Jonathan Hallam unseen archive of Martin Margiela in Tbilisi
Jonathan Hallam's work is formed by the relationship he develops with his subjects which empowers the flow and direction of the work. He seeks to sensitively allow the underlying subconscious feelings of his subjects to express themselves, often leaving otherworldly impressions.
Hallam's methods are both constructive and impulsive with an unconstrained spontaneity as his source. He allows himself to explore his curiosity on many topics, materials, and mediums. The collective output of his work has an unwillingness to be categorized or defined. His non-conformist attitude pushes him forward; always looking to learn and develop new ways of expression.
The exhibition LA FEMME DE CABINE consists of 32 portraits of anonymous women who worked and modelled for Martin Margiela between 1997-2004. The photographs
are a series of experimental portraits taken with an MPP micro-press 5x4 camera from the 1950s. Each of the original photographs were taken by exposing photographic
paper directly through the camera and then developed with a replicated obsolete chemical composition for black and white paper reversal which Hallam recreated in a makeshift darkroom he built in the bathroom of his apartment in tupperware containers. Photographic paper has an iso of 1 which means the exposure times of the photographs are between ½ a second and 25 minutes. Each photograph is completely unique as there are no negatives. For the exposition, Hallam worked with the digital reproduction studio HEMPSTEAD MAY in London to recreate the photographs as close to the originals as possible including all the scratches, chemical stains, and fingerprints which are embedded into the original photographs.
THE REVEALING is a development of LA FEMME DE CABINE. It is a performance featuring some of the anonymous portraits from LA FEMME DE CABINE which will be revealed as sculptural pieces.
The private view is a selection of Jonathan Hallams unseen Martin Margiela archive.
The event is co-curated by Simon Machabeli and is held in Ghvinis Karkhana on October 30 at 20:00.
Entrance is free of charge.