Biography
Eva Gantar (born 1973) is a freelance architect and photographer. Her approach to photography is conceptual. For Gantar, the transitory moment and the depiction of levels of reality not visible to the naked eye are of crucial relevance. Through different methods (camera obscura, changes in physical conditions, etc.), she attempts to capture the microscopic moments of everyday life and make them legible. Once she chooses the approach, she no longer intervenes.
The point of departure for the series “Ice cubes” (2008) and “Crossroads” 1 (2009) is an arial view of a conventional street scene with pedestrians. The street’s intersection controls the speed of the city between standstill and movement. Also in the photographical sense, the image is frozen. It is subject to chemical influences to the point of altering its physical state until it completely dissolves. The image is peeled away layer by layer and repeatedly photographed.
The last visible remnants are richly contrasting, unchangeable sections of the image. For the series “Bon Voyage“2 (2010), she outfitted a suitcase as a camera obscura and placed it in a railway station. The suitcase acts as both a camera and a substrate whose surface can create unfiltered images. Ultimately, the suitcase itself becomes an exhibition object. Gantar plays with the change of perspectives, the time-delayed photographs devoid of people taken from a suitcase, and the shot of the suitcase being taken almost simultaneously by a digital camera located across from it.
“Toxic Beach” (2012) aims to unsettle the viewer, because only at second glance does the seemingly idyllic beach turn out to be a toxically-burdened restricted area near an oil refinery. The photo series is taken from a single image. Like using a telescope in a voyeuristic manner, clippings are extracted, details are researched, and stand-alone images are isolated regardless of their resolution and focus. All together they tell a story and read like a cinematic sequence.
In her new works she deals with situations in urban areas, collections of places with strange synergies, as well as the unusual and absurd moments that result at times. Objects and spaces provide inferences about the character of the people who own and inhabit them. In succession, they are being made legible as cultural codes. In addition to her regular participation in exhibitions in Vienna, the artist Eva Gantar consistently exhibits in Munich.
Curriculum Vitae
1973 | born in Vienna, Austria |
1993–2002 | Studies of architecture, Technical Universities at Vienna and Barcelona; diploma |
2001–2002 | Scholarships for scientific working in Berlin |
2002 | Working for architecture and photography |
2006–2007 | School for Artistic Photography Friedl Kubelka, Vienna |
2007 | Summer Academy Salzburg with Lynne Cohen, Alte Saline, Hallein |
2007–2009 | School for Photography fotoK, Vienna; diploma |
Eva Gantar currently lives and works in Vienna | |
Exhibitions (D = Double exhibition, G = Group exhibition) |
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2013 | „Diary of Gone Landscapes“ (D), together with Florian Gierer, Galerie Michael Heufelder, Munich |
2012 | „Visuelle Archive“ (D), together with Klaus Pichler, Eyes On – Monat der Fotografie, Galerie am Lobkowitzplatz, Vienna |
„Ver/um/un/ORDNUNG/en“ (G), Eyes On – Monat der Fotografie, Das Gschwandner, Vienna | |
„bazarT 012“ (G), Otten Wirtschaftspark, Hohenems, Vorarlberg | |
„Alles Vergangene ist Prolog“ (G), Marinelligasse 3, Vienna | |
2011 | „bazarT 011“ (G), Villa Claudia, Feldkirch, Vorarlberg |
„New SCS“ (Privat-D), together with mit Florian Gierer, Veterinärstraße, Munich | |
2010 | „Salon XV“ (G), Eyes On – Monat der Fotografie, Reindorfgasse, Vienna |
„Stop!“ (G), Eyes On – Monat der Fotografie, together with Georg Eckmayr and Stefan Wanka, Galerie am Lobkowitzplatz, Vienna | |
„anders beschäftigt“ (G), diploma exhibition, Studio fotoK, Vienna | |
„Kill My Darling“ (G), fotoK-Hinterhaus, Vienna | |
2009 | „The Ideal of Living“ (G), Orangerie in the English Garden, Munich |
2008 | „81 KünstlerInnen in Kaisermühlen“ (G), diezelle, Vienna |
„Raum im Bild“ (G), project exhibition, Galerie fotoK, Vienna | |
„Soho in Ottakring“ (G), Vienna | |
„Fleisch“, stage set and photography, 3Raum-Anatomietheater, Vienna | |
2007 | „Poetry and Photography“ (G), Galerie am Roten Hof, Vienna |
„Die Auslösen“ (G), Galerie Blumberg, Vienna | |
2006 | „Ausstellung der Kubelkaklasse“ (G), Galerie Kandinsky, Vienna |
Bibliography |
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2012 | Program booklet „eyes on – Monat der Fotografie November 2012“, Vienna 2012, p. 18 (for „Ver/um/un/ORDNUNG/en“), p. 27 (for „Visuelle Archive“) |
2010 | Walter Moser: „Für eine Sichtbarkeit der Fotografie. Eyes On — Der europäische Monat der Fotografie“, in: Kunstgeschichte Aktuell 4 (2010) p. 7 |
Markus Zahradnik (Ed.): „previewed. Fotografie aus Wien“, Vienna 2010, pp. 56–59 | |
Catalogue „Salon XV. 80 Künstlerinnen, 18 Orte“ for the exhibition of fotoK as part of „Eyes On – Monat der Fotografie“, Reindorfgasse, Vienna 2010, pp. 38–39 | |
Program booklet „Stop!“ for the exhibition of the Galerie am Lobkowitzplatz as part of „Eyes On – Monat der Fotografie“, Vienna 2010 | |
2009 | Catalogue „Wien – Die Zelle“ for the exhibition „81 KünstlerInnen in Kaisermühlen“ in the ancient Water Quality Office, ed. by the „Die Zelle“ club, Vienna 2009, pp. 122–123 |
2007 | „ich_Arbeiten der Studenten von Friedl Kubelka“, in: SIOSEH 31 (2007) p. 38 |
Website: www.evagantar.net
Eva Gantar
„I’m interested in the production of images that are not conceivable to the naked eye, the optical unconscious, the portrayal of time, processes, and the story that could continue outside of the picture.“ (Eva Gantar)