“In the years since meeting David, I’ve come to respect his ability to combine his artistic eye with a strong understanding of the craft of photography, the technique of putting light on paper. A stunning example of this is David’s unique interpretation of platinum/palladium printing, which incorporates many layers of visual information, giving it a painterly quality. The effect is to draw the observer back to the image repeatedly, unlike a typical photograph that can be absorbed in a single viewing. This is why David’s work is fine art that transcends specific time and place.” – Angela Pearson Bramson

Photographer – entrepreneur David Brookover, now the owner of two galleries showcasing his large format photography, has published his new book, The Road. Brookover is publishing two versions, each with its own price point.  The book becomes available in June 2010.

The Road – The Photographs of David Brookover will be published in a “trade edition” and a “collector’s edition.”   The former is available for $125, and the book’s first run is 1350 editions;  the latter sells for $975 and will have only 150 editions printed. Portfolio cases will be Kanji stamped with the Japanese symbol “Michi,” Japanese for “Road.” Brookover is using heavy Italian cotton rag paper, with “absolutely no optical brighteners so the images will be around for a very long time.”

That’s a heck of a price differential but Brookover is a savvy,  hands-on marketer.  The Road collector’s edition will be bound in rich red cloth and housed in a clothed portfolio encasing a Brookover platinum palladium print.  Two years ago, feeling the need to move away from the large, sexy color photographs (noted for seemingly endless depth of field and detail) that built his reputation, Brookover began creating platinum prints from existing plates, as well as taking new photographs.

The Road catalogs Brookover’s platinum prints, the focus of the photographer’s endeavors in recent years.  A few images depict physical roads, but the book’s title signifies Brookover’s continual travels around the United States and Japan in pursuit of his muse.   His camera captures deserts, coastlines, forests, the Southwest, pueblos, canyons, solitary trees of garden, woods and valleys, and Japanese gardens.   The book includes one nude portrait.

The Road, self-published, is only available for purchase at Brookover’s two galleries, located in Jackson Hole and Santa Fe.   www.davidbrookover.com.

Item #2

Collage artist Ricki Arno divides her time between Jackson Hole and New York.   A native New Yorker, Arno has been steeped in that city’s arts culture all of her life.  Her one-woman show, “Ricki Arno,” goes on display at Teton Art Lab on June 4, and a reception will be held that evening.

Her art is heavily influenced by New York’s fast moving, self-updating art movements.  Arno, a grandmother, is a graffiti artist at heart. Do not look for an artist dudette, even though Arno is, by her own account, an “urbanista.”  When you find yourself attending this show’s opening reception, look for the lady resembling Edith Head.

“Street Art that has become a part of my vision living in NYC, and the constant barrage of natural crisis and world events heavily pepper my work by influencing my eye, my heart and my hand. I love passionately seductive colors and have used them full force in my new works,” says Arno.

A woman, presumably the artist, is at the core of most of Arno’s compositions, which she calls “sketches.”  These are personal works reflecting the effects of global change and life experiences on Arno;  dream content floods each space.   Arno’s attention to, and ability to manipulate, detail is almost excruciating in its exactness.  Years ago, NYC life had her working in fashion and textile design, advertising and….cake decorating.  Arno’s decorated sweets and confections were legend for New Yorkers demanding her work, and brought Arno to the attention of many industry publications.

In my mind Arno’s dramatic, multi-dimensional and hotly colored compositions are operatic.  In her next life, she’ll make a grand set designer.

Though I know quite a bit about Arno’s creative process, I am going to keep that knowledge to myself;  mystery is part of this magic. See her results first, get everything you thought you knew about collage blown away.  Then, ask Arno about her process.

If the deadline has not passed, you might sign up for her summer 2010 Art Association Class.   Arno will lead her workshop “Mixed Media Collage: Combining Bare Bones Photoshop with Traditional Palettes” June 21-25.    Check their website for more info or call Mallory at 307.733.6379.