October 4 - November 10, 2006
Kerry Skarbakka Fluid - New Photographs
Main Space:
New York artist, Kerry Skarbakka, presents nine new photographs from the series, Fluid. Shot in underwater locations around the world, with the artist as subject, the photographs dredge the very depths of our relationship with water on this planet; from famine caused by drought, to tsunamis, hurricanes and the question of global warming itself.
According to a 2002 report by the Pacific Institute of Oakland, California, over 76 million people will perish from water-related disease by 2020 unless urgent action is taken, The report found that water-related diseases could claim more lives than the global AIDS pandemic by 2020. The current best estimates of water-related deaths fall between 2 and 5 million deaths per year. Additionally, the lack of safe drinking water is the primary cause of disease in the world. Experts say rivers and aquifers in many parts of the world are being hit by industrial pollution, sewage disposal or excessive extraction. This worsens water quality, inflicts shortages and, in tense border regions, even exacerbates the risk of war. Flash floods have increased in recent years, and are the number one weather-related killer in the United States. There were six in the 1950s; seven in the 1960s; eight in 1970s; 18 in the 1980s; and 26 in the 1990s.
Fluid continues Skarbakka’s interest in the art and artifice of photography, the body in relation to nature, questions of mortality, and the notion of control and its antipode. Beyond the specific socio-political narrative underlying the work, the photographs are, quite simply, beautiful. Unique to this series, the photographs are printed on metallic paper—the alluring, iridescent surfaces only amplifying the troubling dichotomy between the beautiful and horrific.
In the White Cube:
We are also pleased to present The Struggle to Right Oneself, a suite of ten photographs from Skarbakka’s previous body of work. This suite provides a gravitational counterpoint to Fluid. Skarbakka states, “Heidegger described human existence as a process of perpetual falling, and it is the responsibility of each individual to ‘catch ourselves’ from our own uncertainty. My work is in response to this delicate state. It questions what it means to resist the struggle, to simply let go, and the consequences of holding on. The images stand as reminders that we are all vulnerable to losing our footing and grasp, symbolizing the precarious balancing act between the struggle against our desire to survive and our fantasy to transcend our humanness.”
More about the artist’s work
