The Armory Show is America's leading fine art fair devoted to the most important art of the 20th and 21st centuries. In its eleven years, the fair has become an international institution.
Every March, artists, galleries, collectors, critics and curators from all over the world make New York their destination during Armory Arts Week. Anne-Karin Furunes is represented at the Armory show by Galerie Anhava and Barry Friedman Ltd. Furunes' work is can also be seen at the Museum of Arts and Design's Slash: Paper Under the Knife exhibition, on display through April 4th 2010.
Ann Karin Furunes Anne-Karin Furunes’ work, at first glance, appears to be a photograph; most frequently the image is an extreme close-up of a male or female face. As one approaches the image, however, it begins to fade and ultimately disappear as the viewer becomes visually aware of the plain black surface of the paper. What had been an easily recognizable visage is seen to be a sheet of black paper (or canvas) punctured by hundreds of small holes. The effect is dependent upon light transmitted through the holes from behind the sheet; without light the image is nearly invisible. The punched holes vary in diameter; together they are able to create the illusion of highlights and shadows and thus define the form with astonishing accuracy. While based on actual photographs, the works are entirely hand punched. The artist has used photographs of named contemporary individuals in Norway and China, but also photographs of anonymous individuals, including a group of faces collected as part of a racial genetic study in the 1920s to 1940s.