Popel Coumou

photographs

19 April – 11 May 2008

Popel Coumou (1978) graduated in 2004 at the Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam with photographs of interiors. Handmade maquettes that are complemented with cardboard perspectives form the base of these interiors. New work of Popel Coumou also shows several spaces, but these spaces are created in a different way. A picture of a space forms the basis of the work, and this picture is reconstructed and deformed by adding paper or other materials. This way, the artists creates collages with their own atmosphere.

These collages are photographed with a traditional small-image camera and enlarged to the format 87×130 cm. When seeing the potographs for the first time, it is not obvious that Coumou used such an elaborate technique. The audience need to take their time to discover the subtle adjustments made to the space. Next to these architectural photographs, the artists is also presenting selfportaits. These portraits are characterised by their dramatic use of light.