Last week I caught the vernissage of award-winning and internationally noted photographer JONATHAN HOBiN – whose current work LiTTLE LADY/LiTTLE MAN can be seen on display at CiTY HALL (110 Laurier Ave. West). I strongly encourage you all to go and see this talented man’s work. I admit, I do not get out to as many art shows as I would like to, esp in a city full of numerous talents, yet I couldn’t miss HOBiN’S exhibit after having seen a teaser for it earlier this season. What moved me most is how LiTTLE LADY/LiTTLE MAN serves not only as a commentary on mortality and the decline of aging but even more so how it served for HOBiN as a testament to his grandparents, also the subjects of this work.
HOBiN’S work has been called controversial before (including his 2010 exhibition iN THE PLAYROOM; which featured photographs of pre-adolescent children playing in elaborately staged and disturbing scenes), yet when I see LiTTLE LADY/LiTTLE MAN I see no need for controversy – and I can’t help but feel a relation to HOBiN (my beloved granparents both passed away in the summer of 2009 within three months of each other) as well as an affection for the man behind the camera. I dont’ usually feel this way about the photographer, and this is what I think also compels me more about the work as a whole. This exhibit goes beyond moving me -
According to HOBiN, this exhibit is inspired by “two lullabies sung to the children in my family by my grandfather who recorded them secretly before his death…Over time, these songs served for me as a beautiful, albeit tragic, metaphor for the fleeting nature of physical power and youthful beauty, conventions that society closely relates to concepts of masculinity and femininity. With my grandparents representing the archtypes of male and female, the life-size documentation of their final days mirrors the surrender we will all inevitably face.“
For further information take a look at the pics I snapped from the information booklet – and know that to really get the full impact and beauty of this work you MUST go SEE iT iN PERSON. I stood in awe for some time, appreciating the detail and love put into this polished work and the results are just spectacularly moving. GO!
www.jhobin.com
