They Were Here
2009 - Installation (Installation)
Elisheva Biernoff
In her recent work, Biernoff is interested in investigating fictions and fantasies embedded in the remnants of consumer culture (for example magazines) or through ephemera such as postcards and old photographs. Although the imagery present in her work might seem nostalgic upon first encounter, Biernoff’s complex tableaux often reveal the artist’s skeptical look towards her subjects matters. They Were Here (2010), constitutes a clear example. The 16 ft long tableau confronts the viewer with a seemingly paradisiacal scene: a tropical deserted island with white sands and blooming trees appears to be a coveted destination. However the scene quickly turns into a dystopian image, once one pays attention to the small details camouflaged inside it: an erupting volcano or a dead bird. Biernoff places a pair of binoculars in front of the painting to reinforce this idea. Looking through their fake mdf lenses, the painted landscape is rendered blurry. The whole scene acts up as the backdrop of a theater act and the prop quality of its elements suggests a certain lightness associated with utopian dreams.
Elisheva Biernoff’s work engages and reconsiders the tradition of painting in an interesting way, often taking source material from media or recreating photographs through a careful trompe d’oeil technique. Thus, her work engages in the discussion of re-representation through painting, not aiming to portray any given reality faithfully but rather as the ideal way to engage with a subject matter that explores the intersection between myths, fictions and fantasies. In some cases, her works also address particular ecological concerns.
Colors:
Related works featuring themes of: » Art in Art, » Photorealistic, » Visual Perception, » Contemporary Traces of Memory, » Figurative Art, » Miniature and Small-Scale Paintings, » American
» see more
© » KADIST
Yao Jui-Chung
2013Long Long Live (2013) takes the viewer to the setting of the Oasis Villa on Green Island, once a reform and re-education prison to house political prisoners during Taiwan’s martial law period...
© » KADIST
Nathaniel Dorsky
2010Dorsky’s pieces included in the Kadist Collection are small still photographs from twelve of his most important films...
© » KADIST
Alessandro Balteo Yazbeck
2008Part of a larger series of photographic works, Alessandro Balteo Yazbeck’s Corrupted file from page 14 (V1) from the series La Vega, Plan Caracas No...
© » KADIST
Wong Hoy Cheong
2009Days of Our Lives: Reading is from a series of work was created for the 10th Biennale de Lyon by the artist...
Other related works, blended automatically
» see more
© » KADIST
Elisheva Biernoff
2009Last Postcards is a series of three small double-sided paintings on plywood in which Biernoff imagines the last communications from explorers lost in the wilderness...
© » KADIST
Yao Jui-Chung
2013Long Long Live (2013) takes the viewer to the setting of the Oasis Villa on Green Island, once a reform and re-education prison to house political prisoners during Taiwan’s martial law period...
© » KADIST
Nathaniel Dorsky
2010Dorsky’s pieces included in the Kadist Collection are small still photographs from twelve of his most important films...
© » KADIST
Wong Hoy Cheong
2004Re: Looking marks a new phase in Wong’s work which connects his region’s history with other parts of the world...
Related works sharing similar palette
» see more
© » KADIST
Michael Rakowitz
2017The Ballad of Special Ops Cody by Michael Rakowitz is a serio-comic stop motion animated film in which an everyday African-American G...
© » KADIST
Edgar Arceneaux
2006Untitled (Wheelchair Drawing) is a ten-foot photo transfer of the image of a wheelchair with burning embers in its seat...
© » LARRY'S LIST
Collect Like an Expert: How to Find Great Emerging Artists | Art & Object Skip to main content Subscribe to our free e-letter! Webform Your Email Address Your Role Art Collector/Enthusiast Artist Art World Professional Academic Country USA Afghanistan Albania Algeria American Samoa Andorra Angola Anguilla Antarctica Antigua & Barbuda Argentina Armenia Aruba Ascension Island Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia & Herzegovina Botswana Bouvet Island Brazil British Indian Ocean Territory British Virgin Islands Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Canary Islands Cape Verde Caribbean Netherlands Cayman Islands Central African Republic Ceuta & Melilla Chad Chile China Christmas Island Clipperton Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia Comoros Congo - Brazzaville Congo - Kinshasa Cook Islands Costa Rica Croatia Cuba Curaçao Cyprus Czechia Côte d’Ivoire Denmark Diego Garcia Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Eswatini Ethiopia Falkland Islands Faroe Islands Fiji Finland France French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Gibraltar Greece Greenland Grenada Guadeloupe Guam Guatemala Guernsey Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana Haiti Heard & McDonald Islands Honduras Hong Kong SAR China Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Isle of Man Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jersey Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Kosovo Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macao SAR China Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania Mauritius Mayotte Mexico Micronesia Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Montserrat Morocco Mozambique Myanmar (Burma) Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands Netherlands Antilles New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Niue Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands North Korea North Macedonia Norway Oman Outlying Oceania Pakistan Palau Palestinian Territories Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Pitcairn Islands Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Qatar Romania Russia Rwanda Réunion Samoa San Marino Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Sint Maarten Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Georgia & South Sandwich Islands South Korea South Sudan Spain Sri Lanka St...
Other works by: » Elisheva Biernoff
» see more
© » KADIST
Elisheva Biernoff
2009Last Postcards is a series of three small double-sided paintings on plywood in which Biernoff imagines the last communications from explorers lost in the wilderness...
Related works found in the same semantic group
» see more
© » KADIST
Keren Cytter
“Untitled” is inspired by the movie “Opening Night” by John Cassavetes with Gena Rowlands playing the role of a fallen woman, anguished by her distressed life...
© » KADIST
Citra Sasmita
2019The work Timur Merah Project 2, the harbour of restless spirit is stretched out on a full cow’s hide, replicates the Kamasan Balinese painterly language that Citra Sasmita has developed in her recent works...
© » KADIST
Emma Wolukau-Wanambwa
2005A short video about Tate Modern by Emma Wolukau-Wanambwa depicts just two shots, both featuring the artist...
