Number 35 is pleased to present Bends Back On, a two-person video and photography exhibition curated by Brad Silk. Bends Back On discusses the relations between self and society from the position of artist in reflection and artist as commenter. These artists develop a circular relationship, like the sociological condition known as reflexivity, where observer or actions implicate findings. In their visual analysis we discover the artists’ fingerprint on society as well as the inverse.

Robert Dupree uses his body as a tool in his Torture You/Torture Me series, where we join him in discovering the limits of body and mind. Documenting acts of sadism and struggle, he grasps at social oddity within normality. Next to his still images, Dupree stacks five discarded television sets, playing videos that invite the viewer into his journey. Dupree travels through pain and whimsy in photography and video with a humorous yet concerning eye on modern society.

Claudia Saimbert studies the connections found in diverse backgrounds. Her raw portraits of young women on top of mounds of earth, call upon the idea of first female. Accompanying her portraits, Saimbert installs a mound which emits an haunting sound collage, woven together from subject interviews. Seemingly sterile, Saimbert’s images depict the deep wounds within a diverse sisterhood, which she explores, finding similarities in varied experiences.