Artist: Andrea Alkalay

Fine art archival pigment print, size 30x45cm, Edition of 6.           

The price mentioned is for the print only, ofcourse we can deliver it frame and glass for an editional price. Contact us for more details: info@sandvoort.gallery

Attention: the gold leaves on the print of this series are painted by hand by the artist herself. The prints are produced as a small series of 6 pieces, but every print with this edition is different.

Andrea Alkelay takes her inspiration for her Kutho series from a Burmese concept of merit. A common ritual undertaken by Burmese Buddhists is to cover their relics with gold leaves. Leaving a gold-mark is exclusive to male devotees for merit-making towards a better karma. Women, in the guise of an impure status, are forbidden to approach. All over the kingdoms of Indochina, in a similar way, monks/nuns are other topics to see the place of women in religion nowadays.

“To go beyond persistent stereotypes, I think that liberation of the soul is an endless work in progress. I care about how an offering affirms the idea of a next life and empowers us by being used as a tool for that purpose. Gold and Religion have an ancient relationship. The series talks about Power associated with Religion and the relationship between the visible and not visible, the cult and the occult, and parallel universes. I use the same leaves to seal my memory with the gold light, which grace, I can not access and post a question about the duality of human nature, on those cultural orders that are such assimilated, that not seen. These interventions are aimed at interrupting expectations and expanding our interactions with the photograph and it’s meaning”.

Andrea Alkalay is an art photographer currently based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She holds a degree in Industrial Design, so materials have always been tools to highlight concepts. She uses photography as a way of thinking and looks for the poetic and political potential that arises from the observation, exploring the medium’s ability to manipulate perceptions of reality. Another line of inquiry of her practice is the voyage. The condition of foreignness and displacement is a source of inspiration. She is interested in the discrepancy between what we see and what we know.

Exhibitions:  Tifa 2019 (JP), Siena Awards 2020, RAK Festival (UAE), Arte x Arte, Centro Cultural San Martín, the 8th Photography Biennale Tucumán (AR), ArtFest Pueblo Garzón (UY), Premio TRESy3 (VE), Premio FINI (MX), Estación Mapocho (CL). She was awarded at the Light Festival Argentina with a solo-exhibition at the Provincial Museum of Fine Arts in San Juan (2018).

Alkalay is the author of Uncertain Nature photo book, published in 2016. Featured at international publications, as Foto Feminas, PHmuseum, Lensculture, Arte Hispano, Arte Al Día, among others.

During 2020 was on view at The New Gallery (Canada), PHmuseum, Photo London, BAphoto Live and solo show Otra Feria.