Oscar O’Ryan’s “Motion” series, part of A Wolf at the Door, features photographs of dancers in and around Cape Town’s streets.
Written by Lauren Smit.
Four Stories. Three Rooms. One Nightmare.
Last Friday I attended the finale of A Wolf at the Door – A collaboration between photographer Oscar O’Ryan, choreographer and performer Louise Coetzer of Darkroom Contemporary and artists Zaka, Frank Lunar & Imraan Samo of The Origami Knights.
The exhibition started off with the viewing of local talented artists, The Origami Knights, displaying an amazing array of nightmarish illustrations.
Next was Oscar O’Ryan’s first exhibition, MOTION, a twelve week photographic journey of dance portraits. The images portrayed various dance genres, photographed around Cape Town. Each and every dancer’s character is stunningly depicted through the photograph, bringing dance to life.
The show concluded with a dramatic performance by the Darkroom Contemporary team – Performers using both dance and drama to lure audience into their captivating movements. We followed the dancers from room to room as the story of A Wolf at The Door unveiled.
“Every day in our minds a bitter struggle rages; one that threatens to unhinge us. We oscillate between crippling fear and blind optimism, agonizingly aware of our frailty in the face of any number of horrible possibilities.
The fear of losing control over our lives, the fear of fear itself, is the central theme of A Wolf at The Door, the newest work from Darkroom Contemporary. With the spotlight on human connection, the primary source of our disquiet, the spectre of our fear, flayed open and hung up for everyone to see, is deftly weaved through this travelling installation piece.
A Wolf at The Door is an unrelenting and frightening study of fear and offers no prescription for this universal malaise, but begs the question: There is always a wolf at the door. Will you feed it?”
A thoroughly entertaining and thought provoking collaboration between extremely talented artists whose passion shine through what they do best.
Motion was printed by Lauren Smit at the Orms Pro Photo Lab. Here’s a selection of photographs from the series:
Stunning!