Etc. Etc.

by Rumi Banerjee

Autistic Capsules

Why are there so many triangles in my fear? .....

Born in Russia, the surreal world, created by Svetlana Bobrova, is bursting with strange creatures. In this world, everything is possible. Her artworks are full of energy, passion and grotesqueness. She translated all the inconsistencies of a dream into a poetic consistency. Moreover, like dreams, they are born from real anxieties and experiences, taking the spectator far into the depths of sub-consciousness. In her creations, her soul lived and ran free. They possess a hypnotic internal glow, which penetrates the eyes with tonal transitions of neon, green, yellow and blue. Her technique is based on photography, but the result is very far from it.  Computer graphics helps the artist to be spontaneous and improvise without losing the idea, to follow emotions and give them colours that are more unusual. Her innovative technique makes her works unique and decipherable masterpieces. Her Blue Wine, December, Your Majesty, Gift, Sea Smell, Entomologist's Dream 2, Balance, Light Thoughts, Day & Night is a melancholic journey through dreams.

Svetlana studied Art History in St. Petersburg University. Today she has a PhD degree in Art History and she is a member of the International Art Fund. Since 2007, she has participated in five exhibitions in prestigious galleries of Moscow.

Strange Desolation of a Ruin

Peering into the empty square of a life....

Born in 1954 in Shandong, China, Qin Yufen, a Chinese woman artist based in Berlin, Germany, creates massive installations, enthused by the ruin of the Charité lecture hall with its articulate room structure and crumbling charm. She premeditated the sound installation Yin Song (Reading) focusing on the individuality and the exceptional characteristic of this place. Twelve white silk bodies  each of them has a height of nine metres  establish a link between floor and ceiling of the room, between earth and sky, from this world to another world; like reflectors, each of these bodies reflect history and stories of the ruin. She incorporates the sound of a poem by lyric poet Li Bai, originating from the Tang dynasty into the existence and inner life of this location. This poem narrates the origin of things and the nature of freedom, failures and the principle of hope accompanying the searcher on his ways. The installations Qin Yufen's form in their extraordinary strength and sensitivity is an oasis of calm and beauty. From the principle of duality unfolds Qin Yufen their aesthetics and poetry.

Fear in the Map of Mindscape

Within the bowels of these elements, Where we are tortured and remain forever- Mephistopheles

No, the skeletons never stayed in the closets when Kuebler's Madame Orba set up her tent. All mysteries, lies and dirty little secrets saw the light of day by the time the tribe pulled up stakes and rolled off to the next town. His Inquisitor has a special kind of profession, which requires a special kind of dedication and must know that the undertaking of this profession means the damnation of one's own soul. The brothers Cletus & Shorty have an innocence and naiveté about them. They truly believe that the reason the crowds gather as they perform is due to their natural talent. They are oblivious to the fact that it is really their unnatural closeness that has piqued the interest of the onlookers. Whatever the case, they are a living testament that ignorance is indeed bliss. All his creations are special characters; they all have their own stories.

Thomas Scott Kuebler was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1960. Having innate artistic tendencies coupled with learning disabilities, Tom was encouraged to develop his creative skills. He did a major in Art at Kent State University. His work has been collected by Anne Rice, Michael Jackson, and  many others. After more than a decade in the robotics animation industry, he chose to pursue creative independence. Tom Kuebler currently makes his living as a freelance artist and resides in North Carolina.

Dark and Destroyed

Dream was nursed in darkness......

“My identity has been constructed from my own sense of otherness, whether cultural, racial or sexual. The three aspects are not separate within me. Photography is the tool by which I feel most confident in expressing myself. It is photography therefore Black, African, homosexual photography which I must use not just as an instrument, but as a weapon if I am to resist attacks on my integrity and, indeed, my existence on my own terms.” Rotimi

He explored the tensions created by sexuality, race and culture through stylised portraits and compositions dexterously. Rotimi Fani-Kayode (April 1955 - December 21, 1989) was born in Lagos, Nigeria. He did an MFA at New York in Fine Arts & Photography where he met Mapplethorpe who influenced his work to a great extent. Although admitting to some influence by Mapplethorpe's earlier work, Rotimi broadens the scope of his art much further, exploring sexuality, racism, colonialism and the tensions and conflicts between his homosexuality and his Yoruba upbringing through a series of images in both colour and black & white. His work is imbued with the subtlety, irony and political and social comment that one would expect from an intelligent and observant black photographer of the late twentieth century. He also contributed much to the artistic debate around HIV and AIDS.

He started to exhibit in 1984 and was involved with nine exhibitions between then and his death at the end of 1989. He has since had his work featured posthumously in many exhibitions and retrospectives in the United Kingdom, France, Austria, Italy, Nigeria, Sweden, Germany, South Africa and US.  He died in a London hospital of a heart attack whilst recovering from an AIDS related illness.