Organized by BUMBUM, the exhibition of James HIGGINSON's I LOVE YOU will be shown in its entirety the first time in the world at the Budapest ERNST MUSEUM. In his shocking photo series (POV - Portraits of Violence) the artist recorded dramatic events within his and other families in order to call public attention to global violence.
James Higginson's (born 1957) photos are naturalistic up to the tiniest of details, as Enno Kaufhold, free-lance photo historian and curator living in Berlin wrote in his postscipt for the book POV - Portraits of Violence: "Wherever we look, we primarily observ ourselves, our own latent violence, our own aggression and, as a consequence, we are obliged to respond: how do we handle this personally? Violence appears as an elementary component of human existence, and Higginson himself declares it causes wounds that need healing. This notion leads to optimism, indicatin that it may prove possible to damn violence one day, whenever that maybe."
Very few words are being told about violence within the family, one of the most disgusting and still spreading forms of aggression. We often pretend not to know that day by day innocent and helpless women and children suffer from this kind of violence. "A sixty-year family secret was revaled on the evening of my father's funeral. We were told whem my dad was a small boy, my grandfather, in a drunken rage, had beaten my grandmother... As a result of the beating, she lost the chilled she was carrying and had a hysterectomy... This uncovered secret led to a more complete discovery and deeper understanding of my family's emotional dynamics. It explained my grandparent's relationship, the coolness, formality, distance, and antagonism... How ironic I learned this "secret" ont he night we burried my father. I decided to look more closely at relationships, families, and violence in America. From the strories I heard, stories I read, and stories I saw, came the following photographs, Portraits of Violence."
Photos shown here by BUMBUM do not simply depict aggression for art’s sake but use pure art as a vehicle to react and to call attention to realities in the world, one of which is violence within the family, menacingly spreading all over the world. These photos with their frightening authenticity should, however, be interpreted as mirrors. Mirrors where we may see our very own problems or events that happened to us as well. This might help us, as they did the artist, recognize intricate relationships among our environment, family and friends, or live through a traumatic phase of our life. Or else, if we remain outsiders in no way concerned with the happenings, we still will be horrified.
One thing remains certain: the photos and the events pictured by them will not, cannot leave anyone unaffected. And that’s exactly what Higginson wants: to provoke. Many of his works use effects triggered by antitheses. He often tries to reveal secrets and masked aspects of today’s world and to speak out the unspeakable. For Higginson, the artist’s life is a continuous journey to document life’s less obvious sides.
BUMBUM Art Consulting was established by Mr Lajos Kováts, one of the founders of MEO Contemporary Art Collection, Budapest, owner of Gallery Blitz, and by Ms Júlia Szűcs, communication consultant, former director of MEO. They both are dedicated to promote visual culture in Hungary and want to use their experience gathered at MEO for the benefit of other museums, galleries and, last but not least, for the public at large.
The exhibition will be opened in the presence of the artist by Ms Kinga GÖNCZ, Minister for Youth, Social and Family Affairs and Equal Opportunities (MYSFAEO) and will be on view April 26-May 22, 2005 at Ernst Museum (1065 Budapest, Nagymező utca 8.).
In connection with the exhibition there will be a round table discussion at the Ernst Museum on the 11th of May. The participants of the discussion will be as follows:
Dr. Szilvia Szabó, Deputy State Secretary, MYSFAEO
Dr. Krisztina Morvai, sociologist, Research and Education Center for Women and Children Rights
Gyula Juhász, Habeas Corpus Work Group
András Rényi, associate professor, Art Theory and Media Research Institute, Eötvös Lóránt University
Judith Wirth, NANE
Barnabás Bencsik, art historian, curator
Moderator: Sisso (Szilvia Szilágyi), editor, Magyar Narancs
For the 15th of May, Sunday, we organize a literary matinee with the participation of Kriszta Bódis, Agáta Gordon, Zoltán Halasi, Béla Pintér and Krisztina Tóth.
The exhibition is organized by BUMBUM Art Consulting
We would like to say thank you for their support: Absolut Reklám, artmagazin, MediaContact, Pesti Est, Súgó