GIL FINE ART

GIL FINE ART

Photography is a very familiar tool to us, yet we often remain unaware of its form as art. A photograph is easily created by pressing a shutter—or rather, a button—but that image can become a trace of someone's 'contemplation,' and it can become a seed of thought, leading to an 'expansion' of consciousness. Photography guides us to scenes that everyone passes by yet no one truly sees, forming an artistic world far vaster than we imagined. Long ago, photography established an aesthetic for viewing subjects and scenes, and it has grown alongside Conceptual Art to more systematically embody the creator's consciousness. Photography possesses its own distinct artistic realm while also being recognized today as a tool for artists, thanks to the development of diverse image editing and processing techniques. Photography holds the ultimate value of the generated image. Some artists have begun to accept the generated image as a 'means' or 'material'. The powerful force inherent in photography stems precisely from its rootedness in existence. This is unique to photography, something impossible in painting or artificial intelligence (AI), making it the most persuasive 'tool' and consensus for speaking about us as 'humans'. Photography's status as a universal 'tool' in contemporary visual art is evident in the works of many artists. Ironically, however, photography cannot become a creative tool through mere documentation alone. The artist must become the subject themselves, expressing established ideas through the medium of photography. Furthermore, the nature of the work changes depending on 'how photography is employed as a medium (Medium)', and this is the essence of the various approaches to photography found in contemporary photography or contemporary art. This exhibition demonstrates how photography's DNA is being augmented as visual art and how it is transforming in this post-form era. It also focuses on photography's inherent power of reality. Photography holds immense potential as the artist's subjective tool. This potential carries a message that must be conveyed to contemporary individuals navigating today's culture. We live in a world where the 'narratives' achieved by human intellect are gradually disappearing, leaving only dramatic, short reel videos. 'Information' overflows, lacking discernment, and we have instead entered an era of image poverty. Therefore, the value of contemplation inherent in photographic art, and its transformation into 'art' as a means, will become a necessary 'role' for us modern people whose contemplation has ceased.