THE SECRET OF BREATHING
Milan Gies
15.11-23.11.2024
Exhibition opening 15.11.2024 ore 18
00A GALLERY TRENTO - via della Malvasia 53 - TRENTO
In "The secret of breathing", named after a song title by British rock band Tindersticks, photographer Milan Gies explores the question of what it means to be human and how we relate to the systems that surround us. His photographic studies revolve around our relationship with the societal frameworks that shape—or at times, constrain—our lives. What is natural, what is cultivated? What happens when these societal structures don't align with our nature, or when we struggle to conform to them? What does the tension that arises from these struggles, and how we deal with them, reveal about us as a society? One of the examples he studies is the male gender role; do men have to be strong and economically successful, or do we have room for other male images? Through these images, he presents a complex choreography that navigates the tension between the natural and the cultivated, the tamed and the untamed. The inclusion of animals and (artificial) landscapes further deepens this exploration, linking them to our relationship with the broader physical world. The landscapes show cultivated spaces that are artificial and can evoke a feeling of alienation, but might as well be perceived as beautiful or inviting.
Gies’ creative process is grounded in the physical world, with a particular focus on the human body. Through his studies of physicality, posture, and movement, he uncovers the intricate complexities of individual experience. These explorations resonate with the universal —a shared, inherent movement in life that touches us all. This movement might manifest internally as desire, pain, courage, craving, or resilience. It reflects what it is like to bear the weight of existence, to be wounded and to fall, and to feel the persistent urge to rise and break free. The images serve as a medium to express and share these movements, rendering them both visible and tangible. His work portrays life as a continuous cycle—falling and rising, over and over again.
The men Gies works with over extended periods become akin to actors, conveying the universal narrative of a body that has lived—a body that carries the story of a life within it. These figures exist in isolation, in a space that is neither here nor there—a space that may resemble a room but is ultimately unidentifiable, more evocative of the inner world.. (Annemarie Mulder)
Milan Gies (1977) is a photographer, working and living in Amsterdam. He worked as a teacher at several art schools, before founding his own collective, Studio 307, where he teaches and coaches professional photographers. Before Milan graduated from the Photo Academy in 2009, he was a professional equestrian show jumper for many years and attended professional theatre school. Several of his photography series were displayed in exhibitions in Europe and published in prominent magazines and newspapers, both in the Netherlands and other countries.
_______________________________
ROTLICHT FESTIVAL
“ANALOG SATELLITE”
Rotlicht Festival: Festival for Analog Photography joins forces with 00A Center for Contemporary Photography
For its 2024 edition, Rotlicht Festival for Analog Photography (Vienna) is joining forces with 00A Center for Contemporary Photography (Merano/Trento). This cooperation seeks to propel the importance of analog practices; their cultures, technologies, and visual manifestations among new visitors and photography aficionados.
United by a shared vocation to support analog photographers through exhibitions, to enable continuous learning about various facets of the medium through public events and workshops, and to continue to motivate the public to discover what inspires them, Rotlicht Festival and 00A Center for Contemporary Photography ’s cooperation aims to increase access to photography internationally.
Promoted and enabled by the head of the jury for the 2024 festival Dr. Hanin Hannouch, their mutual support is offering Rotlicht Festival’s former winner Milan Gies an exhibition at 00A Gallery. This exhibition serves to showcase his riveting work to the public in Trento, to offer him a fruitful space for experimentation with the 00A Gallery team, and to introduce the local art scene to such an exciting artist from the 15. to 23. November 2024.
This exhibition is 00A Gallery’s November program highlight and Rotlicht Festival’s 2024 satellite show, ensuring that analog photographers can enjoy a continuity in their work across countries.
00A is very honored to be part of Rotlicht Festival in proposing a Satellite in Trento at 00A Galley, an exhibition space devoted to photography. Milan Gies’s exhibition will be part of the broader project “Analog Attitude”, starting with Morandini’s exhibition in October, promoted by 00A and curated by dr. Carla Cardinaletti. The aim is to foster, through contemporary photography, a modus vivendi, which has its roots in cultivating passion, slowness, discipline, discernment, attention to detail, tactility.
The collaboration with the Festival fits perfectly into the project that 00A has been working on for several years to promote visual literacy among the Italian public in preparation for the celebration of the Bicentenary of the birth of photography.
