Page 58 - WOWwART

The Poetry of
Space and Memory
Hannah Collins, Turner Prize nominee and acclaimed artist, creates powerful visual narratives through photography, film, and text, exploring cultural histories while
Egyptian Modernist architecture and climate adaptation.
Collins’ recent collaboration with musici- an Duncan Bellamy highlights her inno- vative cross-disciplinary approach. Their work at the Barbican, featuring large-scale projections with original music, demonst- rates her ability to push artistic boundaries while maintaining emotional resonance.
Social consciousness threads through Col- lins’ work, most notably in her curation of “We Will Walk - Art and Resistance in the American South.” This exhibition show- cased African American self-taught artists, presenting their works within a broader cultural context rather than limiting them to the outsider art category.
Memory serves as a cornerstone of Col- lins’ artistic practice. Her installations create mental spaces where viewers can explore connections between time, place, and hu- man experience. Works like “The Course of Time(6) – Factory Krakow” and the “True Stories” series demonstrate her talent for weaving together different eras and locati- ons into cohesive visual narratives.
Collins’ artistic journey reflects a con- sistent commitment to expanding visual language while maintaining clear artistic boundaries. Her work, housed in prestigious institutions like MoMA NY and the Reina Sofia Museum, continues to challenge and inspire viewers to see the world through a more nuanced lens.
The artist’s unique vision transforms or- dinary spaces into profound meditations on human existence. Through her lens, interiors and exteriors become metaphors for life’s complexities, while her attention to histori- cal depth and social relevance creates work that resonates across cultural boundaries.
Collins’ contribution to contemporary art extends beyond traditional photography into a realm where medium, message, and meaning converge to create something truly extraordinary. Her ongoing exploration of human experience and cultural memory continues to evolve, marking her as one of the most significant artists of our time.
bridgingM
personal and universal human experiences.
A Visual Journey asterful storyteller and visual poet Hannah Collins stands
at the forefront of contem- Through Time porary art, crafting profound narratives through photogra-
and Culture phy, film, and text. Her distinguished career, spanning four decades, demonstrates an ex-
Shapes Modern ceptional ability to capture the intersection of history, memory, and human experience.
Art’s Landscape Collins’ large-scale, black-and-white photographs first captivated audiences in the
1980s, earning her a Turner Prize nomina- tion in 1993. Her subsequent evolution as an artist has garnered international acclaim, culminating in the prestigious Spectrum Prize in 2015. The artist’s work continues to resonate with growing audiences worldwi- de, speaking to both personal and universal truths.
“The decision over which medium to
use often makes itself,” Collins explains, discussing her creative process. Her project “The Fragile Feast,” created with chef Fer- ran Adria, exemplifies this intuitive appro- ach, combining precision photography with thoughtful essays about food’s relationship with the natural world.
Living between London, Barcelona, and Almeria has profoundly shaped Collins’ artistic vision. The desert landscape of Al- meria, where she transformed a ruin into her home, inspired “I will make up a song and sing it in a theatre with the night sky above my head,” a multimedia exploration of
Hannah Collins masterfully transforms ordinary moments into extraordinary visual poetry, demonstrating unparalleled dedication to artistic authenticity and cultural understanding.
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Hannah Colins
“I try to give the viewer a large mental space to wander within so the mind can find a way to relate ele- ments of place or time.”
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