Dita Pepe (Horsteinerová)

FOTOFO
Galérií Profil, Prepoštská 4,814 99 Bratislava
The exhibition will last until March 31st
Opening hours: 1 p.m. - 6 p.m. except Mondays

   Change of identity is one of the favourite and much utilized themes of contemporary photography. However, there is no question of a mere vogue of the past decades. Motifs of a change of forms and genders might already be found back in the 20s and 30s of the 20th century in works by the French lady photographer Claude Cahun, almost completely forgotten until lately who, with the aid of disguises, masks or haircuts changed herself in a whole series of self-portraits into various types of women, men and androgynous personalities. We might also find motifs of changes of sex in some self-portraits by Andy Warhole or Robert Mapplethorp, as also in the ingenious arrangements, so popular nowadays, by the Japanese Yasumasa Morimuri who transforms himself into a doppelgQnger of the film stars Marlene Dietrich, Marilyn Monroe, Elisabeth Taylor or Catherine Deneuve, and with theaid of computer technique, even into the principal personagesin Leonardo's or Monet's pictures. Transformation of identityhas come to be the central topic in the work of one of thebest known American female artists Cindy Sherman who for overtwo decades has photographed herself in the roles of heroines of second-rate films, men's and women's from canvases of oldmasters or corpses from horror scenes.

   Twenty-nine year old Dita Pepe (HornsteinerovA) fifth-year student of photography at the FPF Silesian University in Opava and simultaneously a teacher of photography at the Secondary School of Applied Arts in Ostrava, creates works of a somewhat different character in her cycle Self-Portraits. True, she too makes self-portraits in numerous disguises, wigs and interiors, but always remains a woman. In addition,she does not confine herself exclusively to self-portraying,but poses alongside women differing in age, vocation and social standing. At the same time, she totally suppresses her own identity, borrows dresses from girls and women with whom she poses in front of a camera, strives to imitate their typical gestures, makes full use of mimicry. At first glance we may not even notice that she is present in all the pictures, so perfect is her alteration of her looks and expression. At one time she is a simple countrywoman, next an aerobics teacher quite consciously exposing her well-built body for admiration, then she is a defiant teenager with a punk-style hairdo and a piercing in the nose, at other times a distinguished lady in a crocheted dress drinking tea from a real china cup. An important role is also played by the authentic milieu eloquently characterizing the life style of the portrayed women. An indispensable place is here held by numerous details - pictures, pin-ups of the singing idol of present-day teenagers Petr Muk, formica wall panellings, boar skins on walls, plushy and live animals. Equally significant are also imitations of mutual relationships between the author and the portrayed woman next to her who can once be her grandma, on another occasion her mama, friend or sister. And finally, we should also appreciate the inner, ineffectual, but well thought-out, impressive use of colour, reinforcing the action of these specific documents of diverse types of contemporary women and also the fascinating staged photographs showing the transformations of a young woman. These are works that may well be assigned to both documentary photography (after all, they recall some sociologically - oriented double portraits by August Sander, or even more so the double portraits of the generation by JiRi Hanke), as well as to still-life staged photography. In this too, they are very topical, for many contemporary works thus help to erase the borderline, so strictly insisted on earlier(although not adhered to in practice) between arranged and not arranged photography.

   Dita Pepe's work  comprises disparate photographs - sensitive humanist pictures from a home for the mentally handicapped at Ostravica, portraits of the inhabitants of the HluCinec region made within the project People of HluCinec from the 90s of the 20th century, or fashion photographs. However, the cycle of self-portraits, rightly appreciatd at the international competition Kodak Professional for young photographers, decidedly is the peak of her production so far and represents one of the most noteworthy works of contemporary Czech portrait photography.

                                    Vladimír Birgus