Bleu & Plugs
toof [ contemporary ] is proud to present Vanessa Franklin’s first exhibition in Hong Kong. The exhibition encompasses a Double Exhibition featuring two series by Vanessa Franklin combined to showcase the artist’s work.
Vanessa Franklin’s Portraits, elegant yet humorous, take on female identity, sexuality and her relation to the women she portrays. Vanessa Franklin was born in Paris, worked in London, Tokyo and now Hong Kong.
The exhibition is on view at toof [ contemporary ] from Sunday, 15th March through Sunday, 17th May 2015. The Opening Reception is scheduled on Sunday, 15th March at 6.30 pm and the Artist will be present at the Opening Night.
Bleu & Plugs
The Artist draws her inspiration from every day objects representing the cultural environment she resides in and skillfully and conceptually transforms them into an icon. Her subjects are women from different backgrounds, who transpire self-confidence and fragility at the same time and through directly or indirectly interacting with the chosen objects, expose their identity, inner turmoil and emotions, revealing a close relationship with the artist. Shaped in the polished world of fashion, the artist’s visual language transcends beauty, by choosing ‘real women’ over ‘models’, her approach takes ‘fake’ into a ‘real world’ setting, creating significance and playfully exploring themes such as cultural pre-conceptions, individuality and sexuality.
The Exhibition spans 10 works of the series Bleu and 5 works of the series Plugs. All Prints are a printed in a series of 3. Bleu and Plugs were shot using film and E6 slides respectively and an analogue C type Hasselblad camera and the artist’s refusal of any retouching of the Bleu series, adds to the general feeling of honesty and generosity, so refreshing in a world dominated by artificial imagery.
Bleu
A Blue Plastic Sheet | A Shelter | A Mat to Watch Cherry Blossoms | Magical Season, Hanami | I Wrap my Friends in it to remind myself – Life is Ephemeral
(Vanessa Franklin)
Bleu (French for Blue) is the colour of sky and water, paradoxically chosen for a commonly used artificial fabric, elevated through the lense of the artist to a symbol of Japanese Cultural Identity. The artist twists the stereotypes of fashion in order to transcend them. She seems to bend the notions of luxury by transforming a cheap and purely practical object into an elegant outfit, artistically revealing the subjects individuality.
More than anything, the blue sheet series is a dialogue beyond cultural and social pre-conception, between a French Woman and her Japanese counterpart turned into a personal story and a moment suspended in time.
Plugs
Plugs are Forbidden to Touch | Strange Openings in Walls | Curiosity and Ignorance | I forged a Connection with my Fantasies – My own Identity.
(Vanessa Franklin)
In the series Plugs, the artist teasingly juxtaposes Woman and power sockets, creating a strong symbolic and esthetic connection between the object and subject and conveying a multi-layered message.
In Paris power sockets come in different shape and forms and, often – overlooked, they become alive in the eye of the artist; lending themselves as a metaphor to a hidden world, an entry-point to a realm of dangerous electrical passion. The Subjects appear confident and independent and flirtatiously play with the camera and the viewer, disclosing their personalities through posture and choices of accessories and insinuating fantasies. The viewer is drawn to the meticulous esthetics and yearns to know more: Each Woman reveals her own story.
