Catherine Yass

Jerwood Gallery, London
Through February 24

The four series presented in this London gallery trace out the central concerns in the work of English artist Catherine Yass, winner of the 1999 Glen Simplex Artists’ Award at the Irish Museum of Modern Art. First finding recognition for her series of photographic portraits of people in institutions and social structures, Yass later shifted her attention towards spaces which had been temporarily abandoned.

She takes her photographs with a 1950s camera complete with Wollensak lenses from the period. By printing negative images onto positive images, taken just a few seconds after each other, and mounting the prints onto a light box, Yass gets images with heightened color and a sinister, seductive appearance. The gallery is host to the series “Portrait: Springfield” (1995). The central conceit of this work continues that of “Corridor” (1994) in which six individuals—residents, patients, and staff of a psychiatric hospital—are portrayed in the empty corridors of the building.

The subjects, in perfect focus, stand out in contrast against the foggy background, the walls and floors of which reflect the light as if made from metal and glass. Yass has no apparent interest in revealing the identity of the people she portrays. Often distracted, rarely looking directly at the camera, her models—more objects than subjects—do not seem to interact with the surrounding environment in any way. When she points her lens towards abandoned spaces—such as subway stations in the series "Metro" (2000), or identical compartments of a dormitory used by businessmen in Tokyo in the series "Capsule" (1999)—Yass creates deserted "psychological spaces" into which the observer can project their own fantasies and spiritual states.

Although the places themselves are desolate and cold, they are colored with intense shades: deep blues, bright greens, and warm oranges. In the two videos from the series “Town” (2000), which conclude the exhibition, the artist's interest in portraiture reemerges. Yass filmed a face for two seconds, but the image is projected in slow motion so it lasts for a total of sixteen seconds, and played on a continuous loop. The effect is one of an expanded sense of time that allows the observer to note every slight change in expression: something we normally do not see at all.




Chiara Zampetti
Translation by Robin Poppelsdorff