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The gallery is thrilled to invite you to the opening of the exhibition “The Silver That Kissed the Sliver That Persists” by French-Spanish artist Sara Bensaltana.Sara Bensaltana blends her scientific background with her artistic practice, exploring themes of light and transformation. This exhibition features photographs from her travels across Asia, which are immersed in chemical baths within the gallery, gradually altering and fading before the viewer's eyes. Through this process, Bensaltana invites us to reconsider our perceptions of time and memory, encouraging fresh perspectives and deeper reflection.
The chemical environment in the gallery is safe for visitors, although if you bring children, you are advised to hold their hand. During this exhibition, pets are not allowed.
Uniquely, the exhibition will be open between Christmas and New Year.
Vernissage:
Wednesday 4 December 16:30-19:30 with a sound performance at 18:00 by Second Sun @second_sun_ www.secondsuncph.live
Exhibition period:
4 December 2024 - 4 January 2025
Wed, Thu, Fri: 13:00-17:00
Sat, Sun: 13:00-16:00
Closing days: 18,19,25 Dec and 1 Jan.
Free admission
The artist says of her exhibition:
An aesthetic of accumulated moments, past and present
Viewers are bathed in the glow of past, present, and future. As a chemical reaction unfolds, its undoing already known, perception begins. Precipitation and sedimentation activate the image's reactive properties, awakening dormant memories.
A visual tale of transformation
Bearing the weight of absent images, forgotten memories, and lost stories, I am director, actor, and sometimes merely operator. This exhibition presents a body of work composed of invisible elements, exploring our relationship with images and their survival. It is a visual tale born from travels through Asia—Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia—culminating in a three-month residency in Yokohama, Japan.
A dialogue between photography and alchemy
The exhibition space becomes a privileged realm where the works engage in a dialogue between slow photography and the essentialist dimensions of matter. It's a space of alchemical metamorphosis and potential disappearance: a swan song of silver prints corroded by silver halides, their mother substance.
A new way of seeing
As the images chemically transform throughout the exhibition, they question our connection to memory and the spirits it holds. In this borrowed time for contemplation, the viewer experiences a transformative perception of the image.
“As a city grows its limbs,
dead skin is shed.
While old is torn apart and new is put in its place,
the homes of the spirits remain, untouchable.
They bear witness to what was before;
a snapshot of a caring family
keeping its deceased alive in a memory.
With time memories fade,
but the spirit houses remain.” — L.V.R
About the artist:
French-Spanish artist Sara Bensaltana (b. 1997) lives and works in Copenhagen. Her artistic practice is deeply informed by her scientific background, integrating her passion for science, photography, chemistry, and the exploration of light-sensitive surfaces. Her work is driven by an exploration of light and a desire to expand the boundaries of the photographic medium, capturing the interplay between the seen and unseen..
Sara Bensaltana will become a full partner of Dark Gallery CPH on 1 January 2025.
sarabensaltana.com @sara.bensaltana
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Dark Gallery CPH, Ryesgade 103B, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark, Ryesgade 103B, 2100 København Ø, Danmark,Copenhagen, Copenhagen , Denmark
