ABOUT THE EXHIBITION
BC Gallery Basel is pleased to present the exhibition „Keep A Blind Eye“ by Swiss artist Timo Paris.
„Keep A Blind Eye“ is based on the physical experiences of multimedia artist and dancer Timo Paris (*1994). His works invite viewers to activate not only their visual senses but also their tactile, physical, and introspective skills. His pro- cess-oriented explorations across various disciplines and media, prompt reflection on bodily perception and the potential of conveying internalized processes.
„The exhibition presents snapshots of my perception as a body in the world.“
As a visual artist and dancer, Timo Paris engages with the body and the object. His works question the dominance of sight in Western culture and the consequent suppression of body-based, sensory experience. According to Paris, digitiz- ation and social media reinforce the prevailing visual dispo- sitif, leading to a sense of alienation from one‘s own body. Paris intertwines visual appearance and bodily experience in a multimedia and multi-perspective manner.
„Physical experiences as basic universal human perception offer opportunities to communicate beyond the boundaries of education and socialization.“
Paris collages performance visuals into sculptural installa- tions in „Skurrili“. He lets bodies dance amidst concrete in the film „SCRUPUS,“ translates these experiences of archi- tecture and body into drawings in „Tales of the Unseen“ and transforms drawing practice into paper performan- ces in „Low eyes & Loopholes.“ In his latest work “Whe-
re Dreams Converge“ he reflects the hand as a point of contact with the environment. All these diverse works, in medium and execution, bear witness to bodily experience. Viewers are invited to immerse themselves in their own
physical experience in the film installation „SCRUPUS“ and plunge into disorientation and „weightlessness“ in a lying position.
Timo Paris is concerned with more than just the mere image of the body; he aims to capture time, leave a trace, but also evoke subconscious sensations. „Keep a blind eye“ is a call to close one eye amidst the flood of images of our generation, to create space for introspection – to perceive and reflect the senses the artist activates through his works.
Text: Nathalie Gallus
Artist statement
Even though my art primarily utilizes visual means of expression in this exhibition, it concerns other sensory perceptions and physical as well as mental states. The exhibition presents snapshots of my perception as a body in the world. Fragments of contorted body parts, leaning into architecture. Frozen yoga poses. Distances that expand into eternities within the body during meditations. Concrete rubbing against the skin. Scalp shedding. Glass, with sweat-soaked backs sliding on it. Allied with intellect, the sense of sight dominates Western culture. Visual experiences tempt us to lean more towards the analytical and rational, pushing us away from body-based, sen- sory knowledge. The increasing digitalization exacerbates this si- tuation. Consequently, in today‘s technological world, we seem to experience alienation and loneliness from our own bodies. Physical experiences as the basis of a universally human perception offer op- portunities to communicate across the boundaries of education and socialization. Here, I see the potential of dance and movement with the ability to shape physical experience and deepen the connection to oneself and others. The title „Keep a blind eye“ is a call to counte- ract the flood of images through self-regulation and to make space. Space for the subtle, invisible, audible, tangible.
Visit artist website here.
