Old Love by Milan Gies
9 September 2022 – 5 March 2023
Purmerends Museum, Kaasmarkt 20, Purmerend
A special collaboration between The Gallery Club and the Purmerends Museum.
About the exhibition
In his series Old Love photographer Milan Gies focuses on horses that are in special rest homes. He photographed the old horses in a studio that he built in the stables or barns where the animals live. In the photos, Gies shows the beautiful bodies and postures of the horses against a neutral dark background. In this way he hopes to remove the context as much as possible and to invite the viewer to see the animals as they are.
It was very special for Gies to be back in the stables and to look at horses with his knowledge of the past as a professional show jumper, but now with a camera in his hand. Horses arouse empathy and touch people in an almost universal emotion, which can be understood without words.
An autobiographical element is always present in Gies’ work; his own experiences with human vulnerability are symbolically reflected in the falling movements and postures that characterize many of his portraits (both human and animal). In his choice of subject, he also has a preference for those who, for whatever reason, cannot keep up with our performance society or who feel like outsiders. The horses that Gies has portrayed are also no longer ‘profitable’, because they are old or injured, but fortunately they are lovingly cared for. The exhibition is on view until 5 March 2023.
For sales inquiries, please contact Gili Crouwel: gili@thegalleryclub.com.