Picture preview: Elad Lassry

Elad Lassry's first solo show in London opens today at The White Cube in Hoxton.

Glancing around, you might initially be unimpressed. There are photos of a cat, of a glass swan and a photo of some ornamental knick-knacks; images that would seem more appropriate for a jumble sale or an OAP's sitting-room than the clean walls and high ceilings of the White Cube's exhibition space.

You have to get very close to the pictures to see there's more to them. The cat's fur is matted, and sparse in places, like old carpet or a worn, well loved toy. The ornaments are pigs with patterned skin. The swan is in fact two figures intertwined, one appears to have the head of a fox, about to bite into the swan's neck.

The photos are texturally interesting, because they are presented in 3D frames of complimentary colours, intended to make the colours in the photo pop forward, while the objects are reduced to flatness by the 2D photos.

Lassry's characteristic style of taking well-known images and distorting them is prevalent. What appears to be a glossy 1970s magazine advert for an espresso machine is subtly transformed with coffee grains spilling out of it and the smiling woman using it has a worn out expressian. Domestic bliss? Upstairs in the gallery the image is replicated, this time with a disturbing motion blur across the face.

Lassry's work is intended to make us consider photos as physical objects, something that digital photography has largely erased from today's world.

Click here or on the image above to preview selected works from the Elad Lassry exhibition

The exhibition will be at the White Cube, Hoxton Square, London, 23 September - 12 November 2011. White Cube is open Tuesday to Saturday, 10am to 6pm. For more information visit www.whitecube.com