Posts from ‘Photography’
The Jackson Hole Art Association kicks off its Summer Exhibitions this week, when artists Mark Newport, Jean Laughton and Taylor Glenn present their work. A reception for all three shows takes place Friday, June 3, 5:30 pm at the Center for the Arts. The shows remain up through July 29, 2011.
Mark Newport’s Sweatermen are giant, knit superhero costumes. Hand made knit goods are especially memory-provoking and connective. My own mother still knits, and a few Christmases ago she created a series of knit snakes. She gave them little black yarn smiles and tiny hats, lined them with panty hose and filled them with birdseed. She’d make a fortune turning them out by the dozen, but she indulged her vision. The snakes are a limited series.
That kind of tactile sensory stimulation, along with every child’s adoration of superheroes, combine to make these intriguing life-size costumes. An empty, dangling superhero suit begs to be filled out; we imagine ourselves inside each one, or a faceless, perfect somebody beneath the hoods. As I write, I realize we adults—particularly baby boomers, the first generation to make anti-aging a daily pursuit—are still drawn to comic book idols. We flock to the movies to see Ironman, Superman, the Green Hornet, Spiderman, Batman.
Artist and educator Mark Newport is the Artist-in-Residence and Head of Fiber at the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. He will give an artist’s talk that day, June 11, at 12:00 p.m. in the Art Association’s Main Gallery.
Taylor Glenn’s touching and beautiful images of China’s Mandarin Green Plastics Company capture assembly workers in an artificial flower factory. That fact does not minimize the poetry in these photographs.
Far Chang humanizes a product Americans buy en masse; these flowers are somebody’s daily art. “We rarely give thought to how these products are made and the individuals who are responsible. These images are a personal and quiet observation of daily life at this factory,” says the Art Association.
Glenn will give a gallery talk on Thursday, June 7, at 7:00 pm.
Jean Laughton’s My Ranching Life caps off the summer shows with dynamic images of Western South Dakota ranching life; this American life. Laughton took these photographs in the Badlands of Interior, South Dakota. Laughton studied photography, simultaneously adapting to the hard tack of daily cowboy life. These are large-scale panoramic photographs, capturing the West’s superhero ranching lifestyle.
http://www.artassociation.org/exhibitions/index.html
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An esteemed colleague, a friend with an interest in urban planning and who works in the real estate industry on a global level, has sent me a list of books written by his own “urban planning heroes,” with synopses:
Design with Nature by Ian McHarg – McHarg taught that buildings and landscapes must respect the natural environment and the ecosystem.
Death and Life of American Cities by Jane Jacobs – Jacobs wrote that “eyes and feet on the street” leading to direct human interaction is the key to successful neighborhoods. Auto-centric, civil-engineering-driven approaches kill neighborhoods.
City in History by Lewis Mumford – Mumford wrote that cities represent the best that civilization has to offer. Most of the advancements in the long history of humankind came from the exchange of ideas and commerce in cities. He valued the historic legacy of cities over the post-modernist destruction of the reminders of who we are and where we came from.
Triumph of the City by Ed Glaeser – Glaeser is a young Harvard economist who just appeared on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart. He writes that cities are one of the best inventions in humankind and that they are the key to living efficiently on the planet. He is a bit of an anti-planner in that he says planners often get it wrong (sprawl zoning from the 50s was built on bad assumptions that everyone wants a half-acre lot and a two-car garage and no sidewalks). But his ideas about how people express their desires in the real estate marketplace are really intriguing. And he does think that the marketplace would demand higher density, which is also more efficient, if sprawl zoning could be changed.
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Coming to a gallery near you:
Altamira Fine Art welcomes Montana artist Ted Waddell and contemporary landscape painter Louisa McElwain, at an opening reception Thursday, June 2, 6-8:00 pm. Their joint show, Good Country, remains up through June 19. www.altamiraart.com
The Diehl Gallery celebrates its 10th Anniversary on Thursday, June 30. The 10th Anniversay Fête happens 5-9:00 pm at the Gallery. This summer, Diehl features artists Hung Liu, Ashley Collins and Sheila Norgate. The gallery will also travel to Art in San Diego September 1-4th. Cool! www.diehlgallery.com
Trio Fine Art begins summer hours on June 1. The gallery–which features the work of Lee Carlman Riddell, September Vhay, Kathryn Mapes Turner and Jennifer Hoffman–will be open Wednesday through Saturday, noon-6:00 pm. Stop by for tea. Shows throughout the summer! www.triofineart.com
The Jackson Hole Art Auction closes its 2011 Auction consignment period June 1. If you want to consign and you are reading this post May 31, 2011, you’ve got 24 hours to contact Lucy P. Grogan by phoning 866.549.9278. www.jacksonholeartauction.com
Interior, a site-specific installation by Jackson Hole artist Suzanne Morlock, is part of “Project Space”, an exhibition at Queens College Art Center in Flushing, New York. On exhibit through June 30, 2011, the work is Morlock’s interpretation of what a “terrestrial landscape formed of spheres of newspaper-yarn might look like.”
