Matjaž Tančič | 3DPRK Portraits from North Korea

happylucky no.1 is pleased to announce 3DPKR: Portraits from North Korea, a collaboration between Slovenian photographer Matjaž Tančič and Beijing based North Korean art specialists Koryo Studio. The exhibition explores the nature of governmental control versus the everyday lives of North Koreans.

North Korea is one of the most reclusive and restrictive nations in the world. Foreign distrust meant that Tančič and Koryo Studio were accompanied by two guides, a producer and driver and not given access to certain areas or environments they may have wanted to document. The use of 3Dimensional technology, added an additional layer of complexity as all subjects were required to remain motionless, so that two photographs were captured at 6.4cm apart (the average dimensional space the human eye sees).

The resulting photographs focus on the core of North Korean society – its people, and attempt to occupy a space free from sensationalism or idealization, as seen in the expression of a local shop worker to a portrait of a young woman wearing a bathing suit at one of the nation’s new leisure centers. While the portraits are oddly stoic, Tančič gives us a lot of detail in the frame and by looking through the viewer, we must spend time looking at the photograph in order to find a connection.

Read more about Tančič’s work in the Observer, Digitalphotopro and Fstoppers.

About Matjaž Tančič
Matjaž Tančič (b. 1982) is a Slovenian photographer of the younger generation, who lives and creates between Beijing and Ljubljana. He began his path as a photojournalist for Mladina magazine, but quickly made his way abroad. A graduate of London College of Fashion, Matjaž has 60 group and 24 solo exhibitions behind him, with his work being featured in magazines such as Der Spiegel, Fast Company, Geo, National Geographic publications, L’Officiel, Vogue, Playboy, Elle, Tatler, and Marie Claire. He won a Sony World Photography Organisation 2013 contest in 3D category.

About happylucky no.1

happylucky no.1 is a contemporary art gallery located in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. We present emerging and established artists who focus on new artistic practices and experimental works across photography, painting, sculpture, film and sound art. happylucky no.1 delivers a robust multidisciplinary program of exhibitions, music performances, film screenings, special projects and conversations. You can find us in a gray, fish scale building at 734 Nostrand Avenue. Our façade is marked by a yellow neon dandelion. www.happyluckyno1.com