On the occasion of the New York presentation of the Prix Pictet exhibition Power at Aperture Gallery, two artists included in the exhibition, Edmund Clark and Jacqueline Hassink, will present in-depth views of their projects and discuss them in the context of the exhibition theme, Power. Clark and Hassink share an interest in space and how meaning is communicated through inanimate artifacts: Clark’s series, Guantanamo: If the Light Goes Out, “explores the spaces and objects of power and control at Guantanamo Bay”; Hassink’s project, Arab Domains, considers the status of women and the question of economic power in eighteen Arab nations through paired photographs of both the conference tables and private dining tables of leading businesswomen in Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.

Edmund Clark (born in the United Kingdom) is best known for work that engages with state censorship to explore the hidden experiences, processes and spaces of control and incarceration in the ‘Global War on Terror’. After studying for a degree in History and French at the University of Sussex, UK, and La Sorbonne, Paris, he worked in international research in London and Brussels before gaining a postgraduate photojournalism diploma at the London College of Communication. Clark’s award-winning work has been exhibited internationally and featured in major public collections, including the National Portrait Gallery and Imperial War Museum, London.

Following studies at the Royal Academy of Art, The Hague,Jacqueline Hassink (born in the Netherlands) graduated from the Trondheim Academy of Fine Art, Norway, in 1992, majoring in sculpture. Now based in New York, she is best known for her global photo-art projects that deal with the world of economic power. Hassink’s series Arab Domains was produced in collaboration with Haifa Fahoum Al Kaylani, chairwoman of the London-based Arab International Women’s Forum. The series focuses on Arab women business leaders, aiming to reveal a different reality than the stereotypical images of Arab women often seen in Western media.

External Link »