Henri Prestes’ dark and brooding work, Perfect Darkness is the second Art Catalogue Presents exhibition, our new monthly showcase of the best of the artwork featured in Art Catalogue. Every month we’ll be presenting the best of the work in Art Catalogue at theprintspace Gallery.
The exhibition opens on Thursday 15th February from 7.30pm at theprintspace Gallery!
RSVP HERE
The work aims to capture “the melancholy mood of dark eeriness that is often present in isolated places”. Prestes, a Portugese photographer, has spent many long nights over the last 2 years creating the work near isolated villages in the most secluded parts of his home country that are often surrounded by dense fog and heavy rain. He says that these places are perfect for creating the atmosphere and cinematic narrative that he seeks. He only produces the work when the conditions are right as “even the most boring place can look haunting and mysterious with the right weather and light”. Growing up in a small town in the mountain region of Portugal, Prestes would go out exploring abandoned places and forests. This experience has stayed with him and is explored in Perfect Darkness.
“I seek to create these cinematic moments that are mostly grounded in reality except some detail that doesn’t look quite right, like when you’re having a bad dream, and that hopefully makes the viewer uncomfortable and feeling like something is about to happen.”
