Hamiltons-represented artist Roger Ballen is the subject of a new show at the Vestfossen Kunstlaboratorium in Norway, entitled The World According to Roger Ballen.
Sharing the same title as a 2019 Thames & Hudson publication co-authored by Professor Colin Rhodes, the exhibition features 55 photographs, 6 films, and a projection which are displayed in the Exhibition Hall of the Vestfoseen Kunstlaboratorium.
Roger Ballen is one of the most influential and important photographic artists of the 21st century. His distinctive, strange, and sometimes disturbing images confront us with aspects of the human condition that we would prefer to keep hidden.
Although he started out with a documentary approach his work has evolved in recent years into more complex and imaginative images. The line between reality and fantasy becomes increasingly blurred. Ballen builds elaborate sets, creating a theatre in which animals, humans, dolls, drawings, and objects play a leading role, culminating in what is commonly referred to as the Ballenesque aesthetic.
The exhibition invites the visitor to become part of Roger Ballen’s world.
The World According to Roger Ballen at the Vestfossen Kunstlaboratorium is open until the 21st of September 2025.
Image: Mimicry, 2005 © Roger Ballen