Ricardo Bloch's Ali Baba's Cave: Galerie Thalie Paris Opening Thursday Oct 21, 2010

Remember Ali Baba from 1001 Nights?  "One day Ali Baba is at work collecting and cutting firewood in the forest, and he happens to overhear a group of forty thieves visiting their treasure store. The treasure is in a cave, the mouth of which is sealed by magic. It opens on the words 'Open Sesame' and seals itself on the words 'Close, Sesame'. When the thieves are gone, Ali Baba enters the cave himself, and takes some of the treasure home."

That folk tale serves as the adventure of Ricardo Bloch's new series of some 20 large photographs, set to debut at Galerie Thalie in Paris. Bloch enters the cave and does take something: magical photographs of what he finds there.

The photographs form the suite for Bloch's Ali Baba's Cave, in reality a packed warehouse of theater and film company props.  The mannequins form small armies of bald-headed boys; other works are of vast stores of empty bottles, string-wrapped books, old microscopes, mantle-piece clocks and dusty chandeliers, large bird cages, golden statues (an Oscar or two), spools of copper and steel wire, hundreds of canes, sunglasses, shiny Buddhas and dozens upon dozens of vintage toys. It's a dreamscape of the past, and yet extremely contemporary.

"Each composition, found in situ, is a fragment of an eclectic and obsessive cabinet de curiosités, a non-scientific and totally incomplete catalogue of 20th century memorabilia," explains Bloch. "Unrelated objects acquire a synergy by proximity that suggests more than it reveals."

Ricardo Bloch's photographs inevitably recall surrealist protocols, where accident makes cohabitation pregnant with links to the vast image libraries of the unconscious.

The suite of photographs was produced by Mariela Cadiz and Burning Boy Press Paris. "These are pigment prints on Photo Rag Baryta, 315 gram paper," she says. "Each print was meticulously made as I worked closely with Ricardo in a series of proofs that satisfied both the color, depth and textures he required.  We couldn't be happier with the results."

Click the images to enlarge.

The technique and paper suits the subject of Ricardo's photographs very well, giving the works a poetic look with regards to massive accumulation, storage and abandonment of objects. "Part of what we do in printing is to find the exact paper for the subject with respect to the fine detail and the overall look of the works," adds Mariela.

Opening/Vernissage:  Thursday, October 21, 6-9 pm, Galerie Thalie, 26, rue Robert Fleury, 75015 Paris.  Tel: (06) 81 45 33 83. 


See a selection Ricardo Bloch's Ali Baba's Cave Series here.

Bloch's Shandy Books is here.

For more information about printing with Burning Boy Press, please click here.

How Ink Is Made

Peter Welfare, president and Chief Ink Maker of The Printing Ink Company, shows how ink is made.

Via Huffington Post: "There are certain things that surprise you with their beauty. Case in point, this video from San Francisco-based blog Laughing Squid, caught us entirely off guard. Set to Alfred Brendel's playing of Beethoven's lyrical Piano Concerto No.5 in E flat major, it shows the process from top to bottom of how ink is made. And it turns out that that process is not only more interactive than we would have expected, but its also vivid and even balletic. The yellow ink folding into itself at the beginning grabbed us and we watched all 8 minutes and 52 seconds completely enthralled. Enjoy."

Anglais : English Spirit & French Desire

Anglais, a new print from Matthew Rose for Keep Calm Gallery, marries English spirit to French desire.

In a surreal sprint through the garden, perhaps Eden, perhaps Kensington, Anglais reminds us that London life is a mad dash, and a dash mad. Yes, the Englishman's upper torso is missing, but that never stopped the Paris-based American artist from making a run (or a pun).

Each colourful print has been signed and dated by the artist. Anglais was produced by Burning Boy Press Paris's Mariela Cadiz.  Click directly on the image above to enlarge.

The original collage will be on display at Matthew's latest solo exhibition at The Orange Dot Gallery in London. Click here for more information on the Scared But Fresh show.

* Signed & dated by the artist
* Giclee print on Hahnemuhle paper
* 338mm by 250mm (13¼ by 9¾ inches)

* Price: £32.00 Unframed

Click here to purchase directly from KEEP CALM GALLERY.