January 22, 2022 – February 26, 2022 in Qingdao, China at The Lighthouse
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. Visit www.theh27.com and follow us on Instagram @h27gallery to learn more about upcoming events. This time H27 proudly presents Toomas Saarne’s solo show, Atomernas Oas, hosted in partnership with the Lighthouse in Qingdao, China.
Toomas Saarne is a Swedish, Finnish and Estonian photographer raised outside Stockholm and now based in Berlin. Atomernas Oas – a Swedish phrase which translates to “Oasis of the Atoms” – comprises a selection of images derived from their ongoing photographic work in progress. Shot with the artist’s beloved Minolta SRT-101, the series is composed of self-portraits using 35mm film. Atomernas Oas is the physical embodiment of a poem penned by Saarne, reproduced below:
Flesh out
Flesh in
Hard to be soft
Fired to be up
with you and your cold hand
My cold hand
me and my cold feet
Atomernas Oas harnesses a voyeuristic gaze, as we the audience are invited by the artist to share an intimate and sensual space. The images stand at a delicate intersection: the stark asceticism of the naked body interlaced with flowers, textiles, and crystals, all set against a black abyss. Saarne’s blurring and challenging of normative modes of being – as well as soft textures and warm colors – lends a dreamlike, almost surreal quality to the exposures. The material flesh highlighted in Saarnes’s text remain the focal point: hands that heal and harm, hands that caress and constrict. Within these frames, then, the palpable plays a primal role in revealing and expressing both fear and desire.
At the heart of Atomernas Oas is an exploration of the corporeal self, an act that situates the artist in the realm of the tactile and taboo. For some fictional characters such as King Midas, touch meant death to those they loved. The inability, however, to touch oneself is an even greater torture. Does this attempted recovery of the tangible serve to free the artist from the trauma of what they already lost, or of ingrained dominant paradigms, or perhaps even the contemporary sociohistorial moment? Ultimately, it seems the artist approaches some sense of liberation – but to what extent is this gesture truly curative?
curated by Ryan Edward Kalb / founder and creative director of H27
Atomernas Oas
H27 是一家精品策展机构，目前与各种新兴和成熟的艺术家以及德国柏林和中国上海的场地合作举办艺术展览。访问 www.theh27.com 并在 Instagram @h27gallery 上关注我们，了解有关即将举行的活动的更多信息。这一次，H27 自豪地展示了 Toomas Saarne 与中国青岛灯塔合作举办的个展 Atomernas Oas。
Toomas Saarne 是瑞典、芬兰和爱沙尼亚的摄影师，在斯德哥尔摩郊外长大，现居柏林。 Atomernas Oas——一个瑞典语短语，翻译为“原子绿洲”——包括一系列来自他们正在进行的摄影工作的图像。该系列由艺术家钟爱的 Minolta SRT-101 拍摄，由使用 35 毫米胶片的自画像组成。 Atomernas Oas 是 Saarne 所写的一首诗的物理体现，转载如下：
充实
肉入
很难变软
被解雇了
和你和你冰冷的手
我冰冷的手
我和我的冷脚
Atomernas Oas 运用了一种窥探的目光，因为艺术家邀请我们的观众分享一个亲密而感性的空间。这些图像站在一个微妙的交汇处：赤裸的身体与鲜花、纺织品和水晶交织在一起的赤裸裸的禁欲主义，所有这些都与黑色的深渊相映成趣。 Saarne 对规范存在模式的模糊和挑战——以及柔软的纹理和温暖的色彩——为曝光带来了梦幻般的、近乎超现实的品质。 Saarnes 文本中强调的物质肉体仍然是焦点：治愈和伤害的手，爱抚和收缩的手。因此，在这些框架内，可触知的事物在揭示和表达恐惧和欲望方面发挥着重要作用。
Atomernas Oas 的核心是对物质自我的探索，这是一种将艺术家置于触觉和禁忌领域的行为。对于一些虚构人物，如迈达斯国王，触摸对他们所爱的人来说意味着死亡。然而，无法触摸自己是一种更大的折磨。这种对有形的尝试是否有助于使艺术家摆脱他们已经失去的创伤，或者根深蒂固的主导范式，或者甚至是当代社会历史时刻？最终，艺术家似乎接近了某种解放感——但这种姿态在多大程度上真正具有治疗作用？