Knitted newspaper curtains cover ‘Project Space’ windows, and Interior “compels viewers to press their noses against the room’s windowpanes in order to better see the interior of the room.” It’s all part of Morlock’s quest to engage viewers and elicit questions about space and its properties.
Morlock’s glittery gold knit Sweater is set for installation at California’s Charles Schulz Museum. For more information about Suzanne Morlock and her work, visit www.suzannemorlock.com.
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Just weeks after a massive earthquake and tsunami obliterated lives, livlihoods and landscapes in Japan, a group of international photographers has initiated the 3/11 Tsunami Photo Project. Established to aid the people of Japan, the project is available in an iPad
application platform.
A statement from journalistic photographer Ryo Kameyama, taken from 3/11′s website:
“When the earthquake struck Japan, I was in the mountains in Mexico, and many villagers asked me, “Is your family all right?”
When I returned to town and saw the nuclear power plant exploding with white smoke on TV, I felt that it was time to return to Japan.
Spring had not yet arrived in the devastated areas, and when it snowed I was freezing cold. The tsunami ripped apart families and memories, and changed human behavior in the blink of an eye.
People who lost everything were trying to move forward, but at the same time were suffering unimaginably from an extreme sense of loss in the ravaged landscape. They were afraid that they might be forgotten as time passed.
A month after the disaster, people still have not found the bodies of their missing family members. Villages are still buried in the debris.
The nuclear power plant, promoted as an environmentally friendly way of generating power, has exploded several times.
It is time to fundamentally re-think the way Japanese society functions.”
“Here is the new Bison Bromoil, another first for the Jackson art scene.” - David Brookover
For the past five years Jackson, Wyoming based photographer David Brookover has been immersed in platinum palladium prints, gorgeous minimalist images of landscapes, southwest architecture, and a subject new for Brookover, Yellowstone’s wildlife. Brookover continues to explore that photographic medium.
At this writing,(April 25, 2011) platinum is trading at $1,836.75 US an ounce, while palladium is at $775 US an ounce.
Those prices may be a little stiff, even for Brookover! Whether they are or not, the photographer will soon introduce his new Bison bromoil print to the Jackson arts community, as well as to the world at large. Brookover’s works are part of private collections around the world. Brookover is often at his gallery, on the corner of Gaslight Alley in downtown Jackson. An unusually accessible photographer, he loves to talk about his printing processes and tell the stories behind his hallmark photographic prints. The practice has helped win Brookover a devoted following.
“I am very pleased with the bromoil prints we have done and will be introducing a few more this year,” says Brookover. “The printing process has been around for over a 100 years and has (like the platinum palladium prints we showcase) a proven archival track record that our collectors appreciate. This new bison image will be framed by the world renown Randolph Laub. Randolph is famous for his one-of-a-kind profiles and finishes, handcrafted individually to fit each image. I am honored to be amongst his client list ; that list includes Irving Penn, Edward Steichen, Albert Watson and Herb Ritts. We look forward to showcasing photography as we feel it is meant to be.”
The new bromoil print will be in the gallery June, 2011. Brookover has also switched up his downstairs gallery space and invites the public to stop by to take a look.
Want to learn more about bromoils? Brookover suggests this site: http://www.saelon.com/bromoils/bromoils.html
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The Jackson Hole Art Association is changing up its Studio Tours format. Long before Jackson’s Fall Arts Festival 2011 gets underway artists will be able to showcase their work at the Center for the Arts Lobby beginning August 5 and continuing through September 30, 2011. The tour, turned show, is entitled “Artists’ Open Studio.”
“It will be a little more informal,” says the Art Association’s Jenny Dowd. “We will showcase art by artists involved in the Studio Tour.”
Artists will display their art (at the Center for the Arts) and have opportunity to show their work. They will also be able to schedule individual appointments to their own working studios. If an artist has an open weekend, they may provide scheduling details alongside the art.
A partial list of participating artists includes: Natalie Goss, Huntley Baldwin, Terry Chambers, Dee Parker, Susan Thulin and Laurie Thal.
Travis Walker may be designing this year’s promotional card; not confirmed. At this writing, no formal opening reception is planned, but stay tuned! For more information contact Jenny Dowd: jenny@artassociation.org.
Joe Riis is a wildlife photojournalist, a National Geographic Young Explorer and an iLCP photographer and biologist. And he will share his experiences when he appears at the Jackson Hole Community School on Tuesday, March 22, 2011. The talk begins at 6:00 pm.
Just a few weeks ago the Smithsonian’s new collection of wildlife photographs made the news. Their cameras were hidden, and referred to as “camera traps.” Here in Jackson Hole, and throughout the Yellowstone region, we’re awash in great photography; this place is a shutterbug’s dream. So it takes a special eye, a way with a lens, to catch our attention when it comes to wildlife photography. The Smithsonian’s shots were notable for their fish eye view of animals snared by camera traps–and Riis’ wildlife images remind me of those Smithsonian shots. And another photographer’s work fits into this style envelope: Michael Forsberg.