Ph. Viviana Perghem, Nicola Morandini
15.11-23.11.2024
Exhibition opening 15.11.2024 ore 18
00A GALLERY TRENTO - via della Malvasia 53 - TRENTO
In "The secret of breathing", named after a song title by British rock band Tindersticks, photographer Milan Gies explores the question of what it means to be human and how we relate to the systems that surround us. His photographic studies revolve around our relationship with the societal frameworks that shape—or at times, constrain—our lives. What is natural, what is cultivated? What happens when these societal structures don't align with our nature, or when we struggle to conform to them? What does the tension that arises from these struggles, and how we deal with them, reveal about us as a society? One of the examples he studies is the male gender role; do men have to be strong and economically successful, or do we have room for other male images? Through these images, he presents a complex choreography that navigates the tension between the natural and the cultivated, the tamed and the untamed. The inclusion of animals and (artificial) landscapes further deepens this exploration, linking them to our relationship with the broader physical world. The landscapes show cultivated spaces that are artificial and can evoke a feeling of alienation, but might as well be perceived as beautiful or inviting.
Gies’ creative process is grounded in the physical world, with a particular focus on the human body. Through his studies of physicality, posture, and movement, he uncovers the intricate complexities of individual experience. These explorations resonate with the universal —a shared, inherent movement in life that touches us all. This movement might manifest internally as desire, pain, courage, craving, or resilience. It reflects what it is like to bear the weight of existence, to be wounded and to fall, and to feel the persistent urge to rise and break free. The images serve as a medium to express and share these movements, rendering them both visible and tangible. His work portrays life as a continuous cycle—falling and rising, over and over again.
The men Gies works with over extended periods become akin to actors, conveying the universal narrative of a body that has lived—a body that carries the story of a life within it. These figures exist in isolation, in a space that is neither here nor there—a space that may resemble a room but is ultimately unidentifiable, more evocative of the inner world.. (Annemarie Mulder)
Milan Gies (1977) is a photographer, working and living in Amsterdam. He worked as a teacher at several art schools, before founding his own collective, Studio 307, where he teaches and coaches professional photographers. Before Milan graduated from the Photo Academy in 2009, he was a professional equestrian show jumper for many years and attended professional theatre school. Several of his photography series were displayed in exhibitions in Europe and published in prominent magazines and newspapers, both in the Netherlands and other countries.
_______________________________
ROTLICHT FESTIVAL
“ANALOG SATELLITE”
Rotlicht Festival: Festival for Analog Photography joins forces with 00A Center for Contemporary Photography
For its 2024 edition, Rotlicht Festival for Analog Photography (Vienna) is joining forces with 00A Center for Contemporary Photography (Merano/Trento). This cooperation seeks to propel the importance of analog practices; their cultures, technologies, and visual manifestations among new visitors and photography aficionados.
United by a shared vocation to support analog photographers through exhibitions, to enable continuous learning about various facets of the medium through public events and workshops, and to continue to motivate the public to discover what inspires them, Rotlicht Festival and 00A Center for Contemporary Photography ’s cooperation aims to increase access to photography internationally.
Promoted and enabled by the head of the jury for the 2024 festival Dr. Hanin Hannouch, their mutual support is offering Rotlicht Festival’s former winner Milan Gies an exhibition at 00A Gallery. This exhibition serves to showcase his riveting work to the public in Trento, to offer him a fruitful space for experimentation with the 00A Gallery team, and to introduce the local art scene to such an exciting artist from the 15. to 23. November 2024.
This exhibition is 00A Gallery’s November program highlight and Rotlicht Festival’s 2024 satellite show, ensuring that analog photographers can enjoy a continuity in their work across countries.
00A is very honored to be part of Rotlicht Festival in proposing a Satellite in Trento at 00A Galley, an exhibition space devoted to photography. Milan Gies’s exhibition will be part of the broader project “Analog Attitude”, starting with Morandini’s exhibition in October, promoted by 00A and curated by dr. Carla Cardinaletti. The aim is to foster, through contemporary photography, a modus vivendi, which has its roots in cultivating passion, slowness, discipline, discernment, attention to detail, tactility.
The collaboration with the Festival fits perfectly into the project that 00A has been working on for several years to promote visual literacy among the Italian public in preparation for the celebration of the Bicentenary of the birth of photography.
Ph. Viviana Perghem, Nicola Morandini
