Evelyn Bencicova: Commercial and Artistic Work by Conceptual Photographer

Visual Art by Evelyn Bencicova

    The eye of the photographer is always sharpened on outer observations which are, more or less, an effect of intuition or sudden impulses. Nevertheless, in order to avoid mystification, it is important to underline the agenda of the photographer – a specific social and political standpoint from which one author constructs personal aesthetic and in general, it’s artistic practice. 

In the contemporary world suffocated with images, young and prosperous Slovakian artist Evelyn Bencicova creates amazing and politically charged narratives full of both nostalgia and black humor. Well-choreographed and positioned like sculptures, the figures present in her photo become at the same time decorative element of the interior or exterior in which they were captured or silent observers eager to deliver a certain message.

A Burgeoning Photographer

Evelyn Bencicova was born in Bratislava in 1992. She studied new media and fine art at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna. By constructing specific and somehow eerie aesthetic, Bencicova tends to explore a variety of social and political meanings her images may provoke. Namely, they reflect her ongoing interest in the matters of human existence which can be rooted in her childhood desire to become a politician or a philosopher

Bencicova manages to maintain her impeccable visual perspective by merging the artistic and the commercial. Therefore, the list of her clients gathers names of famous fashion brands like Gucci, over magazines such as Dazed & Confused, to cultural institutions like Museumsquartier Vienna. Bencicova won the prestigious Hasselblad Masters and Broncolor GenNext award in 2016 as well as Fashion Film Festival Milano 2017 award for a film titled Asymptote (2016), co-created with Adam Csoka Keller.

Dystopian Images of Evelyn Bencicova

The series of Evelyn Bencicova reveal perfect sense for a detail; by performing simple gestures the represented figures emphasize a given narrative. Furthermore, a specific kind of light and an extraordinary selection of locations additionally build a cinematic atmosphere of a highly dystopian society similar to the one present in the novel 1984 by George Orwell.

Whether perceived as a critique of highly robotized reality we live in or repressive political mechanisms in general, multilayered and timeless images of Evelyn Bencicova pose questions of human autonomy, freedom of expression and loneliness.