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JAMES HILL SOLO EXHIBITION
On May 17th Booroom Gallery opened an exhibition of a British photographer James Hill "Monumental Mosaic of Moscow". The gallery offers a contemporary look at mosaic panels, which are shown in the exhibition as independent avant-garde works of art.
James Hill first came to Moscow in the 1990s as a photojournalist and became a witness to the country’s global changes of that time, capturing them on camera for international magazines such as The New York Times. The Monumental Mosaics of Moscow is a very personal project for a photographer. Intrigued by the monumental art, he captured mosaics for three years, from 2017 to 2020. The series itself was a gift to the city, where he spent two decades as a reporter. Through his lens, decorative panels at Moscow metro stations, fragments of palaces of culture, museums and schools, facades of scientific institutes and panel houses become poetic memories of the country's utopian past.
Decorative and utilitarian, the art of mosaic became widespread in the 20th century, but many of the works remain unexplored, and the backstory of some of them has been lost forever. For James Hill, this series was a study and almost a detective investigation, where the goal was to discover hidden monuments and establish their authorship. The mosaic, which largely served the purpose of creating an idealized image of the state, carries the myth of an unfulfilled utopian project, but at the same time remains an important part of the history and culture of the era. The photographer is impressed by the scope of the creative idea and their scale, the ability of the masters to convey the play of light and color, the tactility of the work and the imprint of the personality of artists who could forever remain anonymous. Hill is renowned for his masterful reflection of details, and his work serves as an impartial evidence of the era, gradually disappearing into the face of the city, often invisible to those who observe them in everyday life. Only three copies are available for each of the photographs presented at the exhibition.
James Hill is one of the leading photojournalists of our time, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the World Press Photo competition. He works in different genres, and masterly combines the objectivity of a photojournalist and the vision of an artist.
17.05 - 30.06
Rostovskaya embankment, 5
James Hill first came to Moscow in the 1990s as a photojournalist and became a witness to the country’s global changes of that time, capturing them on camera for international magazines such as The New York Times. The Monumental Mosaics of Moscow is a very personal project for a photographer. Intrigued by the monumental art, he captured mosaics for three years, from 2017 to 2020. The series itself was a gift to the city, where he spent two decades as a reporter. Through his lens, decorative panels at Moscow metro stations, fragments of palaces of culture, museums and schools, facades of scientific institutes and panel houses become poetic memories of the country's utopian past.
Decorative and utilitarian, the art of mosaic became widespread in the 20th century, but many of the works remain unexplored, and the backstory of some of them has been lost forever. For James Hill, this series was a study and almost a detective investigation, where the goal was to discover hidden monuments and establish their authorship. The mosaic, which largely served the purpose of creating an idealized image of the state, carries the myth of an unfulfilled utopian project, but at the same time remains an important part of the history and culture of the era. The photographer is impressed by the scope of the creative idea and their scale, the ability of the masters to convey the play of light and color, the tactility of the work and the imprint of the personality of artists who could forever remain anonymous. Hill is renowned for his masterful reflection of details, and his work serves as an impartial evidence of the era, gradually disappearing into the face of the city, often invisible to those who observe them in everyday life. Only three copies are available for each of the photographs presented at the exhibition.
James Hill is one of the leading photojournalists of our time, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the World Press Photo competition. He works in different genres, and masterly combines the objectivity of a photojournalist and the vision of an artist.
17.05 - 30.06
Rostovskaya embankment, 5
