DIRECT EXPOSURE by Olivia Mihăltianu
DIRECT EXPOSURE by Olivia Mihăltianu (Romania) is a series of events in which the artist is taking direct photos for the public using an old technique – direct photography on paper with the help of a mobile photo lab installed on various sites. The project aims to bring the public and the artist closer, to initiate a dialogue and to encourage the use of social space in a creative way, in order to bring awareness of and expose the artist’s work, and integrate it into the public and social sphere. The places selected for the mobile photo lab are chosen in order to “expose” to the people passing by a new and unexpected view, aspect or situation by discovering the countless faces of the city, its constant development, and evolvement. At the same time, the work is also questioning the increasing restriction on photography in public space and contrasting it to the extended tagging and face recognition policies of the generalized surveillance practice of present-day society.
Olivia Mihăltianu studied visual arts at the University of Arts in Bucharest, where she currently lives and works. Her artistic approach is related to cross-media and process-oriented projects, involving video, film, photography, object-making, installation, and performance. Usually long-term projects, the works follow various visual aspects related to personal identity and social life in different cultures, political and economic situations, in a global and local context, by questioning topics such as the role played by the artist in today’s society, archetypal human patterns, re-contextualization, alienation.
Among the places and events where her works have been exhibited are: Mucem, Marseille, France (2019); Espace Niemeyer, Paris, France (2019) ; National Museum of Contemporary Art, Athens (EMST), Greece (2018); Frac des Pays de la Loire, France (2018); Anca Poterasu Gallery, Spinnerei, Leipzig, Germany (2018); Structura Gallery, Sofia, Bulgaria (2017); Art Encounters, Timisoara (2017); 3rd Mediterranean Biennale, Israel (2017); Loop, Barcelona (2017); curated by, Vienna (2016/2011); Anca Poterasu Gallery, Bucharest (2016); Tranzit/Bucharest (2015); 55th Venice Biennale (2013), among others.
DIRECT EXPOSURE by Olivia Mihăltianu is part of the art interventions, curаted by The Fridge and realized as part of “Sense of a City: Inclusive, Safe and Sustainable Plovdiv”, a project by the Bulgarian Fund for Women, implemented as a part of the program Plovdiv – European Capital of Culture 2019.