During Unseen Amsterdam 2024 ARTITLEDcontemporary will present solo exhibitions of the series “London 2024” by Maria Svarbova (Slovakia) and the series “American West” by Dean West (USA).
Maria Svarbova
Despite studying restoration and archeology, her preferred artistic medium is photography.
From 2010 to the present, the immediacy of Maria’s photographic instinct continues to garner international acclaim and is setting new precedents in photographic expression.
The recipient of several prestigious awards (including Hasselblad Masters Award), her solo and group exhibitions have placed her among the vanguard of her contemporaries, attracting features in Vogue, Forbes, CNN, The Guardian, and publications around the world; her work is frequently in the limelight of social media.
Maria’s reputation also earned her a spot on the coveted 30 under 30 Forbes list as well as
a commission for a billboard-sized promotion on the massive Taipei 101 tower, in Taiwan.
In 2019, Apple commission her to create an exclusive photography series shot by iPhone.
Maria’s distinctive style departs from traditional portraiture and focuses on experimentation with space, color, and atmosphere. Taking an interest in communist-era architecture and public spaces, Maria transforms each scene with a modern freshness that highlights the depth and range of her creative palette. The human body throughout her oeuvre is more or less a peripheral afterthought, often portrayed as aloof and demure rather than substantive. Carefully composed figures create thematic, dream-like scenes with ordinary objects. Her images hold a silent tension that hints at emergent possibilities under the lilt of clean and smooth surfaces.
There is often a sense of cool detachment and liminality in Maria’s work. Routine actions such as exercise, doctor appointments, and domestic tasks are reframed with a visual purity that is soothing and symmetrical and at times reverberant with an ethereal stillness. The overall effect evokes a contemplative silence in an extended moment of promise and awareness - a quality difficult to achieve in the rapid pace of modern life.
Maria’s postmodern vision boldly articulates a dialog that compels the viewer to respond to the mystery, loneliness, and isolation of the human experience.
Nevertheless, deeply embedded within the aqueous pastels, Maria’s compositions hold to a celebratory elegance that transforms the viewer’s gaze into an enduring reverence for life’s simple beauty.
Maria Svarbova is a Haaselblad Master.
Maria was born in 1988 and she lives and works in Bratislava, Slovakia.
Dean West
A wide range of environments and character types are explored in the works of Florida-based Dean West.
The Australian-born artist who studied at the Queensland College of Art, is best known for his intricate and highly staged photographs that take everyday occurrences beyond the realm of natural reality.
Extraordinary in their tonal range, digital clarity, and artistic vision, West’s meticulously choreographed scenes, character studies, and atmospheric landscapes powerfully yet synthetically link needs to desires and documentation to invention.
Passionately dedicated to the vast possibilities of digital photography as both a medium and a cultural epoch, West’s narratives draw inspiration from the total diversity offered by the visual arts.
Dean West
While the tableau photography of Stan Douglas and Jeff Wall inform West’s understanding of photography as a form of contemporary communication, the paintings of David Hockney and Edward Hopper provide evident aesthetic direction.
The fictional world of cinema and the functional language of advertising have also clearly left their mark and taught lessons of their own.
International brands have embraced West’s vision through partnerships and important clients such as Disney, MTV, Bombay Sapphire, and Fox Sports.
Recognized as one of Saatchi & Saatchi’s ‘Top 100 Emerging Photographers’, West has also been honored with ‘Advertising Photographer of the Year’ at the International Loupe Awards and the prestigious ‘Arte Laguna Prize’ in Venice, Italy.