Simen Johan Until the Kingdom Comes - Frist Center for the Visual ...

With <strong>the</strong>ir imposing size, articulatedtextures, and lifelike poses, <strong>the</strong> animalsin <strong>Simen</strong> <strong>Johan</strong>’s photographs have anuncanny quality of being literally present,as if <strong>the</strong>y are not just recorded by <strong>the</strong>camera but are actual animals seen upclose through a pane of clear glass.At <strong>the</strong> same time, <strong>the</strong>ir absolute stillnessand majestic presence, combined with<strong>the</strong> sublime beauty of <strong>the</strong>ir natural surroundings,suggest that <strong>the</strong>se may notbe images of quotidian reality at all, butvisions of Arcadia, dream sites in whichanimals stay gloriously frozen, <strong>for</strong>ever.Cover: Untitled #152, 2008Opposite page: Untitled #153, 2008Fig. 1: Untitled #136, 2006Fig. 2: Untitled #133, 2005Fig. 3: Untitled #135, 2006