FOTOFO
Galéria Profil,
Prepoštská 4,
Bratislava

The exhibition will be opened from January 5, to January 30, 2000

Open daily (except Monday) 1 p.m. – 6 p.m.

Combinig virtuoso technique with acute sensitivity, Philippe Pache creates images of brooding romance. But while the female face and form is clearly the 37-year-old Swiss artists photographic fetish, each shot, he insists, is much more than a simple portrait of a beautiful sitter.
„In fact, I really don´t like the term portrait“, Pache insists. „Its too readily defined as the representation of a person, with the notion of certain objectivity – this portrait is good, it looks like him or like her. I strive for portraits which look like no one. Or rather, like everyone. Portraits which contain a universal vibration, something mysterious which occurs beyond the model, and therefore beyond the image.“
Shrouding the body in a play of natural lighting (even whwn the light is artificial, he strives to make it look natural), Pache sublimates individual identity under layers of soft sensuality. „Light“, he says, „is the vehicle of emotion and of sentiment. I aim for light which caresses the subject, which becomes almost a subject in itself. Or at least as important as the subject.“
Ultimately the subject becomes the mere surface against which the reflected image takes shape. Like an echogram, Pache´s camera picks up light waves and bounces them back to render an outline – an impression – of the human form. At the same time, it deliberately frustrates any detailed mapping. He is searching for the global idea of humanity, not the specificity of each individual sitter.
„Personally, I never photograph faces, because that always brings us back to the one thing I am deliberately out of avoid: anecdote,“ he says. „More than the female, I am looking for femininity.“ In order for Pache to get to these essential elements, it is necessary for him to discard all the standard accoutrements of beauty, individuality or style. „A photograph is interesting not so much for what it shows us, but for what it suggests to us,“ he says, „for what it writes in the shadows.“

IN PHILIPPE PACHE´S SHADOWY WORLD SUBJECTS APPEAR AS MYSTERIOUS ABSTRACTION; ANONYMITY SEARCHING FOR ESSENTIAL TRUTHS.

Stephen Todd

Philippe Pache was born on May 2, 1961 in Lausanne, Swiss. He studied photography at the School of Applied Arts during years 1972-1982. From 1983 he lives in Lausanne as a free-lance Photographer. In 1986 he becomes Member of l´Agence Rapho, Paris. From 1992 he photographs Ballet Béjart in Lausanne.

Personal Exhibitions:

1979 CSP, Lausanne, Švajčiarsko0
1982 Musée Suisse de l'appareil photographique, Vevey, Švajčiarsko
1984 Obecná knižnica, Crans-prés-Céligny, Švajčiarsko
1986 Galerie Portfolio, Lausanne, Švajčiarsko
1989 Centrum fotografie, Dom umenia, Genéve, Švajčiarsko
1990 Galerie Suisse de Paris, Paris, Francúzsko
1991 Photoforum Pasquart, Bienne, Švajčiarsko
1992 Encontros da Imagem, Galeria Coluna, Braga, Portugalsko
1993 Théâtre Am Stram Gram, Genéve, Švajčiarsko
1994 Galerie Contrejour, Paris, Francúzsko
1995 Galerie municipale de Chateau d'Eau, Toulouse, Francúzsko
1996 Photo Gallery International, Tokyo, Japonsko
1997 Swiss Media, Vevey, Švajčiarsko
1999 Blue Sky Gallery, Portland, USA

Collective Exhibitions:
1981 Medzinárodné trienale fotografie, Fribourg, Švajčiarsko
1989 Stadthaus, Zurich, Švajčiarsko
1990 Únia švajčiarských bánk, Hong-Kong
1991 "Objavy 91", Grand-Palais, Paris, Francúzsko
1992 Musée des beaux-Arts, Taiwan
1993 Panorama Kodak Európa v mladej profesionálnej fotografii, Medzinárodné stretnutie fotografie, Arles, Francúzsko
1994 Mladá európska fotografia, Soul, Kórea
1994 Art Cologne (Galerie Bodo Niemann, Berlin), Nemecko
1995 The Oriental Galery, Pekin, Čína
1995 "Photo-sensibilité", Galerie Camera Obscura, Paris, Francúzsko
1996 Múzeum krásnych umení, Houston, USA
1997 Art Basel (Galerie Bodo Niemann, Berlin), Švajčiarsko
1998 "Rukou majstra", (Bibliothčque Nationale), SAGA, Grand Palais, Paris, Francúzsko
1998 "Body Icons", Photographic Center of Skopelos, Grécko
1998 "Modernism & Photography", New York, NY, USA
1999 Medzinárodné stretnutie fotografie, Arles, FrancúzskoMonografie / Monographs:
1990 Philippe Pache, Galerie Suisse de Paris, France
1995 Philippe Pache, Galerie municipale de Château d'Eau, Toulouse, France
1996 "Paysage Envisagé", (Texty od Jaques Chessex), Ed. Camera Obscura, Paris

Awards:
1988 1. cena Concours "Romainmôtier", Švajčiarsko
1989 Bourse Fondation de Jubilé de l'Union de Banques Suisse, Švajčiarsko
1989 1. cena (kategória profesionálov), "Le bassin lémanique", Švajčiarsko
1989 1. cena "Grand Prix Suisse de la Photographie", Zurich, Švajčiarsko
1992 Bourse fédérale des Arts Appliqués, Berne, Švajčiarsko
1995 3. cena, 1st Tokyo international Photography-Biennale, Tokyo, Japon
1996 Prix "Jeunes Créateurs", Fondation vaudoise pour la promotion et la création artistiques, Lausanne, Švajčiarsko

Works in Public Collections:
Bibliothéque Nationale, Paris, Francúzsko
Fondation suisse pour la photographie, Zurich, Švajčiarsko
Musée de l'Elysée, Lausanne, Švajčiarsko
Phoforum Pasquart, Bienne, Švajčiarsko
Galerie municipale du Château-d'Eau, Toulouse, Francúzsko
Artothéque de Grenoble, Francúzsko
Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, Tokyo
Museet for Fotokunst, Odense, Dánsko
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, USA

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