CC Palethe
Roger Ballen
Wire Dire
CC Palethe – POI 1A
Jeugdlaan 2
GPS 51.211239° NL 5.428118° EL
Every working day 9.00 am – 4.30 pm
Except on Friday, open only 9.00 am – 12.00 am
Every Saturday and Sunday 2.00 pm – 5.00 pm and during activities in the cultural centre
Roger Ballen | Wire Dire
One of the most influential and important photographic artists of the 21st century, Roger Ballen’s photographs span over forty years. His strange and extreme works confront the viewer and challenge them to come with him on a journey into their own minds as he explores the deeper recesses of his own.
Wire Dire
In Roger Ballen’s work, themes of chaos, madness, the subconscious and the human-animal relationship form the common thread in a very distinctive style known as “Ballenesque”. Stark black-and-white images, elaborate installations and an enigmatic atmosphere challenge the viewer to explore the darker aspects of the human psyche.
With a poetic rawness, it bridges reality and surrealism.
Roger Ballen’s work gets under your skin, connecting you to your own psyche as well as that of others. It evokes disgust and wonder. It makes you aware of the visible and invisible wires leading to your inner self.
Barbed wire, electricity wires, lines and drawings – recur constantly in Ballen’s work. They have a deeply symbolic meaning. Feelings of limitation, captivity and vulnerability, as well as social boundaries and mental barriers, are evoked through them. The sharp, sinuous lines feed the threat and tension. They reinforce feelings of alienation. Feelings we recognise all too well in today’s social context.
Thus, the jagged line drawings on walls become an almost refined, physical manifestation of a mental state in which freedom and confinement, power and control, connection and remoteness are intertwined.
