Continuing on from yesterday’s article, today A BLOG presents the more recent works of American photographic artists Robert & Shana Parkeharrison chosen by Kris Van Assche for A#7.

The Parkeharrisons’ work from 2005-2007 sees a shift from their large scale productions of the late nineties towards a more intimate aesthetic, injecting a colourful and very human element that moves away from the suited ‘Everyman’. The new pieces from both the ‘Grey Dawn’ and ‘Counterpoint’ series are concerned with the interaction between people and living, breathing nature – less so the static geological and landscape of ‘The Architect’s Brother’.

Butterflies are a common motif in Kris Van Assche’s work, especially for the Fall Winter 2008 collection that accompanied A#7, and as such the pieces from ‘Gray Dawn’ entitled ‘Mourning cloak’, ‘Elegy’ and ‘Stolen Summer’ (below) each capture this symbolism in a new light. ‘Stolen Summer’ offers the butterflies as trapped – dead and bleeding, hammered to the wall, their beauty and life staunched by humanity. ‘Mourning cloak’ shows the butterflies in rapid flight, circling a hunched, pallid male form, aggressive wings beating and landing on the figure under harsh strip lighting. ‘Elegy’ presents a synergy between the insects and the human, as a small girl closes her eyes and allows a soft touch of the creatures on her cheek.

See Kris’s butterflies for Dior Homme in the Fall Winter 2008 show below:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7XuXfx-cNo[/youtube]

Please keep reading as we offer the last series of the Parkeharrisons’ work ‘Counterpoint’, tomorrow on A BLOG.