Photographs documenting the space between artworks. Alexandru Modoi (2014-2015) suggests that representations of artworks outside the galleries could efface the ordinary elements surrounding them – frames, labels, spaces, wall marks, wall colours, and textures. The argument is that these elements are integral to discourses and hold significance for audiences. Therefore, would unveiling aspects of the display ideology disclose practices or not? Are these less visible elements part of Foucault’s order of things in the gallery? This order is concealed within the archaeological discourses, which may contain aspects of society and be layered over time, representing cultural transformations.
For Modoi, this investigation must begin with photography. The camera captures the information labels, the attendant’s chair, the peeling wallpaper, the flaking paint, the rough surfaces, the precise distances, the shadows, the juxtapositions, all the details and features of the space between artworks, which the postcards, the prints and the catalogues in the gallery bookshop eliminate. (Macdonald, 2015)
Front cover, ‘The Space between Artworks’, limited edition of 10, signed and numbered, 2015.
Credits
Macdonald, A. (2015) ‘Foreword’ in The Space between Artworks. Modoi, A. Artist’s book ed. of 10, Manchester Link to the book cover
Manchester Art Gallery (2014 – 2015) Victorian Galleries. Curator Shirley, R (2014)
Howard, M (2002). Cuts-outs from UpClose 2002 (Manchester Art Gallery’s Guide) were used for photomontages to highlight the research point.
Any copyright omission is unintentional.
Copyright © All rights reserved and protected by copyright laws, Alexandru Modoi, 2014
Alexandru Modoi 