Ondřej Přibyl
Místa
Místa
form the Places and events series, 2007, c-prints

PLACES AND EVENTS / DISCOVERY

Ondřej Přibyl s recent photographic pictures are not overwhelmed by meaning and their content is dosed very carefully and gently. The artist is very well aware of the force of subjects and their environment; by having the utmost respect for depiction of reality he allows the images ambiguity of meaning. Přibyl’s photographs can appear light-hearted at first glance, simple but random; they are however perfectly composed. The artist thus refinedly offers many layers and possibilities which reality itself contains.

In Places and events reality and phenomena are elevated even in their allusiveness. The shots of landscapes, softened by a short depth of field and lowered perspective, create an idyllic and peaceful impression. The peace of the place and of the viewer is interrupted by objects and strewn clothing. Viewers are unsettled by the presence of a narrative which they do not know. This documented reality defies the typical purpose of the documentary approach – it intentionally withholds a certain narrative, however allows space for all eventualities. Even if the objects disturb our obsessive need to see, they do not disturb the landscape itself. Quite the opposite, they complete it and aptly supplement it visually. Places and events is supplemented in this conception by a newly developed piece. Unlike the previous work, the pictorial form of the photographic “discoveries” is very raw. Many repulsive objects are photographed in an investigatory fashion at the “scene of the crime” and catalogued as discoveries photographed on a neutral background for increased objectivity. The photographs record all the details of the discovery, but again do not reveal any specific narrative.

– Naďa Kovaříková

Back