Like Forsberg, Riis is a midwesterner; hence, I checked out his Missouri shots. My short time living in the midwest—back in the late 60′s and early 70′s—included a few trips to the Ozarks. There’s a rustling hush to that
landscape. Sit quietly on a bed of dropped leaves, dangle your toes in the river, and through the silence you begin to suspect some kind of miracle to happen. Emerald blades peep through those mudflats; a giant polliwog slips away from the underside of your boat.
Riis’ Pronghorn Migragtion portfolio is stunning. It is not an easy task to track pronghorn–my one foray into the Gros Ventres with a tracking group taught me that (I hope to do it again). We were literally washed out of the Upper Slide Lake area by a series of thunderstorms—clay roads turned to slip and our four-wheel-drive vehicle did not hold much sway. We spotted only one family of pronghorn that day, and it took six people with high powered binoculars, spotting scopes and lots of patience to find them. Riis’ series of migrating pronghorn captures pronghorn on red mountained hillsides, negotiating barbed wire fences, fording rivers—-leading one another through the valleys and harsh conditions that make up their lives. It’s an incredible photographic journal.
Joe Riis’ presentation is free and open to the public. Contact Sarah at 307-733-5427 or email sdrake@jhcommunityschool.org for more info.
Jackson photographer Jon Stuart is the man behind the scenes of the Art Association’s (A.A.) Makarapa and Vuvuzela, opening March 4, 2011 in the Artspace Loft Gallery. On exhibition through April 28, it opens with a March 4th reception at 5:30 pm.
No end time! Stuart must be bringing good wine.
The show tells the story of South African national identity through a series of portraits shot by Ian van Coller. In 2010 the FIFA World Cup contest was held in South Africa for the first time.
“Sixteen years after the end of apartheid this event represents a particularly important time in South African history, where South Africa was able to stage a massive “coming out” party for the rest of the world,” notes A.A. Images of football fields, fans, and all the colorful energy World Cup created are the show’s focus. Wild headgear, known as makarabas, were in great evidence during World Cup. Inspired by mining hard hats once synonymous with apartheid black migrant workers, these helmets are now symbols of joy and identity.
“I looked at some other work of Ian’s, but I knew he had been to South Africa for the World Cup. And this subject seemed so current,” says Curator of Photography Stuart. South African soccer fans are particularly “colorful” and are known for their trumpeting of Vuvuzelas and their outrageously adorned headgear. Today, these mining helmets have been transformed into colorful symbols of a uniquely South African national identity, and are now donned by blacks and whites.
www.worldcup2010.ianvancoller.com
Class note:
You don’t see the word “wonky” often; but it popped out at me in an Art Association posting. Can’t ignore wonky. “Working Past the Wonky Stage in Clay” is a fine opportunity for those who love the clay, but the clay reserves its affections. Instructor Dean Stayner will help you get that pot centered, shaped and pulled, glazed and ready for its close-up. The class meets Tuesday evenings, April 12-May 24. Registration deadline is April 1; register by phone at (307) 733- 6379. www.artassociation.org
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The Heather James Gallery currently features some way out, cool psychelic art.
Pioneering “way out master” Pablo Picasso is represented by painted vessels new to the gallery. Picasso’s work will influence art through eternity but the work of two artists, Carlos Betancourt and Robert Walker, caught my eye.
Gallery director Lyndsay McCandless notes “Robert Walker’s carved-acrylic paintings transport the viewer to a meditative, internal place of creativity. His repetitive patterns, lines and colors create an otherwordly atmosphere that falls somewhere between reality and dream. His work is very process-oriented, and the actual creation of it
is a meditative experience in itself.”
I get a little dizzy looking Walker’s work–but I’m also transported. His colorful, tidal textures are evident even in images of the work, an unusual effect. Ribbon-like ocean vortexes; a million whirling hand-printed African skirts. We’re bound for a parallel universe.
Wikipedia describes C-prints (like Carlos Betancourt’s) as prints “that can be exposed using digital exposure systems such as the Durst Lambda, Océ LightJet and ZBE Chromira, yielding a digital C print (sometimes called a Lambda print or LightJet print). These are exposed using LEDs on light sensitive photographic paper and processed using traditional silver based chemistry.”
Kudos if you comprehend that technology. McCandless says Betancourt best describes his work.
“I explore selective recollection of images that generate feelings of happiness to create artworks that explore beauty,” says the artist. “I play with the forces of personal and collective memory all in a communion that can not be separated. The resulting artworks I consider magical ritualistic compositions empowered by the secrets and mysteries of their beauty.”
Here, in X-ray detail, are explosions of petals & pistols, sepals and stamens.
