Opening Reception
Friday, June 7
5:00–8:00pm
DOCUMENT is pleased to present Regular Colors, a solo exhibition of new work by Los Angeles based artist Owen Kydd.
In Regular Colors, three distinct works – what Kydd refers to as ‘durational photographs’ exist seamlessly on vertically mounted monitors. With photography and video now able to exist interchangeably by the flip of a switch on a camera, Kydd creates a hybrid investigation that composes both mediums simultaneously. By inhabiting the space between a photograph’s instantaneous moment and video’s time span, Kydd challenges the canons and expectations attributed to still and moving imagery.
Wandering not unlike a street photographer looking for the ‘decisive moment,’ Kydd collects his imagery around L.A., seeking tableaus that evoke a near stillness. A series of works in thirty- to forty-second durations, Blue Studies extends the life of a photograph beyond its canonical ‘decisive moment.’ Retail Composition, a looped video piece, compiles objects as a digital collage, allowing each element to exist with its own time signature. Windows and Walls, another series of works in short durations, force a distinction between the flatness of the screen and the illusion of representational time. Interrupted only by slight movements from light, wind, and exposure, these continuous compositions seem almost endless.
Owen Kydd (b. 1975, Canada) lives and works in Los Angeles. He holds a Bachelor’s degree from Simon Fraser University in Vancouver and a Masters degree from UCLA. His works have been exhibited in solo exhibitions at the Vancouver Art Gallery and Nicelle Beauchene Gallery in New York, and in group exhibitions at the Contemporary Art Gallery in Vancouver, the Surrey Art Gallery, and the Daegu Biennial in South Korea.
As an exploration into the roots of the still image, his practice consists of making durational photographs with video, using images that are filmed from static camera angles and contain subtle evidence of movement. His current body of work looks at retail environments near his studio in Los Angeles.
