Jean-Baptiste Béranger – Quiddity

Cecilia Hillström Gallery is pleased to present the exhibition Quiddity with the photographer Jean-Baptiste Béranger. Over his career, Béranger has approached the photographic medium in an almost scientific manner. With a deep knowledge of all aspects of the photographic process and with a playful attitude, Jean-Baptiste Béranger challenges our perception in using the basic elements of photography in all stages of his work.

In his new project, Béranger has focused on shape, and by extension on space created and made visible by light. Light as a means of making something apparent, but still out of reach. Always in dialogue with the history of photography, Béranger continues to explore the indices of space through his work.

The exhibition title Quiddity refers to something's whatness; the essence of an object. In this context, the philosophical term may refer to something beyond our consciousness but still present in its absence. One could argue that Jean-Baptiste Béranger visualize this notion with his works, bringing forth the magic once associated with photography in its very beginning.

Jonna Bornemark, philosopher and lecturer at Södertörn University, has written sentences forming the titles of selected works in the exhibition. In "Synliggjord reflektion är bruten reflektion" [A reflection made visible is a broken reflection] she explores the exhibition theme further by pinpointing the mechanisms of a reflection. A unique Duchampian box with miniatures of selected works will also be presented in the exhibition.