D A N I E L      K U K L A 
M A N - E A T E R

04  M A Y  -  08  J U N E 

OPENING RECEPTION
MAY 4TH     2-5 PM

DANIEL KUKLA’S ARTISTIC PRACTICE SEEKS TO EXAMINE THE INTERSECTIONS BETWEEN THE PHOTOGRAPHIC FORM, PUBLIC MYTHOLOGY, AND ECOLOGY. MAN-EATER, MAY 4 - JUNE 8, FEATURES A SUITE OF MIRRORED PALIMPSESTS CONSTRUCTED FROM POLAROID EMULSIONS, FOUND AND HISTORIC, THAT THE ARTIST DIGITALLY LAYERED AND THEN REPHOTOGRAPHED. THESE PHOTOGRAPHIC MEMBRANES ARE DELICATELY LAYERED ATOP AND ABUT AGAINST ONE ANOTHER ON MIRRORED SURFACES SHAPED LIKE TRADITIONAL DAGUERREOTYPES. THE MIRRORED DAGUERREOTYPE FORM RECALLS WINDOWS, PORTALS, AND BYZANTINE ICON WORKS BUT SPEAK TO A MORE IMPLICATED RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN IMAGE AND VIEWER. KUKLA HAS SELECTED IMAGES DEPICTING POPULAR SOCIALLY CONSTRUCTED MYTHS OF VIOLENCE BETWEEN MAN AND NATURE SUCH AS THE TIPU TIGER FROM THE KINGDOM OF MYSORE AND TSAVO MAN-EATING LIONS OF THE KENYAN-UGANDAN RAILWAY. THESE FICTIVE STORIES FUNCTION AS IMAGINARY ANALOGS IN WHICH THE THE CARNAGE THAT OCCURS DURING THE ESTABLISHMENT OF EMPIRE IS DEPICTED AS BEING CONDUCTED BY BEASTS EXACTING THEIR OWN HORRIFIC VENGEANCE. THE ENDURING POWER OF THESE PUBLIC MYTHS ARE REARTICULATED THROUGH FILM AND NEWS OSSIFYING A NARRATIVE OF NATURE VERSUS PUBLIC. KUKLA’S WORKS ASK THE VIEWER TO REFLECT ON AND INSIDE OF THESE CULTURAL AND PHOTOGRAPHIC METAPHORS WHILE ALSO INTERROGATING THE ASSUMED DOCUMENTARY NATURE OF THE MEDIUM OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
 

DANIEL KUKLA IS A GRADUATE OF THE INTERNATIONAL CENTER OF PHOTOGRAPHY’S (ICP) PROGRAM IN DOCUMENTARY PHOTOGRAPHY AND PHOTOJOURNALISM. PRIOR TO HIS PHOTOGRAPHIC EDUCATION HE ATTENDED THE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO AND RECEIVED HIS BACHELORS OF SCIENCE IN BIOLOGY AND EVOLUTIONARY ECOLOGY. HIS WORK HAS BEEN EXHIBITED AT THE INTERNATIONAL CENTER OF PHOTOGRAPHY, THE NATIONAL ART GALLERY OF THE BAHAMAS, RISD MUSEUM OF ART, APERTURE FOUNDATION, MASIN MUSEO DE ART DE SINALOA, AMONG OTHERS.

-JOHN ARTHUR PEETZ
 

THE EXHIBITION IS ORGANIZED BY CURATOR MATT NASSER.
matt@emptycirclespace.com