Surface N° 2

Surface N° 2 is the second edition with which the paper brand Arctic Volume presents international artists and their works—this time under the heading of hyperrealism. The 15 artists featured—including Wang & Söderström, Cody Cobb, and Namsa Leuba—show images in which reality and fantasy merge, boundaries dissolve, and irritating perspectives are exposed. On view are cityscapes, landscapes, and scenic compositions, as well as portraits of animals and people.

Surface N° 2 is an edition that features the work of internationally well-known artists and collectives who achieve fascinating multilayered effect in a wide variety of picture narratives. From cityscapes and landscapes, to scenic compositions, and to portraits of animals and people, the range of interests represented by these artists through the camera lens is wide. Their extremely multifaceted and high-resolution perspectives on the world are emphasized by paper from the Arctic Volume Range—with its outstanding print quality, distinctive surface, and natural feel.

Contemporary photography is characterized by strong contrasts. In digital media, image production is characterized by repetition and transience. Professional visual art, however—created with very high standards—is concerned with originality of authorship and permanence. But for both approaches, hyperrealism has become a benchmark.

Digital filters and editing tools are constantly being improved, making mass photography snapshots look like high-end works of art. But photographers, who hold on to the value of an individual image, create a hyperrealistic rendering of the world through attention to great detail—with precise motif choice and thought-through compositions as the distinguishing factors. Their artistic treatment has the goal of deepening the content of the image, making several hidden layers visible to the eye and, in effect, creating an artwork that is even more realistic than reality.

Hyperrealism describes the portrayal of something that aims to be “realer than real”—the exaggerated image of an existing object that unravels its minute details and normally imperceptible facets. Reality and fiction seamlessly blend together so that there is no clear distinction between where one ends and the other begins.

Surface N° 2

Artists and collectives: Anabela Pinto, Anders Brasch-Willumsen, Andrés Mañón, Bea De Giacomo, Cody Cobb, Filip Dujardin, Haw-lin Servicees, Jacques Brun, Livia Corona Benjamin, Lous Heilbronn, Namsa Leuba, Peter Bialobrzeski, Reinhard Hunger, Vincent Schwenk, Wang & Söderström
Concept and design: JUNO
Printer: Göteborgstyckeriet
Bookbinder: Nilssons Tyckeri
Paper: variety of different paper types from the Arctic Volume range—including four different shades and grammages between 90 to 300 g/m².

Surface N° 2 is available as a limited edition and only while stock lasts, you can order it here.