Golem

Andrew Frost

In Jewish folklore the golem is a creature brought to life from inanimate matter such as mud or dirt and dispatched by its creator to undertake often-nefarious tasks. Although the name ‘golem’ was attached to one of the most memorable characters in JRR Tolkien’s The Hobbit – and his tragic story indelibly associated to his name – the idea of an inhuman avatar lives on in the form of portrait photography. Taking Golem as its title, this lightening fast two-day exhibition at Alaska Projects features the work of some photographers who stretch and warp the definition of portraiture, including Daniel Arnold, Roger Ballen, Asger Carlsen. Thomas Mailaender, Patrick Stevenson, Alexander Singh, Thomas Walk, Jaimie Warren and Wes Neil.

Ballen, the South Africa-based American photographer whose work was seen earlier this year at Stills Gallery with his Die Antwoord work, collaborates with his subjects to create dream-like works of heightened theatricality reminiscent of the early work of David Lynch, while Singh, who works as an advertising and editorial photographer, is represented in the show by an image that has been almost bleached from existence. Representing the extremes of portraiture from naturalism to theatricality to the denial of seeing itself, Golem represents the task of showing without anything really being before us.

Until December 22

Alaska Projects, Kings Cross

http://home.alaskaprojects.com

Pic: Alexander Singh,The Excruciating Promise of Physical Transcendence (variation 1/4). Digital C-Print altered with household bleach, 2013.