80 photographs and photomontages. Each 60 x 40 cm (some photos: different measures). C-prints on aluminium DiBond.
GLASGOW STYLES
Myriam Thyes, 2009. Photo series, about 80 images in all, inkjet print on Aluminium DiBond, each 60 x 40 cm (and a few different formats).
Shot in August and September 2008 during an artist's residency in Glasgow (granted by the cities of Dusseldorf and Glasgow). Digitally edited and finished in 2009. Some images as backlight prints in light boxes.
This series of photos and photomontages reflect the artist's impressions of the post-industrial city of Glasgow and her inhabitants. Thyes has drawn a social portrait and created a kind of contemporary "Historienbilder" (historical paintings). The current modernisation and reorganisation of the city stands in sharp contrast to the residential periphery with its high-rises and small family homes, and as well to the living scottish traditions, like Pipe Bands and highland games. While a part of the population works hard and with enthusiasm transforming Glasgow into a centre for services, tourism and culture, many descendants of the former working class remain without jobs and depend on social security. The formerly many and important dockyards for shipbuilding, for example, now only get a commissions from the military and the petrol industry ... The narrow lanes in the centre of Glasgow alternate with the larger roads and show the "backs" of the goodly victorian blocks - here employees have a cigarette and coffee break, a chat, beside the rubbish containers. The omnipresence of surveillance cameras, even in the most humble residential areas, struck the artist as much as the high number of (too) young mothers. In the typical scottish weather with its fast changing light, Myriam Thyes caught views of buildings, people and urban accessories. She combined photos to diptychs, triptychs and groups. And she used some photomontage, placeing large persons - photographed in the shopping zone - "back into their living area". This and the geometrical image formation give these series a certain monumentality and strength.
