Shimon Attie The History of Another

The Jack Shainman Gallery is proud to present The History of Another, an exhibition of new photographs by Shimon Attie. Taken in Rome, Italy, The History of Another (2003) is the most recent in a series of on-location slide projections Attie designed to be photographed, in which he addresses the history and memory of Jewish and other marginalized communities.

During a year spent in the city, Attie projected photographs of individuals of Roman Jewish background onto Roman ruins and Roman architecture more generally. Addressing the history and memory of Jewish and other marginalized communities in his words:

'Using ancient Rome as a backdrop and foil for the grand history of the West, the slide projected individuals have been cast and thrown into the glories and ruins of this history. Trapped between the past, present, and future, the individuals are of unknown identity to the viewer and appear to be searching -without apparent success- for a sense of home or belonging to this history. They, like the viewer, are both outside this history looking in, and inside looking out.

'As the individuals projected are of Roman Jewish background and were photographed at the turn of the 20th century -in many cases near the projection sites- one inevitable reading of the project is as the telling of the history and intersection of these two ancient cultures. Yet the intention of The History of Another is also to raise broader questions about otherness within the history of the West more generally. The project can also be seen within the present day context and discussion related to the United States as the new world Empire.'

Making use of and working with the lighting on the sites where the projections were made, Attie transforms Rome into noir-ish scene of shadows, where ghostly figures, ancient settings and the contemporary scene compete for space in the present. The reclining figure in At Temple of Juturna is not as jarring as the contrast between the Roman columns and the contemporary architecture and electric lighting. The cumulative presence of an old peddler’s cart, a woman in a headscarf selling produce, or a man in a fedora Under Castle San Angelo confuses our presumed sense of rational distance from history itself.

The History of Another presents an inclusive view of time that includes the ancient past, the near past, and the contemporary moment of the photograph as sources for reflection. As in Attie's earlier projects across Europe and The United States, which use contemporary media to re-animate sites with images of their own lost histories, The History of Another explores the temporal and memorial nature of the photograph process and of the city itself.

The History of Another opened at the Museum of Contemporary Photography, Columbia College, Chicago, IL; May 6 – July 2, 2004, and will be traveling to the Cleveland Institute of Art, Reinberger Galleries, OH; November 10 – December 22, 2004. Currently on view at the Jewish Museum is the artwork Attie created for their 100 year anniversary. He has had solo exhibitions at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, MA, the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH and Bowdoin College Museum of Art, Brunswick, ME.

Publication of The History of Another currently available from Twin Palms Publishers and The Museum of Contemporary Photography, Columbia College, hardcover, 48 pages with 17 color plates, essays by Natasha Egan and Alexander Stille.

Pressetext

Shimon Attie "The History of Another"