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Take an elevator ride to the inner world of human beings


After meeting a wide array of criteria and being selected by art experts, RAW Streetphoto Gallery is glad to represent photographer Dirk Hardy in the Photo Basel art fair which is going to take place at Volkshaus Basel, Switzerland from June 11st 2019 untill June 16th 2019. Since this event is approaching, the gallery would like to provide everyone who has an interest with a better insight into the artist and his talent.

 

Dirk Hardy is a Dutch visual artist born in 1989. He has been known for conducting three art projects that consist of Clay (2014), Void (2015) and Echo Down The Passage (which is still ongoing). Besides, he has taken several portraits and was commissioned by DeLaMar Theater along with Kat Op Het Spek. In addition to earning a Bachelor Degree in Fine Arts at the reputable Willem de Kooning Academy, Dirk also took a minor in Critical Theory. This undeniably has a profound impact on most of his works. In other words, his viewers are asked to deconstruct the whole image and critically investigate its nature based on their own reasonings.

In terms of the upcoming Photo Basel event, the photographs of series Void were chosen to be exhibited. It is a project which was released in 2015. Arguably, Dirk should be praised for how he intentionally used the image of elevator’s interior as the backbone of the entire series. This might lead many people to the question of why he did not he choose other places instead. It is of foremost importance to take the meaning of elevator on a deeper level into account. Normally, we have a notion that an elevator is a transportation device that helps people move from one floor to another. It either goes up or goes down. This seems to metaphorically reflect the hidden personal stories of all people standing inside the elevator of Dirk’s series as well as immutable laws of our lives. Moreover, the elevator acts as a stage or even a miniature society where you would encounter various types of people dealing with different situations. In specific, you could see a thirty-something man who holds a crying baby walking into the elevator, and only in a few seconds later, one Asian man with a contemplative face might turn up.

Despite the fact that the costumes of the characters appearing in the series have the same color tone, the expressions on their faces are completely dissimilar. It is actually what make them stay distinct. Next to that, the elevator’s narrow space more or less engenders kind of stuffy feeling to the viewers. Everybody seemingly strives to conform to the society’s norms while being in different emotional states. Besides, Dirk paid attention to not only the facial expressions but also the body language of the characters. Without a doubt, Void can be said to have successfully captured the viewers’ mind and emotion.

 

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