30 lx VIRGILE SIMON BERTRAND

Curated by Davina Lee

14 January 2011 – 26 February 2011

Opening reception in the presence of the artist and curator

14 January 2011 at 6:30 – 9:00pm

2P Contemporary Art Gallery is pleased to announce the opening of 30 lx an exhibition of new work by Hong Kong-based French artist Virgile Simon Bertrand. 

30 lx or ‘30 lux’ is the minimum light intensity required by the Building Department’s Code of Practice for Provision of Means of Escape.  Couched in terms of “minimums” and “not less thans” the Code delineates a matrix of measurements and light levels, distances and configurations that dictate the form and composition of these compulsory escape routes. Constructed using low cost, low maintenance materials, devoid of any ornamentation, these functional architectural elements are perhaps the purest examples of entropic architecture, consciously created without regard to aesthetics.  Virgile Simon Bertrand’s photographic studies, as minimal as they are elegant, draw attention to an inadvertent phenomenon, how despite the common genesis of these architectural features, each example offers subtle but surprising structural variations, creating a formal vocabulary.  Bertrand’s studies reveal the dualities of such places:- ubiquitous but invisible; accessible to the public yet isolated and unvisited, immutable and individual.

Bertrand studied Applied Arts at Ecole Boulle (1988 - 1991, Paris), Graphic Design at Ecole Duperré (Paris) and Photography at the Ecole Nationale de la Photographie (1993, Arles).  He began his career assisting Magnum photographer Abbas and working as a photographer for the Opéra National de Paris.  After completing his National Service at the Service Photographique des Armées, Bertrand moved to Asia, establishing a successful commercial practice. His work has been exhibited in Taipei, Hong Kong, Paris, Arles and in London in the 2008 Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize exhibition at The National Portrait Gallery.  Bertrand was a finalist in the Architectural Category of the 2009 Hasselblad Masters Competition.  In 2009 a retrospective of Bertrand’s work under the title Proxemics was held at Artistree, and was selected as one of the best exhibitions of 2009 by the South China Morning Post. and international exchanges.

VIRGILE SIMON BERTRAND

30 lx

李國瑜策劃

2011年1月14日至2月26

展覽開幕將於1月14日下午六時三十分舉行

屆時藝術家與策展人皆會出席

2P Contemporary Art Gallery 誠意呈獻，居港法藉藝術家 Virgile Simon Bertrand 的新作展覽――〈30勒克斯〉開幕酒會。

“30 勒克斯” 是根據〈消防逃生途徑守則〉所要求配備的最低光照度。守則採用的措辭如「最低」和「不少於」清晰描繪出一系列的量度、光照度、距離、和結構，這些潛規則都支配了時下制定的消防逃生路線的形式與構成。低成本建造、採用較少保養設備、省卻多餘的裝飾，上述有意識地撇除美學的考慮和功能性元素或許就是建築學中一個最純粹與內儉的例子。Virgile Simon Bertrand簡約且雅致的攝影作品重新發掘被人忽略的社會現象―― 儘管這類建築特色的出現是基於共同的原因，但它們具備微妙且引人入勝的結構性變化，進而構成建築學上正統和核心的語彙。Bertrand 的作品揭示了這類空間矛盾的二元性――無處不在但難以察覺，公眾開放同時又個人私密，一成不變、與世隔絕且拒人千里。

Bertrand 早年於知名的Ecole Boulle (1988-1991，巴黎)修讀應用藝術，亦曾於Ecole Duperré(巴黎)及Ecole Nationale de la Photographie  (1993，亞爾勒)分別修讀平面設計及攝影。Bertrand 的攝影生涯始於擔任Magnum Photos攝影師Abbas 的助手，及後更成為巴黎歌劇院駐場攝影師。在Photographique des Armées 完成國民服務後，Bertrand 移居亞洲，並在商業攝影業有出色的表現。Bertrand 的攝影作品曾於台北、香港、巴黎和亞爾勒等地展出，以及於2008年假英國倫敦國家肖像館舉行的Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 展覽中展出。Bertrand亦是2009年Hasselblad 攝影大師比賽建築攝影組別的十位決賽入圍者之一。2009 年Bertrand 於Artistree 舉辦回顧展，命名為” Proxemics”，並獲南華早報選為2009年其中一個最傑出的展覽。