This mid-career retrospective volume focuses on Viviane Sassen's fine art photography, revealing a surrealist undercurrent in her work. Sassen recognizes Surrealism as one of her earliest artistic influences, seen in the uncanny shadows, fragmented bodies, and otherworldly landscapes she captures in her work. In addition to images from the acclaimed series "Umbra," this volume draws from the series "Flamboya," in which she returned to Kenya, "Parasomnia," a dreamlike exploration of sleep, the "Roxane" series, a mutual portrait created with her muse, Roxane Danset, "Of Lotus and Mud," a study of procreation and fecundity, and "Pikin Slee," a journey to a remote village in Suriname. This book features a contextualizing essay and an insightful interview with the artist. Throughout, Sassen emerges as a poetic photographer obsessed with light and shadow and a brilliant technician, who is a master of both vibrant color and muted hues. Selected by Sassen herself from across the last ten years, the images draw on the surrealist strategies of collage and unexpected juxtapositions to give a survey of her practice.

About the Author
ELEANOR CLAYTON is Curator at The Hepworth Wakefield. She has written widely on contemporary art practice for periodicals such as Frieze, Art Monthly and Tate Etc., and has also published widely on 20th-century art.

Reviews
"The surrealist work of Dutch photographer Viviane Sassen implores viewers to wake up as if from a deep sleep - it is disorienting, and begs for a second look. Hot Mirror is a gasping masterwork that must be glimpsed from a peripheral standpoint as it is almost too bright to bear." -Musee Magazine



Book Information
ISBN 9783791384764
Author Viviane Sassen
Format Hardback
Page Count 160
Imprint Prestel
Publisher Prestel
Weight(grams) 567g