Artist Pfrommer goes on blurring the lines

LAST YEAR, German artist-photographer Sven Pfrommer showcased a two-part portrait series and photo installations of Manila’s construction workers in what he called their “contemporary fashion style” — wearing a T-shirt turned into a face mask, which protects them from heat and dust while working. Mr. Pfrommer is back, but this time, his subjects are random and blurry.
On view from June 15 until June 28 at ArtistSpace in Ayala Museum is Indistinct: Photography and Mixed Media Works.
ArtistSpace, the only gallery managed by the Ayala Museum where the art on view is for sale, promotes public awareness, appreciation, and education of the visual arts by showcasing new artists every two weeks.
For its latest show, Mr. Pfrommer will exhibit a range of works from his Human Blur series, selected works from his Abstract Landscape series, and his portrait photo installation.
In the Human Blur series, Mr. Pfrommer reduces human beings to blurred silhouettes, making them no longer identifiable. Passersby on the move — like people crossing the streets or walking in the airport — are turned into blurred abstract figures.
Mr. Pfrommer, who has his own gallery for contemporary art in Berlin and has been teaching photography, art, and design in Asia, likes the abstract element of humans and their reduction to forms. Since 2002, he has been exploring the human silhouette as a graphic element and reducing the human personality to superimposed layers with a play of colors and lights.
The images used in Mr. Pfrommer’s Human Blur series were captured while visiting Myanmar, Burma, Vietnam, and Malaysia, among others.
A world traveller, Mr. Pfrommer likes to observe and people-watch. His artworks often begin with photographs taken on his journeys, which he then transforms using different paint and mixed media techniques. The final works are done in acrylic, metal, resin coated wood panel, or canvas.
Born in 1965 into a family of artists in West Berlin, Germany, he studied visual communication in Germany, and became a British Council scholar for visual art at The Royal College of Art, London.
For the last 18 years, Mr. Pfrommer has juggled being a commercial art director and photographer, and working on his art. His works have been shown in galleries and art fairs worldwide, and he has been awarded the German Walter Thiemann prize. He has done commission works for the car, fashion, and hospitality industries, and architecture projects.
Indistinct: Photography and Mixed Media Works will be on view at the Ayala Museum’s ArtistSpace from June 15 to 28, with an Artist’s Reception on June 15. ArtistSpace is located at the Ayala Museum Annex, Ground Level, Makati Avenue cor. De La Rosa Street, Makati City. It is open from Mondays to Sundays, 10 A.M. to 7 P.M. Admission is free. — NFPDG