories. The Premonition and Behind the Eyelids series, which are placed next to each other, are much more removed from reality, inviting us to ask ourselves: What is real? What do we really perceive? What do we merely think we see and think is real? From here we come to Gloom, the realm of apparitions, where we are able to see less and less. For DK the ideal state is one where the act of observing has been replaced. He calls this state blind gaze, and it is made possible by the quiet but strong inner vibrations of the photographs in the Almost Hope series. There is no expectation in this way of perceiving the images, no thought and no judgement, making it the only possible way of seeing Truth. Once we have crossed the border into the final space, Darkening, and have acquired this new skill of blind gaze, the reality of our contemporary society opens up before us, more real even than Truth itself: a bipolar black and white world, sinking into greyness and dissolving into complete darkness.