Markus Rock: Chimera

From the BBA Photography Prize 2022 shortlist, BBA Gallery presents a solo exhibition by German fine-art photographer Markus Rock. “Chimera”, his latest series, takes the mythological Greek Chimera as its point of departure to explore human identity.

Photographed in 2019 at Uferstudios, Berlin, “Chimera'' plays on perception and imagination. An uncanny similarity of physics and extreme physical proximity blurs the distinction between the models Julia and Siri. Just as the Chimera is an incongruous assemblage of animals, the two women in the photographs contort around each other to become new and absurd creatures. Their pale, lithic bodies become unusual organisms, where body parts emerge from shadows and recesses of the flesh at unnatural angles, seemingly one. It is the viewer and their imagination that brings to life this grotesque Chimera of body parts. Upon closer inspection, the Chimera dissolves back into a recognizable collection of disconnected limbs.

Due to the fusion of choreography, dance and Renaissance lighting in “Chimera”, the bodies take center-stage as objects involved in a dynamic relationship. As the two women blend together, their bodies are conduits, creators and makers of the artwork. It -the body -becomes the primal source of artistic expression.

Markus Rock based the series on Julia's choreographic work with her dance Siri. Prior to the shoot - documented in one take - the women had been working for 2 ½ years on a project together. Their close professional and personal relationship makes possible their physical closeness. Intuitive and emotionally driven, “Chimera” is a testament to the transformative potential of human connections that goes beyond verbal communication.