JIM NAUGHTEN
‘Conflict and Costume’
Klompching Gallery, New York
14.03.2013 - 04.05.2013
Continuing with an abiding interest in collective perceptions of history and relationships with the past, Naughten presents a spectacular new series of portraits. As with his first series, Re-enactors, he is not so much interested in the individuals themselves as subjects, but the costumes being worn and their significance in forming a cultural identity.
In the case of the Hereros, it is the adoption of 19th Century European clothing, originally introduced to the Herero people by German missionaries, traders and immigrants during the time of Deutsch-Südwestafrika. Taken out of the context of the subjects’ everyday lives, the portraits are photographed against the stark backdrop of the Namib Desert. Each figure is isolated, bringing forth the vivid colors of voluminous petticoated gowns, cattle-horn-shaped headdresses and colorful military uniforms, to center stage in a spectacular fashion. The unusual vantage point presents the subjects—although anonymous—as empowered, stoic and regal.
Jim Naughten (b. 1969) is an internationally-exhibited artist, including a solo show at the Imperial War Museum in London and inclusion in the UK’s Royal Academy Summer Show (2012). He is the recipient of several awards, including a commendation from The National Portrait Gallery’s Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize, and in 2012 he was awarded the Best in Category for a Non-commissioned Portrait Series by the Association of Photographers, London. His first series of photographs, Re-enactors, was published as a monograph (Hotshoe Books, 2009), with several photographs acquired by The Imperial War Museum (UK).