Beyond Borders

L E S N I V A U X

M A H E N B A L A

I S I L A R I S O Y K A Y A

N A F I S E M O T L A Q

B E Y O N DB O R D R S


3 0 . 0 1 . - 1 2 . 0 3 . 2 0 1 6 I KUALA LUMPUR

I N D E

L E S N I V A U X | PARIS

M A H E N B A L A | KUALA LUMPUR

I S I L A R I S O Y K A Y A | ISTANBUL

N A F I S E M O T L A Q | TEHERAN

P R E S E N T S

C H R I S T O P H E P E N O T Foreword by the Ambassador of France in Malaysia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

C H A R L O T T E C O U S I N SBeyond Borders | Captions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

L E S N I V A U X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Cross the Scan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

M A H E N B A L A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20Portraits of a Monsoon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

I S I L A R I S O Y K A Y A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24Long Time No See . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

N A F I S E M O T L A Q . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32Insights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Acknowledgement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

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O R E W O R DF

C H R I S T O P H E P E N O TAmbassador of France in Malaysia

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I wish to convey my appreciation to Patrice Vallette and his team for organizing this amazing photo exhibition, providing thus a platform for young photographers to express their artistic flair and talents in their artworks.

The exhibition brings together artists with four different styles coming from four different countries: France, Iran, Malaysia and Turkey. Each photographer contributes with his or her own perception of the world and personal sensibility. It is a very interesting and challenging idea to have their works presented side by side in the same gallery. The two things they have in common are their artistic quality and the originality of their work.

The French photographers Les Nivaux use a scanner as a photo apparatus. The results are truly astonishing. I am very happy to highlight their work as a true demonstration of French creativity at its best.

This exhibition brings home to us that our world is rich and diverse, and that this beautiful diversity is something we must absolutely preserve and develop. As we experience difficult times with the rise of violence and intolerance across the planet, it is indeed a message that we should all reflect upon. I think therefore that this exhibition is particularly timely.

Thank you again to all the artists and to Vallette Gallery. I wish a great success to the exhibition “Beyond Borders”.

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Four international artists are brought together for the first time

to explore the boundaries of the photographic medium from digital

to analogue, from memory to document, from layered images to actual

physical scans, and from an exploration of home to one of the globe.

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C A P T U R E

When we say we want to capture the moment what exactly do we mean? In photography, capture has a physical (and in the traditional sense also a chemical) basis - literally a photograph is a fixed temporary exposure of light on a sensitive surface or device, a recording of light.

But when we think back to a time, in our memories, what has been documented is often at odds with our minds eye. And sometimes we believe we have seen photos (documents) of false memories or having seen a photograph believe that we have been there or experienced something in fact only evoked by a record of someone else.

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The opposite can also be true. Photography can reveal nuances that we otherwise miss. With an image, details of our quotidian lives are examined for reflection - where have we been? And why? - Charlotte Cousins

l e s n i v a u x

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Pascale & Thierry Nivaux, artist-duo from France, have traded their camera for a scanner - and they inherently adapted it. It’s the perfect tool for their artistic research. Each subject is placed on or under of the flatbed scanner. It adds a unique “touching” impression to the photographic image and gives off specific light. Their large scale photographs are overflowing with details and accuracy despite having an extremely shallow field of depth and a lack of perspective.

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The longer the scanning process goes on, the larger the photograph will get until it becomes a monumental work.

The scanned picture abandons depths and distances and thus turning into a palpable image. The shot’s light is intriguing and the volumes, colours and details are sublime to the scan. They don’t use any artifices. A piercing truth comes from within the images. Les Nivaux’s photographs interrogate the nature and the position of the reality in a world of sham and virtuality.

The scanning becomes a philosophy of art and it will always be a part of Les Nivaux. Just like the 19th century’s photography expeditions, they are travelling around the world with this technologic tool on board of their truck transformed into a mobile studio. Beyond Borders is the beginning of the next big journey through Asia.

c r o s st h e s c a n

G O L D E N G A T E #3 #45 #87 #107 #11 #17220 x 280 cm

F I N E A R T P R I N T2013 - 2014

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M A H I S110 x 150 cm F I N E A R T P R I N T 2010

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M A I N S F E M M E S100 x 135 cm F I N E A R T P R I N T 2012 - 2016

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C A N E T T E #367 x 55 cm | variableA L U M I N I U M C O M P O S I T P A N E L C U T T I N G2011 - 2016

C O N S E R V E #1 76 x 55 cm | variableA L U M I N I U M C O M P O S I T P A N E L C U T T I N G2011 - 2016

POT #362 x 60 cm | variableA L U M I N I U M C O M P O S I T P A N E L C U T T I N G2011 - 2016

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POT #277 x 56 cm | variableA L U M I N I U M C O M P O S I T P A N E L C U T T I N G2011 - 2016

m a h e nb a l a

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Mahen Bala is a documentary photographer and filmmaker based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. A careful, methodical observer, his works focuses on the human identity and it’s relation to the environment, both natural and artificial.

