ABACUS features 8 artists from 6 different countries and is named after the ancient mathematical system, Abacus: A world in-between historic analog techniques and modern digitalisation. Each artist works in their own unique sphere somewhere in -or in an extension of- the world of photography. They use photographic techniques not merely as a means to a product, but as a tool to research and explore and to find deeper meaning and stories through their processes.

Albarrán Cabrera, Spain. Anna Cabrera and Angel Albarrán deploy photography as a philosophical tool to understand the world. Their images are the notebooks of their deep and intensive research. They experiment extensively with existing printing techniques and invent new ones- such as cyanotype emulsion on gold, which is shown in this group exhibition. Albarrán Cabrera's photographs are not merely images, instead, they are unique physical objects.

Anais Boudot, France. Boudot works around the exploration of photographic techniques, she seeks to question the specific means of this medium through research and experimentation. Landscapes and light – like evocations of mental spaces, of the domain of remembrance – are found at the heart of her works. She questions the borders of the visible and engages in interstices created between time and movement.

Henri van Noordenburg, Australia. Van Noordenburg's work focuses on the question of belonging, not only the sense of belonging to a place in indigenous terms, but also the effect upon the natural environment due to global warming. Equally his work is about the Diaspora of human kind, whether caused by natural disasters or human injustice, like oppression related to religion, race, gender or sexuality. Through his work, van Noordenburg searches for a modern Utopia.

Margaret Landsink, Netherlands. Lansink’s work is created around a strong poetic signature and conveys an open and honest reflection of her emotions. Her series illustrate and inspire people to embrace the idea that in the concept of change, true beauty is to be found. Beauty to rekindle our thoughts, our ideas, our (human) connections, our society, our bond with Nature and most importantly our ‘self’.

Camille Rouzaud, USA. Resilience and resistance figure greatly in Rouzaud's work; as means of self-preservation, they're human nature, and her work often explores those instincts through the impetuousness of adolescence.

Inge Schoutsen, Nederland. Schoutsen uses realistic imagery accommodated by abstract photographic techniques such as blur, polarisation, dazzle and grain as mysterious phantoms. Her works gain a sense of materiality by using printmaking techniques such as photopolymer etching, and by adding spray-paint, graphite and acrylic paint she stirs up a steady murmur of potential meaning. Her work is about rhythm. The rhythms of observation is where it lives.

Guinness Frateur, Belgium. Frateur’s practice explores the process behind the image. By focusing on how the image is made, instead of what it depicts, attention is brought to the image as an object. The presentation of his work further examines this “object status”, while also allowing for interaction and play with the surrounding space.

Cyril Manzini, France. Manzini's work alludes to the great masters of painting. The work which is on show in this exhibition is an original Fresson print. A technique invented by Théodore-Henri Fresson and passed down in the family for four generations. Fresson prints make photographs look poetic, as if the weight of time had passed over and carved the grain of the paper. To this day, the Fresson lab in the outskirts of Paris is still run by the Fresson family and is the only one in the world to produce such prints.

ABACUS is curated by Joost Vandebrug.

Artists: Inge Schoutsen, Guinness Frateur, Albarrán Cabrera, Cyril Manzini, Camille Rouzaud, Margaret Landsink, Henri van Noordenburg, Anais Boudot, Joost Vandebrug