Roger Ballen – News
ROGER BALLEN in EUROPEAN MONTH OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Benaki Museum, Athens, Greece
June – July 2016
Roger Ballen will be exhibiting at the European Month of Photography.
‘THEATRE OF THE MIND’
16 March – 7 May 2016
Sydney College of the Arts, NSW
Staged to coincide with the 20th Biennale of Sydney, Roger Ballen’s Theatre of the Mind is a provocative exhibition of 75 contemporary works created by the artist over the last two decades. His raw, black & white images are alluring, fascinating and disturbing. He is one of the most important and exciting photographers of the 21st century.
ROGER BALLEN: ASYLUM OF THE BIRDS
Pubished by Thames & Hudson March 2014
The images in Asylum of the Birds were taken entirely within the confines of a house in a Johannesburg suburb, the location of which remains a tightly guarded secret. Capturing the inhabitants of the house, both people and animals, and most notably the ever-present birds, Ballen has produced a series of images that are compelling and dynamic, existing somewhere between still life and portrait. They are richly layered with graffiti, drawings, animals, and found objects.
ROGER BALLEN at MONA
7 December 2013 – 21 April 2014
Museum of Old and New Art, TAS
Ballen will exhibit work from his Asylum and Apparitions series in the Library Gallery at MONA. Curated by Olivier Varenne and Nicole Durling, this installation exhibition incorporates Roger’s photography, drawings and sculptures.
'LINES, MARKS, AND DRAWINGS: THROUGH THE LENS OF ROGER BALLEN'
19 June 2013 – 9 February 2014
The Smithsonian's National Museum of African Art, Washington DC, USA
Roger Ballen is the focus of an exhibition opening in June at The Smithsonian's National Museum of African Art. 'Lines, Marks, and Drawings: Through the Lens of Roger Ballen' traces the artist's use of line and drawing in his photographs over the past four decades, ranging from twisted coat hangers, electrical cords and wall stains, to graffiti-like drawings. Developed by guest curator and artist Craig Allen Subler, 'Lines, Marks, and Drawings' offers a fresh perspective on Ballen's body of work.
Ballen's recent music video collaboration with South African rap-rave group Die Antwoord for the song "I Fink You Freeky" has taken him in new directions, featuring glyph-like images. "I Fink You Freeky" has attracted more than 30 million views on YouTube, introducing a much larger audience to Ballen's inimitable style; a complex juxtaposition of people, animals, objects and drawings.
Roger Ballen's Die Antwoord series will exhibit at Stills Gallery 4 September - 5 October 2013.
ROGER BALLEN & NINJA, I FINK YOU FREEKY wins BEST MUSIC VIDEO
Winning its second major accolade this year, Roger Ballen & NINJA’s music video for Die Antwoord’s dance track ‘I fink you freeky’ received the Best Music Video award at the International Film Festival of the Art of Cinematography, Plus Camerimage. Populated by unconventional characters and set against grimy scrawled upon walls, Ballen’s signature visuals become disturbingly mesmerizing and mesmerizingly disturbing when brought to life. Since its release in January 2012 the collaboration has also won the Music Video Grand Prix award at the Curtas Vila do Conde International Film Festival in Portugal and has totalled well over 20 million YouTube views.
ROGER BALLEN & PAT BRASSINGTON in CONFOUNDING: CONTEMPORARY PHOTOGRAPHY
5 October 2012 - 24 March 2013
National Gallery of Victoria
Confounding: Contemporary Photography explores how photography can challenge our perceptions by transforming the strange and implausible. The exhibition draws from the National Gallery of Victoria’s collection of contemporary Australian and International artworks, including work by Pat Brassington and recently acquired work Terminus by Roger Ballen.
ROGER BALLEN DIRECTS DIE ANTWOORD VIDEO
If you have ever wondered what acclaimed photographer Roger Ballen’s images would look like if they came to life, wonder no more. Ballen’s dark and disturbing black and white photographs walk the line between documentary photography and fine art, offering both challenging social commentary and dream-like surrealism.
