Helen Pynor - Breath @ GV art

I attended the opening of Helen Pynor's new exhibition 'Breath' in Marlybone this week, a series of photographic images inspired by stories of drownings in the river Thames which exposes the relationship between our selves and the fragile and complex inner workings of our bodies. In the images ethereal garments are seemingly photographed in mid drift, carried by the currents of a river. The juxtaposition of drifting, fragile blouses and dresses with human organs which seem to flow from openings in the cloth make very evocative and striking compositions. The colour pallet of white cotton clothing and almost soft pastel pinks of human organs is anatomically accurate, and also very beautiful, especially coupled with the suggested fleeting nature of these scenes. The muted tones and delicate compositions go a long way to detach the themes of human organs and death from horror movie cliches and taboos. This scientific approach to human anatomy, used in a very aesthetic way in these images is maybe almost a return to the anatomical drawings of the renaissance, where high art was informed by scientific knowledge of anatomy. In the same way as renaissance paintings, the images from Breath can educate and inform as well as explore more abstract ideas about mortality and the relationship between our consciousness and our material being.

The photographic images from Breath also reminded me of the work of Toni Frissell, who photographed fashion models wearing delicate dresses submerged in water in a dolphin tank. These underwater photographs also evoke drowning, and explore themes of mortality and the fragility of our bodies.