This work has grown out of a passion for photography and for each other. We started in summer 2023 and can be seen on Lensculture website.
Ge and Jo is a collaboration between two photo artists based in Tuscany / Italy. Their work is obviously influenced by performance art and actionism using the body as a bearer of signs and symbols, mostly using the Tuscan rural landscape as a stage. They also produce indoor work, finding abandoned and derelict spaces, in which they create surreal photographic tableaux. Most of the images resemble to deep intimate self portraits, underlining the deep connection between the photographers, thus leading to mysterious compositions involving frozen movements. Sometimes the photographs seem to be like still images or fragments from a movie. Looking at this photographic work, the body configuration series by Valie Export ("The female body has always been a construction") comes to my mind. Some of the best images by Francesca Woodman also have been created in Tuscany, showing naked or clothed women, merging with their surroundings and leaving us to a surreal impression, something that also applies to their photographs. In their latest work, Ge and Jo juxtapose the soft intimacy of the body to fire and nature – just like the poetic and metaphysical work by Bernard Faucon, whose images often play with natural elements and fire. Fire represents light, heat, energy, metabolism, and the power of transformation, it represents the capacity for heat and light. Unlike Faucon, who often used mannequins in his images, Ge and Jo combine the fire with themselves. Since fire is the generator of energy in the body this makes sense and this is where the circle closes.
Herman Seidl / FOTOHOF, January 2024
Their mastery of both analog and digital photography techniques has resulted in stunning photographic artworks. The adept use of light and composition, reminiscent of the styles of Robert Frank and Helmut Newton, particularly stands out. The ability to harness the unique Tuscan light to create immersive, emotionally resonant photographic images is truly impressive. These pictures do not just capture moments; they evoke feelings and leave a lasting impact on their audience.
Till Fuhrmeister
FH-Prof. Dipl. Designer. Dipl. Regisseur Filmaka BW
Head of Degree Program Multimedia Art /Head of Film and Media Studies University ofApplied Sciences Salzburg
https://www.lensculture.com/g-and-j-sessions
GROUP SHOWS
Beneath the surface - Thomas Gerrard Gallery - Les Rencontres d'Arles, July-September 2024NB
Out of the Ordinary - PH21 Gallery Budapest, May 4th-17th
On Fire - Lensculture Critics' Choice Editors Picks, April 2024
Somehow Complete - Blank Street Gallery, Photo Festival Athens, February 2024