Chaos III by Calmen & Bech

"The end of the world. Stones, rocks here and there, everywhere. Chaos. Fog falling down, cutting off this piece of land from the rest of the world. Shrouded in mystery, loneliness, fear… but at the same time giving the sensation of a soft and cushioned space, separate and unique, peaceful and timeless..."

You can read more about Calmen & Bech below, or go straight to the iimage gallery. To arrange to view the works in person please contact katestevens@hackelbury.co.uk

Working in collaboration to create captivating and mysterious landscapes, French artists Calmen & Bech consciously retain a sense of anonymity. In their alluring and atmospheric artworks an acknowledgement of time and place is not significant. Instead we are suspended in timeless space: the familiar transcends the everyday and the viewer is introduced to what they describe as ‘the ends of our world.’

Firmly grounded in the strength and beauty of nature itself, the photographs of Calmen & Bech recall the Romantic era and the origins of the photographic medium. They revive artistic values first embraced by masters of nineteenth century photography such as Gustave le Gray, and later by the Pictorialists. The silvered waters of a lily pond, the twisted roots of the oak tree, and the lush grasses of a fog-swept field encourage us to reconsider our relationship to the natural world.

Though influenced by history and tradition, the work of Calmen & Bech offers a unique and contemporary point of view. Creating multiple panels that fragment the landscape, the artists weave texture and form in a way that appears almost cinematic. Shown in sequence, the photographs suggest the narrative for a story never fully told; the conclusion found only in the eye of the beholder.

Calmen & Bech's work is held in private collections worldwide and in the collection of the Biblioteque Nationale, Paris, France.