“My pictures should enchant people, inspire them to dream, and tell them stories,” says Irene Kung. In her Timeless Machine series, the trained painter creates a connection between a perfectly engineered machine and timeless art. We see the iconic Porsche 911 in unexpected places – among snow-capped mountain peaks or between the…
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“My pictures should enchant people, inspire them to dream, and tell them stories,” says Irene Kung. In her Timeless Machine series, the trained painter creates a connection between a perfectly engineered machine and timeless art. We see the iconic Porsche 911 in unexpected places – among snow-capped mountain peaks or between the skyscrapers in the canyon-like streets of New York City.
Her expressive photographs seem nearly like paintings. Kung takes inspiration from Renaissance frescos, especially the use of light by artists such as Piero della Francesca, Titian, and Caravaggio. “I’ve transferred the techniques of the old masters to photography,” Kung says with regard to her creative process. The artist works with different layers, highlights certain areas, and even digitally “paints over” portions in her post-processing. “In my mind, I am still a painter, but I use my camera like a brush.”
In this way, Irene Kung translates the graceful Porsche 911 into her own visual vocabulary, one that is mysterious, dramatic, and timeless. Her narrative photographs are like film scenes that take us through dreamlike stories, sometimes blurring the boundaries between reality and illusion.
Bio
Irene Kung was born in Switzerland in 1958, has an education in graphic design, and has studied painting in Rome. After finishing her studies, she began to focus more and more on photography. Her work has appeared in numerous solo exhibitions in London, New York, Beijing and Buenos Aires. Kung has participated in art fairs including Art Miami, ParisPhoto and MIA Fair Art Milano. After spending several years in Madrid and Rome, she now lives in Switzerland.
Exhibitions
Solo Exhibitions
2018 Chiaroscuro Contemporary Art, Santa Fe, NM, USA 2017 Chiaroscuro Contemporary Art, Santa Fe, NM, USA 2017 Galleria Valentina Bonomo, Rome, Italy 2016 Galleria Contrasto, Milan, Italy 2015 Chiaroscuro Contemporary Art, Santa Fe, NM, USA 2015 Forma Galleria, Milan, Italy 2014 ArtPassions la Galerie, Geneva, Switzerland 2013 Forma Galleria, Milan, Italy 2013 Photographica Fine Art, Lugano, Switzerland 2013 Photolux Festival, Lucca, Italy 2013 Imagokinetics Gallery, Hangzhou, China 2013 The Temple, Beijing, China 2012 Forma Galleria, Milan, Italy 2012 Galleria Valentina Bonomo, Rome, Italy 2012 Chiaroscuro Contemporary Art, Santa Fe, NM, USA 2012 Goedhuis Contemporary, London, UK 2010 Photographica FineArt Gallery, Lugano, Switzerland 2010 Forma Centro Internazionale di Fotografia, Milan, Italy 2009 CentroArtiVisivePescheria, Pesaro, Italy 2009 Goedhuis Contemporary, London, UK 2008 Chiaroscuro Contemporary Art, Santa Fe, NM, USA 2008 Galleria Bonomo, Bari, Italy 2007 Goedhuis Contemporary, New York, NY, USA 2007 Centro Cultural Recoleta, Buenos Aires, Argentina 2006 & 2007 Galleria Bonomo, Rome, Italy 2003 Goedhuis Contemporary, New York, NY, USA 2008 Chiaroscuro Contemporary Art, Santa Fe, NM, USA 2007 Galleria Bonomo, Bari, Italy, 2008 Goedhuis Contemporary, New York, NY, USA 2007 Centro Cultural Recoleta, Buenos Aires, Argentina 2006 & 2007 Galleria Bonomo, Rome, Italy 2003 Goedhuis Contemporary, New York, NY, USA
Group Exhibitions
2018 Paris Photo, France 2017 “Sea(e)scapes. Visioni di Mare”, Galleria Contrasto, Milan, Italy 2017 Bulgari y Roma, Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid, Spain 2016 Guarienti, una bottega, Castello di Conversano, Apulia, Italy 2016 Les Racines du Ciel, Saanen, Switzerland 2015 Henri Cartier-Bresson e gli altri – I grandi fotografi e l’Italia, Palazzo della Ragione, Milan, Italy 2015 The Garden of Wonders, Fruits and Legumes Cluster, EXPO 2015, Milan 2015 Capri Trend, SALT, Istanbul, Turkey 2014 Capri Trend, Centro Cultural Pedregal, Mexico City, Mexico 2014 Capri Trend, Nirox Foundation, Johannesburg, South Africa 2014 Capri Trend, Museum of Modern Art, Baku, Azerbaijan 2014 NY b&w, Pobeda Gallery, Moscow, Russia 2014 Capri Trend Masterworks Museum, Hamilton, Bermuda 2013 La stanza di Irene, Galleria Bonomo, Bari, Italy 2013 La seduzione delle forme, Casa dei Tre Oci, Venice, Italy 2012 Sense of Place, BOZAR, Centre for Fine Arts, Brussels, Belgium 2012 Affinità e differenze. Da Haas a Zoran Music, Madonna dell’Orto, Venice, Italy 2012 Mare Nostrum, Certosa di San Giacomo, Stanze del Priore, Capri, Italy 2012 Il Fuoco della Natura, Museum Ex-Pescheria, Salone degli Incanti, Trieste, Italy 2011 Visioni Urbane, Fondazione Forma per la Fotografia, Milan, Italy 2010 Nautre Sensibili, Fondazione Forma per la Fotografia, Milan, Italy 2010 Puglia Conteporanea: Artisti a Palazzo, Gagliano del Capo, Italy 2009 L’Arca, Galleria Bonomo, Bari, Italy 2008 Incipit, Palazzo Rospigliosi, Rome, Italy
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