Roger Ballen

Roger Ballen

New York, 1950

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.

Roger Ballen for over 30 years he has lived and worked in South Africa. His work as a geologist took him out into the countryside and led him to take up his camera and explore the hidden world of small South African towns. At first he explored the empty streets in the glare of the midday sun but, once he had made the step of knocking on people’s doors, he discovered a world inside these houses which was to have a profound effect on his work. These interiors with their distinctive collections of objects and the occupants within these closed worlds took his unique vision on a path from social critique to the creation of metaphors for the inner mind. After 1994 he no longer looked to the countryside for his subject matter finding it closer to home in Johannesburg. In his artistic practice Ballen has increasingly been won over by the possibilities of integrating photography and drawing. He has expanded his repertoire and extended his visual language. By integrating drawing into his photographic and video works, the artist has not only made a lasting contribution to the field of art, but equally has made a powerful commentary about the human condition and its creative potential.

Latest Photobook

Roger Ballen The Rome Ballen Times — A cura di Marco Delogu. 9 BW photographs;
Newspaper edition 12 pages 48x32cm

Per entrare a Roma, in occasione della Commissione Roma 2016, Ballen ha costruito una sua baracca, che congiunge la sua storia a quella delle periferie romane oggetto di indagini visive del neorealismo. La baracca è per Ballen il modo di entrare a Roma, violentemente con la sua estetica, è un luogo della mente archetipica che contiene sia Roma che Johannesburg. Marco Delogu

WEBSITE

www.rogerballen.com

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