The Folly of Comic Pain | Adam Broomberg & Oliver Chanarin
2015
20 x 16 inches
Edition of 20, 3 APs
ABOUT THE ARTWORK
The Folly of Comic Pain is one of a series of twenty-two photographs produced for Adam Broomberg & Oliver Chanarin’s “Rudiments” project, which examines the mechanisms of military conflict. Referencing Francisco de Goya’s print series Los Disparates (The Follies) and Hans Bellmer’s Die Puppe (The Doll), the photographs are compelling satirical caricatures. The central figure of the series is the Bouffon, a social outcast whose grotesque theatrical performances make a mockery of those who hold political power. In the photographs, her choreographed gestures mimic the regimented posturing of army cadets, but in a way that is absurd and overblown. Between her playful acrobatic pose and the tumorous bulges of white fabric concealing and distorting her body, she both disturbs and charms.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Adam Broomberg
Born 1970 in Johannesburg
Oliver Chanarin
Born 1971 in London
Adam Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin work collaboratively in London. They have won the ICP Infinity Award (2014) and the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize (2013). Their art was included in the exhibition “Decisive Moments: Uncertain Times” at Gallery TPW in 2011 and a billboard by the artists was presented at Gallery TPW during the 2013 Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival.
Selected solo exhibitions: Hasselblad Foundation, Gothenburg, Swede (2016); Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw (2015); Jumex Foundation, Mexico City (2014); FotoMuseum Antwerp, The Netherlands (2014); Townhouse, Cairo (2010); Musée de l’Élysée, Lausanne (2009); and Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (2006).
Selected group exhibitions: “Breaking News: Turning the Lens on Mass Media,” J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles (2016); “British Art Show 8” (2015–17); “Conflict, Time, Photography,” Tate Modern, London, and Museum Folkwang, Essen (2015); Shanghai Biennale (2014); “Ruin Lust, Tate Britain, London (2014); “New Photography 2013,” Museum of Modern Art, New York (2013–14); “Tea with Nefertiti,” Mathaf Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha (2012); Gwangju Biennale (2012); and “Seeing Is Believing,” KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin (2011).
Selected public collections: Tate; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; the Victoria & Albert Museum, London; International Center of Photography, New York; Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto; Cleveland Museum of Art.
2015
20 x 16 inches
Edition of 20, 3 APs
ABOUT THE ARTWORK
The Folly of Comic Pain is one of a series of twenty-two photographs produced for Adam Broomberg & Oliver Chanarin’s “Rudiments” project, which examines the mechanisms of military conflict. Referencing Francisco de Goya’s print series Los Disparates (The Follies) and Hans Bellmer’s Die Puppe (The Doll), the photographs are compelling satirical caricatures. The central figure of the series is the Bouffon, a social outcast whose grotesque theatrical performances make a mockery of those who hold political power. In the photographs, her choreographed gestures mimic the regimented posturing of army cadets, but in a way that is absurd and overblown. Between her playful acrobatic pose and the tumorous bulges of white fabric concealing and distorting her body, she both disturbs and charms.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Adam Broomberg
Born 1970 in Johannesburg
Oliver Chanarin
Born 1971 in London
Adam Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin work collaboratively in London. They have won the ICP Infinity Award (2014) and the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize (2013). Their art was included in the exhibition “Decisive Moments: Uncertain Times” at Gallery TPW in 2011 and a billboard by the artists was presented at Gallery TPW during the 2013 Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival.
Selected solo exhibitions: Hasselblad Foundation, Gothenburg, Swede (2016); Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw (2015); Jumex Foundation, Mexico City (2014); FotoMuseum Antwerp, The Netherlands (2014); Townhouse, Cairo (2010); Musée de l’Élysée, Lausanne (2009); and Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (2006).
Selected group exhibitions: “Breaking News: Turning the Lens on Mass Media,” J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles (2016); “British Art Show 8” (2015–17); “Conflict, Time, Photography,” Tate Modern, London, and Museum Folkwang, Essen (2015); Shanghai Biennale (2014); “Ruin Lust, Tate Britain, London (2014); “New Photography 2013,” Museum of Modern Art, New York (2013–14); “Tea with Nefertiti,” Mathaf Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha (2012); Gwangju Biennale (2012); and “Seeing Is Believing,” KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin (2011).
Selected public collections: Tate; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; the Victoria & Albert Museum, London; International Center of Photography, New York; Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto; Cleveland Museum of Art.
2015
20 x 16 inches
Edition of 20, 3 APs
ABOUT THE ARTWORK
The Folly of Comic Pain is one of a series of twenty-two photographs produced for Adam Broomberg & Oliver Chanarin’s “Rudiments” project, which examines the mechanisms of military conflict. Referencing Francisco de Goya’s print series Los Disparates (The Follies) and Hans Bellmer’s Die Puppe (The Doll), the photographs are compelling satirical caricatures. The central figure of the series is the Bouffon, a social outcast whose grotesque theatrical performances make a mockery of those who hold political power. In the photographs, her choreographed gestures mimic the regimented posturing of army cadets, but in a way that is absurd and overblown. Between her playful acrobatic pose and the tumorous bulges of white fabric concealing and distorting her body, she both disturbs and charms.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Adam Broomberg
Born 1970 in Johannesburg
Oliver Chanarin
Born 1971 in London
Adam Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin work collaboratively in London. They have won the ICP Infinity Award (2014) and the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize (2013). Their art was included in the exhibition “Decisive Moments: Uncertain Times” at Gallery TPW in 2011 and a billboard by the artists was presented at Gallery TPW during the 2013 Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival.
Selected solo exhibitions: Hasselblad Foundation, Gothenburg, Swede (2016); Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw (2015); Jumex Foundation, Mexico City (2014); FotoMuseum Antwerp, The Netherlands (2014); Townhouse, Cairo (2010); Musée de l’Élysée, Lausanne (2009); and Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (2006).
Selected group exhibitions: “Breaking News: Turning the Lens on Mass Media,” J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles (2016); “British Art Show 8” (2015–17); “Conflict, Time, Photography,” Tate Modern, London, and Museum Folkwang, Essen (2015); Shanghai Biennale (2014); “Ruin Lust, Tate Britain, London (2014); “New Photography 2013,” Museum of Modern Art, New York (2013–14); “Tea with Nefertiti,” Mathaf Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha (2012); Gwangju Biennale (2012); and “Seeing Is Believing,” KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin (2011).
Selected public collections: Tate; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; the Victoria & Albert Museum, London; International Center of Photography, New York; Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto; Cleveland Museum of Art.