“Fata Morgana” (above) and “Bazar” (below) from the series, “Solo,” both © 2011 – 2012 Corinne Mercadier. Courtesy Galerie Les Filles du Calvaire, Paris, France.
French artist Corinne Mercadier photographed primarily with Polaroid SX 70 until the materials were discontinued in 2008. Her subsequent shift to digital photography lends her imagery an even more refined sense of metaphysical theatrics, as seen in work from her two newest series, “Solo” and “Black Screen.”
In the series “Solo,” anonymous figures and graphic geometries hang in the balance under black skies that limit one’s field of view, while in “Black Screen” the common objects that populate abandoned spaces emit an irradiated glow due to a positive-negative reversal process, which harkens back to pre-digital photographic alchemy.
Both series are featured in Mercadier’s current exhibition “Devant un Champ Obscure” (In Front of a Dark Field) at the Gallery Les Filles du Calvaire from November 3 to December 1, 2012, as part of the Month of Photography in Paris. Elsewhere in France, a retrospective of the artist’s work from 1992 to the present is on view at the Maison d’Art Bernard Anthonioz in Nogent-sur-Marne from November 8 to December 20.
A monograph of Mercadier’s photography was recently published by éditions Filigranes. At 4:30 pm on Friday, November 17, Mercadier will be signing books at the publisher’s booth (#EE20) as part of Paris Photo at the Grand Palais in Paris, France.
-Jill Waterman
