September 19, 2020 – October 18, 2020 in Shanghai, China @ Mikkeller Taproom and La Cava de Laoma
Mikkeller x H27
H27 is a boutique curatorial outfit currently collaborating with a variety of emerging and established artists – as well as venues in Berlin, Germany and Shanghai, China – in hosting art exhibitions. This time H27 proudly presents Borja Trujillo’s solo show Lilong Noir hosted in partnership with Mikkeller Tasting Room.
Borja Trujillo’s acumen as an architect, interior designer, and artist have all played a role in his first solo show: Lilong Noir. The term Lilong (里弄) refers to the unique Shanghainese type of neighborhood lanes populated by houses; in essence, an Eastern-Western architectural hybrid. With the Spanish-born Trujillo having lived in Shanghai for nine years, it is therefore fitting that this assimilated architectural style endemic to Shanghai is also embodied by the photographer himself.
The series Lilong Noir began with Trujillo’s night strolls through these lanes, and over time Trujillo began to more formally frame the Former French Concession through his lens. Trujillo was drawn by the interplay of light and dark, the contrast of warm and cold, the delicate nuances of the façade and frames, and the innate sense of mystery contained within these visuals. Indeed, the images approximate a more stylized take evocative of the “neon noir” genre, elevating them to an almost dreamlike state. Trujillo’s spotlighting of the magnetic scenes of windows glowing in the dark catalyzes a unique tension: the private partially revealed to the public realm.
Each window in this series is always already an illuminated image that’s begged to be looked at and looked into. As such, there is an inherent sense of voyeurism contained in these frames; the explicit exposure of veiled privacy, almost a kind of erotica of the private life. This exhibition necessarily invites the gaze of the audience – one that is infinitely imaginative and yet often illusory – and challenges them to derive pleasure from the highly stylized image as an object of desire itself.
Mikkeller x H27
H27 是一个独立策展机构，与众多新兴艺术家合作，在柏林和上海两地举办艺术展览。 次 H27 将特别呈现 Borja Trujillo 的最新个人作品展 Lilong Noir。
Borja Trujillo作为建筑师、室内设计师和艺术家的敏锐度都在他的首次个展：Lilong Noir (黑色里弄）中发挥了作用。里弄一词指的是上海独特的由房屋组成的街区小巷，本质上是一种东西方建筑的混合体。出生於西班牙的Trujillo在上海生活了9年，因此，这种上海特有的建筑风格由摄影师本人来体现是非常合适的。
Lilong Noir系列始于Trujillo在这些小巷中的夜间漫步，随着时间的推移，Trujillo开始用他的镜头更正式地构筑前法租界。Trujillo被明暗交错、冷暖对比、立面和框架的细微差别，以及这些视觉中所包含的内在神秘感所吸引。事实上，这些图像近似于一种更有风格的 “neon noir” (黑色霓虹灯)风格，将它们提升到近乎梦幻的状态。
Trujillo在这充满魅力、在黑暗中发光的窗户的聚焦，催化了一种独特的张力：私密的空间部分地揭示给了公共领域。每一扇窗子像是一个发光的影像，渴求人们目光的驻留和窥视。因此，这些画框中蕴含着一种内在的窥视感；对隐秘隐私的明确暴露，几乎是一种情色艺术，而这情色艺术专注于私密生活的展现。
这个展览必然会邀请观众的目光 —那是一种无限的想象力，但往往是虚幻的— 并挑战他们从高度风格化的图像中获得乐趣，作为欲望的对象本身。