Theatre of the Mind by Roger Ballen
Roger Ballen’s raw, black & white images are alluring, fascinating and disturbing. One of the most important and exciting photographers of the 21st century, Ballen’s Theatre of the Mind is a provocative exhibition of 75 contemporary works created over the last two decades.
The artist’s first major Sydney exhibition, it is staged to coincide with the 20th Biennale of Sydney. The show includes Ballen’s award-winning music video ‘I Fink U Freeky’ (2012) by South African rap-rave group, Die Antwoord, which has received over 76 million hits on YouTube and earned a cult following. In addition, the public will be able to access his equally remarkable video works, Outland and Asylum of the Birds.
Theatre of the Mind consists of five sections that see people, birds, animal and inanimate subjects become the ‘cast’ in an exhibition that is hard-hitting, psychological theatre. The Sydney exhibition includes a new installation work created onsite at Sydney College of the Arts by Ballen in response to the site’s mental health history, in the labyrinth of underground cells of the former Rozelle hospital.
About Roger Ballen
Born in New York in 1950, Ballen has lived in Johannesburg since the 1970s. His work as a geologist took him across the countryside and led him to explore, through the camera lens, the smaller South African towns. His early photographs of the hidden lives of people living on the fringes of society made considerable impact, receiving acclaim from American writer and filmmaker, Susan Sontag, among others.
Through the medium of black and white photography, Ballen has achieved a unique integration of drawing, painting and installation that have been compared to the masters of art brut. His peculiar and somewhat shocking imagery confronts the viewer and drags them into the work. Viewers are participants in the work - not merely observers - taking them on a journey into the recesses of their minds, as Ballen explores his own.
