MEL BLES | PAUL CUPIDO | VIVIANE SASSEN

2024.03.07 | Diana Poole | CURATION Headers Mobile_05
Mel Bles
Untitled (from the series 'Islands'), 2017

Archival pigment print

69 x 59 cm

Edition of 3 (+ 1 AP)

Courtesy of Webber Gallery, London
© Mel Bles, London

MEL BLES
PAUL CUPIDO
VIVIANE SASSEN

The body has been a central subject since the beginning of photography. Today, we see contemporary artists exploring this form in new ways – relinquishing control to reveal vulnerability, rawness, tenderness and freedom.

We need new means of representing the evolving ideas around identity, particularly gender identity. Abandon features 3 contemporary artists - Mel Bles, Paul Cupido and Viviane Sassen - who present approaches that are primal and proud, sometimes intrusive but always compelling.

The selected photographs allow us to reflect on how we move through the world. The choice to express ourselves freely is a luxury - there’s a power to this, and it should be celebrated.

Viviane Sassen, Untitled from Roxane II, 022 & 023
Viviane Sassen
Untitled from Roxane II, 022 & 023, 2017

Digital print on Luster paper
45 x 30 cm (each print)
Edition of 3 (+ 2 AP)

Courtesy of Stevenson, Cape Town / Johannesburg
© Viviane Sassen

MEL BLES
PAUL CUPIDO
VIVIANE SASSEN

The body has been a central subject since the beginning of photography. Today, we see contemporary artists exploring this form in new ways – relinquishing control to reveal vulnerability, rawness, tenderness and freedom.

We need new means of representing the evolving ideas around identity, particularly gender identity. Abandon features 3 contemporary artists - Mel Bles, Paul Cupido and Viviane Sassen - who present approaches that are primal and proud, sometimes intrusive but always compelling.

The selected photographs allow us to reflect on how we move through the world. The choice to express ourselves freely is a luxury - there’s a power to this, and it should be celebrated.

Mel Bles, Untitled (from 'Islands'), 2017
Mel Bles
Untitled (from the series 'Islands'), 2017

Archival pigment print

69 x 59 cm

Edition of 3 (+ 1 AP)

Courtesy of Webber Gallery, London
© Mel Bles, London

“Mel’s video work ‘On Rhythms’ was completely hypnotic and immediately made me feel lighter. I wanted, through the images and words, to inspire a sense of release in others.”

_ DIANA ON WHY ‘ABANDON’

MEL BLES

On Rhythms, 2019
On Rhythms, 2019
Mel Bles
On Rhythms, 2019

Portfolio includes:
10 Risograph Prints (28 x 28 cm)
1 digital video file
Edition of 50

Courtesy of Webber Gallery, London
© Mel Bles, London
On Rhythms, 2019
On Rhythms, 2019
Mel Bles
On Rhythms, 2019

Portfolio includes:
10 Risograph Prints (28 x 28 cm)
1 digital video file
Edition of 50

Courtesy of Webber Gallery, London
© Mel Bles, London

“Photography, film, for me is liberation. Every project, be it in the realms of fashion or art is a moment to explore. To understand better, to experiment, to live in the now. To let go.”

_ BLES RESPONDING TO ‘ABANDON’ (AUG 2019)

On Rhythms, 2019
On Rhythms, 2019
Mel Bles
On Rhythms, 2019

Portfolio includes:
10 Risograph Prints (28 x 28 cm)
1 digital video file
Edition of 50

Courtesy of Webber Gallery, London
© Mel Bles, London

Mel Bles has created vibrant and original fashion photographs for over a decade. In contrast to her fast-paced fashion images, her personal work, ‘Islands’ and ‘On Rhythms’, enables her to slow down, study the body and its movements from every angle, working intimately with her subjects. In ‘Islands’, the curves of bodies echo the rippling arcs of sand dunes and cloud formations.

Untitled (from the series 'Islands'), 2017
Untitled (from the series 'Islands'), 2017
Mel Bles
Untitled (from the series 'Islands'), 2017

Archival pigment print

50.1 x 69 cm

Edition of 3 (+ 1 AP)

Courtesy of Webber Gallery, London
© Mel Bles, London

For ‘On Rhythms’, Bles documents women who are not dancers but who use their bodies to express pure joy and unrestrained movement – unguarded, wild and free.

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PAUL CUPIDO

Veins, 2018
Veins, 2018
Paul Cupido
Veins, 2018

Toned archival pigment print

31 x 22 cm

Edition of 10 (+ 2 AP)

Courtesy of Bildhalle, Zürich / Amsterdam
© Paul Cupido

The artworks are full of magic and melancholic beauty – occupying that liminal space between heartache and happiness.

