Lines, Marks and Drawings: Through the Lens of Roger Ballen - Hardcover

Craig Allen Subler; Christine Mullen Kreamer; Robert JC Young

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 3791353152 ISBN 13: 9783791353159

Publisher: Prestel, 2013

Synopsis

For nearly half a century Roger Ballen has been shooting black-and-white film - a member of the last generation to work in that medium. He started his career taking portraits of rural Afrikaaners in their homes and has lately been moving toward more staged sets, and embellishing his photographs with expressionistic graffiti-type drawings. This retrospective book follows the development of line and drawing in Ballen's body of work, which is often characterized by complex interior arrangements of people, animals, and furnishings. In more recent work the artist has come out from behind the camera lens to engage with line more directly - including a luminous series of photographs that began with drawing on glass. Psychologically edgy and seductively beautiful images result. This volume also addresses the use of drawing and line in Ballen's newest work in videography. This astonishing collection reveals the breadth of Ballen's work, which moves fluidly between photography and drawing, harshness and beauty, raw expression and technical prowess.

About this title

About the Author:

CRAIG ALLEN SUBLER is an artist and the Olson Professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Subler's artwork has continually focused on eccentric spaces and their transformation. CHRISTINE MULLEN KREAMER is deputy director and chief curator at the National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution. Her exhibitions and publications explore art, ritual, gender, African systems of knowledge, and museum practice.

From the Inside Flap:

From distinctive portraits and complex photographic tableaux to YouTube sensations, the work of prominent African photographer Roger Ballen is given a fresh perspective in this volume. This volume also addresses the use of drawing and line in Ballen's newest work in videography. This astonishing collection reveals the breadth of Ballen's work, which moves fluidly between photography and drawing, harshness and beauty, raw expression and technical prowess.

About this edition

• Publisher: Prestel
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 3791353152
• ISBN 13: 9783791353159
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 128