The Biography of Images: Parallel Biographies
May 9 – August 17, 2013

Opening reception May 8, 7:00PM

Artist Talk with Anita Witek and Christian Mayer: May 8, 6:00pm, Djavad Mowafaghian World Art Centre.
Exhibition Tour with Ruth Horak: May 9, 6:00pm, Audain Gallery.

Artist Talk with Kyla Mallett and Elizabeth Zvonar: June 6, 6:00pm, Audain Gallery.
Artist Talk with Arni Haraldsson and Jayce Salloum: July 18, 6:00pm, Audain Gallery.

The Biography of Images: Parallel Biographies is the third in a series of group exhibitions from the Austrian Federal Photography Collection, in this case bringing together artists from Vienna and Vancouver. Every photograph has a background story linking its creator and the circumstances of its production: what decisions were made, what steps were rejected, what traces of production are still visible? Once such questions are asked, a biography of the image can be written.

In taking a comparative look at these artists, parallels can be drawn in the questions asked through their work. What traces has modernist architecture left in the world? Why is each photograph a reflection of its media? Why is working with archives and collage a consequence of working with printed media? Corollaries, which could be categorized as largely conceptual, exist between the works’ different locales and approaches as they explore these and other related questions.

The exhibition includes work by the Vienna-based artists Thomas Freiler, Krüger & Pardeller, Tatiana Lecomte, Christian Mayer, Sissa Micheli, and Anita Witek, and the Vancouver-based artists Arni Haraldsson, Tim Lee, Kyla Mallett, Jayce Salloum, Kevin Schmidt, and Elizabeth Zvonar.

Curated by Sabine Bitter and Ruth Horak, The Biography of Images: Parallel Biographies is presented with support from the Austrian Federal Ministry for Education, Arts and Culture (BMUKK).