He has just directed a music video for Cape Town hip hop trio, Die Antwoord. The band's music is characterised by its Zef references (Zef being South African slang for modern and trashy, with lots of knowingly discarded cultural references). “I’ve known these guys for about 7 or 8 years," said Ballen. "They asked me ages ago if I’d be interested in making some sort of music video with them which I was! I took some photographs for their new album about three years ago which a friend said were appearing on the background of their tracks on YouTube and the ratings were going crazy! It went from nothing to about 8 million hits in a really short space of time, so we decided to go for the video.”
“After years of planning the video, the whole storyboarding and shooting process was over in the blink of an eye” Ballen says – “We’ve been wanting to do this for so many years, then we organised the whole thing in 10 days and it took 5 days of shooting. We found people in the neighbourhood to take part.”
“We had really clear concepts of what we wanted to do in our heads,” Ballen told us. “We started with my photographs for ideas and then mimicked them in the sets. Most of the sets started with almost like a ‘Roger Ballen still life’ and then we might have added in a mouth or foot or hand and then we went into them cinematically.”
“I’ve had a terrific response, people have found it really interesting the way we were able to integrate their music into the visual aesthetic I have,” said Ballen.
ROGER BALLEN: UNSETTLED
Lismore Regional Gallery
17 July - 28 August 2010
Works from Roger Ballen’s Boarding House and Shadow Chambers series will be
exhibited at Lismore’s Regional Gallery. The exhibition runs from the 17th of
July till the 28th August 2010. These grim but quirky images of fringe
communities in rural white South Africa present an uncertain world, between
documentary photography and theatre. Between animal and human, the lived and
the imagined, the natural and the performed, the clean and the unclean, the
animate and the inanimate. The exhibition is curated by Kezia Geddes, from
Lismore Regional Gallery.
ROGER BALLEN: 17TH BIENNALE OF SYDNEY
Cockatoo Island
12 May - 1 August 2010
South African-based photographer Roger Ballen has recently been announced in
the 17th Biennale of Sydney line up of artists. Ballen's disquieting images
that combine challenging social commentary and dream-like surrealism will be
exhibited on Cockatoo Island. To coincide with the Biennale exhibition
Ballen's most recent series Boarding House will be on show at Stills Gallery
21 April - 29 May.
ROGER BALLEN: BRUTAL, TENDER, HUMAN, ANIMAL
Monash Gallery Of Art, VIC
Opening 3pm Saturday 5 September 2009
4 September - 1 November 2009
To be opened by Dr Shaune Lakin, Director MGA
This is Melbourne's only opportunity to experience internationally renowned
photographer Roger Ballen's exhibition Brutal, tender, human, animal.
"Roger Ballen is one of the world's most important photographers. As with all great works of art, Ballen's photographs are at once beautiful and challenging: they raise serious questions about ethics and social responsibility, class and race. This is a rare opportunity to see some of the most powerful images produced in our lifetime." Shaune Lakin, Director of the MGA
THE ARRESTING IMAGE
Plimsoll Gallery
University of Tasmania
16 May - 5 June 2009
Roger Ballen is exhibiting a large selection of work in this group exhibition,
curated by Pat Brassington and Fiona Lee. Ballen's challenging and darkly
humorous photographs are selected from 3 series Outland, Shadow Chamber, and
the more recent Boarding House.
MEET THE ARTIST
ROGER BALLEN: BRUTAL, TENDER, HUMAN, ANIMA
Exhibition Walk & Talk Tuesday 10 February 12.30 pm
Public Lecture Wednesday 11 February, 6 pm
Presenting the rare opportunity to converse with South Africa based artist
Roger Ballen, the National Library of Australia are hosting two events to
accompany the current exhibition Brutal, Tender, Human, Animal. Curated by
Robert Cook, this selection of Ballen's compelling works draws from the two
acclaimed series Outlands and Shadow Chamber.
ROGER BALLEN: BOARDING HOUSE
RRP $89.95
Following the success and critical acclaim of Outland and Shadow Chamber, Phaidon Press has published Boarding House, a new collection of Roger Ballen photographs. A South African photographer, Ballen creates work that walks the line between documentary photography and fine art offering both challenging social commentary and dream-like surrealism. Boarding House showcases over 70 black and white, largely unpublished images that exist in a place of transience and shelter, where the real and imaginary converge.
Boarding House is now available to purchase through Stills gallery.