Karin Borghouts
‘The Spirit Of Place’
Galerie Zwart Huis, Knokke
24.3.2012 - 29.4.2012
«Her sharply analytical eye gives her a keen sensitivity to environments, interiors and buildings. Doors, windows, corridors and stairs acquire an almost archetypal meaning within them. She feels the monumentality of buildings and museums like no other photographer. The majesty and breadth of the halls that she portrays on the flat surface of a photograph are fascinating. The image becomes a diorama full of fine details in sharp clarity, thanks to her sophisticated photography technique and the sublime quality of the prints.
Information about the surroundings whose presence is no longer latent, but raised by the photo into a conscious field of perception throught which the poetry of human spatial activity can come to the surface. The spirit of combined contingency and human ability (and inability) are thus sensitively revealed from behind the concealing veil of subconscious perception. Karin Borghouts’ photos are located on the balancing point between documentary language and inner vision.
Karin Borghouts (°1959, Kapellen, Belgium) studied painting and sculpture and has worked as a graphic designer. She started taking photographs in 1999. Her work occupies a position between photography and visual art, and is rich in references to painting. Her highly ingenious photos can be found, for example, in the collections of the Fotomuseum and the Museum Aan deStroom in Antwerp. Her work has been exhibited in major European and Japanese cities. Various publications of and about her work are available».
© Chinese room 2010, from the series ‘The Show’ Courtesy Karin Borghouts