Look At Me And Tell Me If You Have Known Me Before – Monica Nouwens
17 May - 14 July 2013

With her project Look At Me And Tell Me If You Have Known Me Before Dutch photographer Monica Nouwens dedicated herself to portraying the ambivalent appeal of one of the world’s largest cities: Los Angeles. As the sunlight fades and the twilight appears, the city turns into an entrancing wonderland whose charm can disappear in the blink of an eye. Her work condenses a mixture of roughness, sensuality and emotional moments and turns it into a fragile but timeless image of beauty and the human condition.For Look At Me And Tell Me If You Have Known Me Before Nouwens focuses on the LA bohemia, a subculture of people who seem to have withdrawn from the dominant consumer culture. These groups shape more personal, small-scale alternatives that operate outside the standard economic structure. Monica Nouwens is a fellow of the Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten in Amsterdam. During her fifteen years in Los Angeles, Nouwens has built a reputation for her photography of architecture and urbanism.
http://foam.org/press/2013/monica-nouwens

Artist Talk: Monica Nouwens
Tuesday May 21th
Foam and Paradox organize an extended Artist Talk with artist Monica Nouwens, as part of her exhibition Look At Me And Tell Me If You Have Known Me Before. During this evening Monica Nouwens and curator Frank Ortmanns, will talk about the project and the exhibition. Hripsimé Visser, curator photography at the Stedelijk Museum will discuss her work in the context of other photographers interested in subculture, who take on an insider's perspective. Josien Pieterse, political scientist and director Netwerk Democratie, will place the work in a broader social context. She will discuss the phenomenon that people (consciously) withdraw from social structures and no longer take part in the political system. Ultimate form of subversion or permanently absent from the public debate?
http://www.foam.org/visit-foam/calendar/2013/artist-talk-monica-nouwens