Hangar's new Bookshop opens on September 9th with the book signing of Roger Ballen. 

Ballen will be present at Hangar to sign his new publication: the 13th book from the Des oiseaux collection.

A major figure in the contemporary art scene, Roger Ballen has, for more than forty years, declined the intricacies of his unconscious through the development of stagings that oscillate between dream and reality. His strange works invite the viewer to enter his mind for an extreme journey: the exploration of the recesses of his soul and his secret impulses.

For this thirteenth title in the Birds collection, the South African photographer has made a selection of photographs, some unpublished, especially for the book. In closed universes, where graffiti, signs, shadows, and fragments accumulate, stories are played out that jostle our gaze. The boundary between fantasy and drama is blurred. The non-logical world of a mischievous and sometimes not-so-kind Alice in Wonderland seems to come to life before our eyes. Birds wisely posed among a doll's decor, emerging behind a wall of pasteboard, evolving in the middle of abandoned toys and broken by a dissatisfied child, or even balancing on balloons, teaming up with teddy bears, real or drawn: all participate in the amused delirium of the artist.

Born in New York in 1950, Roger Ballen lives and works in Johannesburg (ZA). After studying geology, he began branching out into photography, focusing initially on sunny urban views. He then turned his attention to private interiors, with their collections of objects and their closed worlds. Metaphors of the inner mind, these places lead him to the elaboration of “documentary fictions”, as he himself says. His use of the square format and black and white, both dense and austere, places his work in the realm of visual photography. He represents South Africa at the 2022 Venice Biennale.

Book signing:
September 9, 2022
17:00 - 19:00 at Hangar

Information about the book:
Two versions: English and French
Hardcover, 20,5 x 26 cm
104 pages
44 B&W photographs
Atelier EXB
Price: 35 €