Philotheus Nisch, Skewer, Straw, Breadcrust, 2020. Courtesy of the Artist. Photo: Michael Love.

Philotheus Nisch, Skewer, Straw, Breadcrust, 2020. Courtesy of the Artist. Photo by Michael Love.

Philotheus Nisch, Skewer, 2020. Courtesy of the Artist.

Philotheus Nisch, Breadcrust, 2020. Courtesy of the Artist.

Philotheus Nisch, Straw, 2020. Courtesy of the Artist.

Philotheus Nisch, Skewer, Straw, Breadcrust, 2020. Courtesy of the Artist. Photo: Michael Love.

Philotheus Nisch, Skewer, Straw, Breadcrust, 2020. Courtesy of the Artist. Photo by Michael Love.

Philotheus Nisch, Skewer, 2020. Courtesy of the Artist.

Philotheus Nisch, Breadcrust, 2020. Courtesy of the Artist.

Philotheus Nisch, Straw, 2020. Courtesy of the Artist.

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Skewer, Straw, Breadcrust

Berlin-based artist Philotheus Nisch creates strangely surreal still lifes using a wide variety of props and artifacts juxtaposed in surprising compositions. Foods stacked into a colourful kebab, a straw from which a glistening red liquid flows, and the crusts of bread are the main components in these beguiling arrangements – but juxtaposed against an impossibly beautiful sky or a golden sunset, these mundane objects are elevated as if supernatural or magical. “Everything you can think of can be translated into photography,” he states, finding inspiration in flea markets, dollar stores, construction sites, and hardware stores. His work features ordinary things made extraordinary through the hyper saturated, high-contrast, high-gloss images and close cropping that defines his work and makes these objects the subject of intense scrutiny.

Despite the exceedingly produced nature of his images, postproduction and manipulation after shooting in Nisch’s work is minimal. The images are, however, decidedly constructed, and Nisch acknowledges that each work is the result of a series of decisions, whether intuitive or calculated.

The images selected for this installation were initially commissioned for publication in magazines and newspapers and all evidence the artist’s fantastical treatment. In choosing to integrate his commercial and artistic practice in this way, Nisch questions the boundaries between these two realms and the way in which value is accorded to images.

Presented in partnership with Booooooom and the Canada Line Public Art Program – InTransit BC

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