Ange Leccia "Film and Photographs" Solo Exhibition

Ange Leccia's solo exhibition "Film and Photographs" runs from June 25 to July 24 at Almine Rech Gallery. Born in 1952, Ange Leccia is one of the most representative artists of French Object Art in the 1990s. In his early Dadaist-influenced period, he dramatically constructed arrangements through the symbolic functions of objects (such as slide projectors, film projectors, televisions, cars, or motorcycles). By bringing two objects together unexpectedly, he created unusual situations and feelings, filled with narrative metaphors and extraordinary imaginative space.

In recent years, Leccia has returned to his specialty of cinematic exploration. He experimented with film as early as the 1960s, exploring all possibilities of the medium, and released his first film, Stridura, in 1978. In the 1980s, he quickly shifted toward experimental cinema in the plastic arts genre. Influenced by renowned filmmaker Godard, he exhibited projectors without images (only light) in an installation format, along with short strips of film, films placed in metal boxes, or even used only the sound of the film (similar to contemporary sound installation explorations), questioning or exploring the possibilities of film: light, image, sound, machines (projectors or overhead projectors), etc. The artist calls this a "setup," similar to the film Stills.

This is the artist's third solo exhibition in a gallery, continuing his exploration of early 1980s cinema. He arranged a series of eight square white boxes in the center of the gallery; the four inner walls of each box are lined with mirrors, and each contains a deconstructed film projector (without its outer casing). The light and shadow from the projectors are projected directly onto the two large side walls via reflection and refraction. Interestingly, the noisy sound of the projector motors spinning continuously emanates from the white boxes, making the light and shadow seem to dance infinitely on the walls in rhythm with the mechanical sound. Explaining this paradoxical phenomenon, the artist said: "Looking at this cold exterior, if the audience approaches the white box, they see the projector like a naked machine, yet simultaneously a dream machine that produces images or constructs feelings."

Additionally, under special lighting, large black-and-white photographs of three "Stills" films shot in the 1970s are displayed. The overall experience exists between light and image, sound and motor, trembling images and fleeting moments, sensation and imagination.