Critique
Vera Ryklova, Untitled #4003, 2015, from ‘Aesthetic Distance’ series, medium format black and white film, scanned negative; photograph © and courtesy the artist.
Vera Ryklova ‘Aesthetic Distance’ CULTÚRLANN MCADAM Ó FIAICH, BELFAST 4 FEBRUARY – 25 MARCH 2021
Visual Artists' News Sheet | May – June 2021
Vera Ryklova, Untitled #4009, 2015, from ‘Aesthetic Distance’ series, medium format black and white film, scanned negative; photograph © and courtesy the artist.
Exhibited online by Cultúrlann McAdam Ó Fiaich – an Irish language, arts and cultural centre on the Falls Road in Belfast – Vera Ryklova’s ‘Aesthetic Distance’ re-presented a photographic series made in 2015. Thirteen minutes long, the artist’s montage had three evenly spaced segments that guided viewers through a choreographed experience of the work. In the first, the images were revealed in fragments, a roving lens traversing their surfaces; in the second they featured in their entirety, while, in the third, they were shown in relational groupings of twos, threes and fours. The genre is self-portraiture, coupled with role-play, through which Ryklova deploys herself, her experiences and her body to probe themes relating to gender and identity. In addressing notions of how the self is perceived internally and constructed by social means, she is interested in the emotional conflict that arises from negotiating the gap between society’s expectations and reality. Previously shown in an in-person exhibition at the Triskel Arts Centre, Cork (2018-19), the images were taken at the artist’s Dublin home using a fully manual, twin-lens reflex camera, on medium-format film, the negatives scanned for inkjet printing. At the time, she revealed, she was dealing with feelings of longing and fear of ageing. These are not conveyed literally, but in a performative manner that leverages ambiguity. Having made the decision to view the online showing, our role is rendered passive, the act of looking shaped by Ryklova’s curation, and the fact that we are in our own private spaces rather than a shared public setting. It quickly becomes clear that, in adding a layer of animation to still images, her approach is direct and unapologetic, which provokes a heightened viewer engagement. The sequence of fragments opens on a black-and-white image, the camera panning over pale fabric on a dark background. It pauses perceptibly to track slightly downwards – emphasising the location – before moving steadily up to reveal the artist’s face. Appearing dishevelled, she looks