He is currently working on Present Tense Media, an online media platform that focuses on researching and documenting Malaysian issues with a special focus on culture, heritage and history.

The Portraits of a Monsoon series is part of a project about Time, Space and Self, Roll #7 dealing with the first one. The analogue photography shows the horizon of the Kuantan sea where Mahen Bala grew up. The filmroll captures time - each photographis taken from the exact same spot during a single day.

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- I can shift meetings and push deadlines, but I can’t rush the rising sun or delay the breaking of a wave. Face to face with the thin blue line, I am no longer in control. And that comforts me. - M. B.

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R O L L # 7800 x 73 cmP I G M E N T I N K O N A R C H I V A L P A P E R2015

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p o r t r a i t so f a

m o n s o o n

I S I LA R I S O YK A Y A

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Işıl Arısoy Kaya’s multimedia works are a new way of interpreting photography. But the autodidact, born in Istanbul, Turkey, is not the typical artist, either. Her career started after graduating in Business Administration and International Management, whilst teaching herself in graphic design. She soon created her own t-shirt brand “What’s Normal?” - a statement rather than a question and a tagline that sparked the encouragement and drive which lead her to the decision to build her career as a visual artist and ending her corporate life.

Just like juxtaposing different tools of life and lessons, Işıl is combining different frames and colours in her artworks. Part of her art implies Pop-Art samples whereas sometimes it shows more graphical aspects. Her conceptual portraits and places question the nature of the creation of art. None of her photographs are really what the viewer thinks s*he sees - she wants to distract viewers and invite them to interact with the artist to give the viewer the possibility to take part in a creative moment.

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The artworks represent the soul and mind paradox of the spiritual. Mind tries to keep the seeker from that spiritual walk and confuses the heart. When the heart doubts, the guidance is lost. Some days are dark without light. Some days, the heart is as light as cloud. Fight continues every second the passenger lives. This will not end until the Loved One is reached and become One.

There are souls that lost their contact with the heart. It is when the Lover feels so much pain because does not understand why there is a heavy stone in the guts. It is when the Lover becomes harsh and sometimes numb. And this is when the mind attacks. This is when the Lover feels separated. But the Lover should always remember though the feeling is separation the reality is Unity. Love is always there with the Lover. - I. A. K.

Long Time No See explains the effort to reach the Loving One. It is the journey of the seeker. It is the story of delusion and devotion of the passenger. The Lover is in pain but still continues to walk even the mind burns the heart, insists to carry forward to reach the arms of the Loved One to become One.

This body of ours is just a temporary home. We came to this physical body to learn and grow. By the time we born we forget who we are and we always feel something is missing. We were One once and we feel separated after we born. Some of us are awaken and start to search for the “Home” to become One again.

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l o n g t i m en o s e e

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U N I T Y90 x 90 cmI L F O R D F I N E A R T S M O O T H 250 g2015

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A W A K E N I N G90 x 90 cmI L F O R D F I N E A R T S M O O T H 250 g2015

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H E A V Y B U R D E N90 x 90 cmI L F O R D F I N E A R T S M O O T H 250 g2015

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T H E G U I D A N C E90 x 90 cmI L F O R D F I N E A R T S M O O T H 250 g2015

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n a f i s em o t l a q

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Nafise Motlaq is an Iranian documentary photographer and Journalism senior lecturer at University Putra Malaysia. She worked for newspapers as a photojournalist since she left Iran in Nov. 2004. Thus far her photographs, multimedia, and video reportages have been exhibited in several group exhibitions and published in numerous international media.

Her series Insights questions the philosophy of sight as aphotographer.

- Photography is all about light. My professional life does not exist without light. Perhaps because of that blindness has always attrackted my attention and so far I’ve done two photography projects about it. I remember how my mind got engaged for months after reading the well-known novel “blindness” written by Jose Saramago. I always think how would be my life if I could not see; what would be the concept of colours, distance, beauties and ugliness to me. My curiosity leads me to a blind massage centre in Brieckfiled area of Kuala Lumpur. I never forget the moment that my blind masseuse entered to the room. I switched the wall’s low light purposely to enter to her world; she didn’t noticed that and when she was doing her job mas-terly I was wonder who is the blind; me or her? - N. M.

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I N S I G H T # 150 x 50 cmM A T T E P A P E R 2014 I 2016

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ac k n o w l e d g m e n t director and curator: P A T R I C E V A L L E T T E

foreword:C H R I S T O P H E P E N O T

introduction:C H A R L O T T E C O U S I N S

coordinators:S A R A H F L O R E N T I N G I N E A U D E L Y O NA N D R E A R I C H T E R

design:A N D R E A R I C H T E R

Vallette Gallery would like to thank the artists for their visions and commitment

and for their support and belief in art.

© VALLETTE GALLERY | 22 JALAN BRUAS | 50490 KUALA LUMPUR

WWW. VALLETTEGALLERY.COM |+60 190 301 2569 | [email protected]

Beyond Borders

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