June 14 – September 22
Swimming Pool is Slovak artist Maria Svarbova‘s largest series yet, originating in 2014 and continuing to develop to date.
Sparked by a hunt for interesting locations, her fascination with the space of public swimming pools contributed to developing her visual style. The sterile, geometric beauty of old pools set the tone for these photographs.
Each features a different pool, usually built in the communist era, in various locations in Slovakia. There is an almost cinematographic quality to the highly controlled scenes that Maria captures. The figures are mid-movement, but there is no joyful playfulness to them. Frozen in the composition, the swimmers are as smooth and cold as the pool tiles. The colors softly vibrate in a dream-like atmosphere.
Despite the retro setting, the pictures somehow evoke a futuristic feeling, as if they were taken somewhere completely alien. There is no disturbing emotion, there is no individuality in their stillness. The artificial detachment, created by Maria’s vision, allows a unique visual pleasure, unattainable in real life.
