Roger Ballen. Archetypes (Opening & Artist Talk - 14 November 2018)

One of the most important photographers of the 21 century - the American Roger Ballen is coming to Bulgaria for the first time in order to open his retrospective exhibition 'Archetypes' (November 14 - December 5).

More than 100 black and white photographs from 7 series made between 1982 and 2014 will be exhibited in Sogia and Plovdiv - at the City Art Gallery. The show comments some of the most common archetypal states of the human psyche and leads us from dark to light, from absurdity to irony, from despair to spiritual release.

"My images are pervaded by symbols from the deeper levels of the human subconscious. This place is untameable; has its own rules and functions according to its own laws. My photographs link my own interior with the outside world. Nevertheless, there are infinite possibilities and it is up to me to organise the world through the camera. I am basically one who organises visual chaos into visual coherency," says Ballen.

His images are a collection of people, animals, drawings, installations that build a world on the boundary between reality and fiction.

Artist talk by Roger Ballen at SKLAD (14 November 2018)

Opening of the Plovdiv exhibition: November 14, Wednesday, 6:30 pm., City Gallery of Fine Arts Plovdiv.
Artist talk by Roger Ballen at SKLAD (16 Ekzarh Yosif Str., Tobacco City): November 14, Wednesday, 8:30 pm. Free entrance. Pre-registration is required HERE. The artist talk will be in English. Roger Ballen will talk about photography and what is beyond it, the art that lasts and the stages through which his work passes over the years. The talk with the artist in Plovdiv is realized within the educational platform FORUM 2019 of Plovdiv - European Capital of Culture 2019.

The talk will continue at 10:30 pm with a 5-hour conceptual DJ Set by Anna Maria inspired by the Zafit culture, Die Antwoord and their guru Roger Balan. Electroclash, electro pop, dark wave, dark electro and french rave, a dose of Die Antwoord and sound and picture mix - uncompromising beats in sync with Roger Ballen's photographs and videos.

© Roger Ballen, Twirling wires

Roger Balan was born in New York, USA in 1950 and has lived in Johannesburg, South Africa for more than 30 years. Roger Balland is in the museum collections of MOMA (New York), Tate Britton (London), Victoria and Albert (London), the Pushkin Museum (Moscow), Pompidou (Paris) and many others.

The exhibition is part of the cultural calendar of Plovdiv municipality and is supported by Plovdiv - European Capital of Culture 2019.