“This (Abandon) is about the most primordial emotions for both humans and animals… your body and mind are fighting and resisting fiercely.”

_ CUPIDO RESPONDING TO ‘ABANDON’ (AUG 2019)

Paul Cupido is on an endless quest for meaning within the poignant reality that moments, relationships, indeed life itself, will inevitably end.

In Éphémère, Cupido seeks to highlight this vulnerability, alongside the strength that arises from our profound connection with nature. The moonlit landscapes, captured far from home (in Japan and the Brazilian Amazon), show shifting forms and bodies somewhere between night and day.

Cabaret Nocturne, Amazônia, 2018
Cabaret Nocturne, Amazônia, 2018
Paul Cupido
Cabaret Nocturne, Amazônia, 2018

Toned archival pigment print

64 x 44 cm

Edition of 7 (+ 2 AP)

Courtesy of Bildhalle, Zürich / Amsterdam
© Paul Cupido
Clair de Lune, 2018
Clair de Lune, 2018
Paul Cupido
Clair de Lune, 2018

Handcrafted chine-collé print on washi and toyobo paper

28 x 38 cm, Edition of 10 (+ 2 AP)
or/ 50.5 x 65.6 cm, Edition of 3 (+ 2 AP)


Courtesy of Bildhalle, Zürich / Amsterdam
© Paul Cupido
Estrelas de Agua, 2018
Estrelas de Agua, 2018
Paul Cupdio
Estrelas da agua, 2018

Archival pigment print
31 x 22 cm
Edition of 10 (+ 2 AP)

Courtesy of Bildhalle, Zürich / Amsterdam
© Paul Cupido
Hands together, 2018
Hands together, 2018
Paul Cupido
Hands together, 2018

Archival pigment print
31 x 22 cm
Edition of 10 (+ 2 AP)

Courtesy of Bildhalle, Zürich / Amsterdam
© Paul Cupido

VIVIANE SASSEN

When I look at these pictures, I don’t see that much sexual desire; I see a great desire to express oneself, to liberate – a great joy for life and a willingness to surrender.”

_ SASSEN RESPONDING TO ‘ABANDON’ (AUG 2019)

Untitled from Roxane II, 112, 2017
Untitled from Roxane II, 112, 2017
Viviane Sassen
Untitled from Roxane II, 112, 2017

Digital print on Luster paper
45 x 30 cm
Edition of 3 (+ 2 AP)

Courtesy of Stevenson, Cape Town / Johannesburg
© Viviane Sassen

Viviane Sassen’s work spans performance, photography and installation as well as design, collage, and fashion. In Roxane II, Sassen and her muse Roxane Danset articulate a disintegration of boundaries between artist and subject, alongside a unique synergetic creativity.

Roxane is caught in her own world, her own fantasy, without inhibitions. This limitless feeling is heightened through dynamic poses, movements, dramatic shadows and vibrant painterly gestures.

Untitled from Roxane II, 006, 2017
Untitled from Roxane II, 006, 2017
Viviane Sassen
Untitled from Roxane II, 006, 2017

Digital print on Luster paper
45 x 30 cm
Edition of 3 (+ 2 AP)

Courtesy of Stevenson, Cape Town / Johannesburg
© Viviane Sassen

“To empower oneself, not only by showing strength but also vulnerability.”

_ SASSEN RESPONDING TO ‘ABANDON’ (AUG 2019)

Untitled from Roxane II, 035, 2017
Untitled from Roxane II, 035, 2017
Viviane Sassen
Untitled from Roxane II, 035, 2017

Digital print on Luster paper
45 x 30 cm
Edition of 3 (+ 2 AP)

Courtesy of Stevenson, Cape Town / Johannesburg
© Viviane Sassen

The dichotomy in Sassen’s work – simultaneously sensual and delicate, yet disorientating and disturbing – invites the viewer to respond freely.

Untitled from Roxane II, 090, 2017
Untitled from Roxane II, 090, 2017
Viviane Sassen
Untitled from Roxane II, 090, 2017

Digital print on Luster paper
45 x 30 cm
Edition of 3 (+ 2 AP)

Courtesy of Stevenson, Cape Town / Johannesburg
© Viviane Sassen
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Advisory

Diana Poole is a Zürich-based art advisor specialised in photography. She supports clients to build and grow art collections advising on the acquisition, management and presentation of modern and contemporary works. Diana also curates exhibitions and organises art events.
Diana Poole is a Zürich-based art advisor specialised in photography. She supports clients to build and grow art collections advising on the acquisition, management and presentation of modern and contemporary works. Diana also curates exhibitions and organises art events.