February 2, 2012—March 17, 2012 | Reception: Thursday February 2nd, 6-8PM

James Harris Gallery is pleased to present the first solo exhibition in the United States of South African photographer Guy Tillim’s new series taken in French Polynesia. This new body of work was inspired by the artist’s interest in a landscape with profound art historical reference. Tillim’s photographs capture the paradise discovered by Captain Cook in the late 18th century and painted by Gauguin. A book of these photographs titled Second Nature will be published by Prestel in April 2012.  Tillim’s career began in the latter years of apartheid documenting its effect on South Africa. He has moved away from documentary photography of child soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the famine victims in Malawi, or the decaying architecture that represent the loss of an African dream. Like other artists before him, Tillim states “In reading the accounts of the artists who accompanied Cook, I was interested to note that their debates on-board ship around the subject of the representation of landscape are very similar to those we have today: how much do you ‘give’ a scene and how much do you let it speak for itself?” His interest in the visual capacity of place, led Tillim to French Polynesia in 2010.

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