Varun Nayar writes for Apeture on the 2024 edition of FotoFest, featuring artists and collectives from around the world who consider the weight of history on the present.
Excerpts:
"...the biennial’s larger theme, Critical Geography, explores photography’s role in constructing and critiquing our conception of place. These ideas aren’t new to the medium, but in the context of FotoFest’s wide and notably international program—featuring more than twenty artists and collectives across a central exhibition curated by executive director Steven Evans—they spark intriguing connections and contrasts."
"Nearby, at Koslov Larsen gallery, Mexican photographer Lou Peralta experiments with the limits of portraiture and sculpture for her series Disassemble (2022), introducing both contemporary local and pre-Hispanic materials and foliage into her photographic compositions."
"The broader argument proposed by Critical Geography rests on the power of [strategies for re-narrating our historical assumptions], and their ability to create room for disruptions, reorientations, close readings, and—crucially—dialogue."
