tim roda photography at galerie anita beckers

the butcher’s block by tim roda galerie anita beckers, frankfurt, germany january 14th – february 25th, 2012

untitled #27 by tim roda, part of the exhibition ‘the butcher’s block’ at galerie anita beckers 22×28" black & white photography, hand print on fibre matte ilford paper all images courtesy of galerie anita beckers | frankfurt and the artist

in the exhibition ‘the butcher’s block’, galerie anita beckers presents several year’s worth of work by new-york-based photographer tim roda. depicting dark, at times nearly mythical scenes, the black-and-white photographs use the peculiarities of family life as a means of navigating broader history and culture.

originally a ceramic artist, roda constructs by hand the often elaborate sets for his pieces, populating the fictional worlds with himself, his four sons (most particularly his eldest, ethan), and his wife. careful attention to lines and shadow– despite the often chaotic assemblages of objects depicted– lend the photographs formal consistency, even as the images themselves vary in grain and tonality. reflecting the ways in which he uses his work to explore family history and memory, roda even attributes this imperfect, rough-hewn quality of his prints to his desire to connote the working-class life his grandfather and parents experienced as american immigrants.

‘the centaur’ (2009) 14 x 21"

‘I make my own language and metaphor, which I understand;‘ roda notes: ‘absolutely everything is a metaphor.‘ while certain photographs directly reference myths– ‘the centaur’ which casts ethan and tim as the hybrid animal; or ‘untitled #44’, which suggests the story of daedalus with his son as he seeks to escape from a window– others merely connote a story of family dynamics, whose precise nature we cannot know. the naturalness of gazes between father and son or the role reversals visible in images like ‘untitled #197’ are stabilizing forces to what might otherwise be the horror of animal bodies tacked to the walls, extended limbs, shadowy labs, and people visible only via reflection in a mirror.

tropes like the studied positioning of mirrors to reveal the world outside the photo’s frame, or roda’s recent use of photographs of older people as disembodied sculptural masks, contribute to the questions of personal and familial identity and growth.

critic emily hall reflects on the ways the photographs allow ethan, the child who is the subject of many of them,

to enact his own feelings and development through the logic of the mythical and universal: ‘the child as an angry slayer of a mythical beast, the child as triumphant hero, the child as initiate into mysteries he doesn’t yet understand.‘

untitled #123 (2004) 24.5 x 36"

the wall behind ethan in ‘untitled #123’ showcases a sculpture of a peacock, whose feathers are composed of photocopies of a portrait of the boy, left eye circled as though already honed in upon by the camera’s lens. the mirror at the left of the image ominously reveals roda, apart but observer of the scene; while that at the right uses the play of reflection to now unite father and son, who here seem to be together observing something just outside of the frame.

‘the butcher’s block’ (2011) 8.5 x 12.5"

untilted #197 (2011) 8.5 x 12.5"

untitled #163 (2008) 33 x 38"

untitled #39 (2005) 35 x 52"

untitled #65 (2005) 33 x 38"

about ‘untitled #65’, the artist’s brother mark, in the text accompanying roda’s photography book ‘a look in the mirror’, suggests a backstory to the depiction: ‘daddy tells me I can’t go to the kingdom of the lord.‘

‘games of antiquity, figure 9’ (2010) 30 x 44"

untitled #44 33 x 38"

untitled #121 (2006) 35 x 52"

‘untitled #121’ depicts ethan in pentedattilo, italy, where roda’s grandfather was born. exemplifying the kind of outside-of-time quality of his photographs, roda recounts that upon showing the image to his grandfather, the man asked how roda had obtained that boyhood picture of him.

untitled #113 (2006) 21 x 30"

untitled #154 16 x 23"