photo-eye | BLOG: September 2016

diane arbus: in the beginning.
By Diane Arbus. Yale University Press, 2016.

diane arbus: in the beginning.
Reviewed by Blake Andrews

diane arbus: in the beginning.
Photographs by Diane Arbus. Text by Jeff L. Rosenheim.
Yale University Press, New Haven, USA, 2016. 240 pp., 130 color and tritone illustrations.

Once Upon a Time in Kazimierz by Richard Tuschman installed at photo-eye Gallery

In June of 2014 photo-eye Gallery was honored to have Richard Tuschman’s Hopper Meditations mark the inaugural exhibition of our new space, and so his second solo show with photo-eye feels like a milestone. In just two short years, photo-eye Gallery has mounted 14 exhibitions and Richard has completed an entirely new highly produced and incredibly detailed project. Tuschman’s new series, Once Upon a Time in Kazimierz, tells the tale of a fictional Jewish family living in Kraków Poland in 1930 – just about 10 years before the Germans forcibly relocated the Jewish population of Kazimierz to the Krakow Ghetto. Like Tuschman’s previous series Hopper Meditations, the individual images in Once Upon A Time in Kazimierz read as film stills with each image representing a scene from a greater open-ended narrative. To complete his vision of a convincing historical fiction Richard used digital imaging to place live models inside of a series of elaborate dioramas he painstakingly made by hand. In honor of the new exhibition, I have caught up with Richard to discuss Once Upon A Time in Kazimierz.

– Anne Kelly

The Accidental Fold. By Saskia De Brauw. Self-published, 2016.

Forrest Soper selects The Accidental Fold Self-published by Saskia De Brauw as Book of the Week.

Shenasnameh. By Amak Mahmoodian. RRB Books/ICVLStudio, 2016.

Shenasnameh

Reviewed by Sarah Bay Gachot
Shenasnameh.
Photographs by Amak Mahmoodian.
RRB Books/ICVLStudio, Bristol, England, 2016. In English/Persian. 120 pp., 4x5¼".

In Iran, the Shenasnameh is a national identity document the size of a passport that includes personal details like name, place and date of birth, fingerprint, and information on one’s parents. After the age of 15, a photo of the owner is added (to be updated periodically throughout the bearer’s life), as well as additional pages for registering marriage, children, divorce, and death.

Selections from Kate Breakey's Golden Stardust installed at photo-eye Gallery

photo-eye Gallery is pleased to have twelve gorgeous selections from Kate Breakey's Golden Stardust series on view along side our current exhibition of Richard Tuschman's Once Upon A Time in Kazimierz, up through October 29th, 2016. Breakey's stunning images from the ongoing Golden Stardust are typically crafted by transferring archival black-and-white pigment prints to museum glass plates, then finished with 24 karat gold leaf backing. New to the series are two works which Breakey has applied the wonderful use of color, and platinum leaf. The series pulls imagery from Breakey's nearly 40 year career as a photographer. photo-eye asked Kate to spread some light, or "gold" on a few of the images currently on display.

Six Pears © Kate Breakey | 5 x 12", Archival Pigment Ink on Glass, 24k Gold Leaf, Ed. of 20, $1,320 Framed

"Over the years, I have been inspired by Edward Curtis' Orotones. For this series, I've revisited my inventory of images and choosing ones that I am interested to see 'glow' with the gold-leaf. The 200 or so images I selected are from many places and times, spanning several past bodies of work. Four Lemons, Artichoke, Six Pears, and Pomegranate, are all images I made in the last 10 to 20 years, when I was making large hand-colored still lives in the manner of the Dutch masters.

Moon Setting Over Saguaros © Kate Breakey | 10 x 14", Archival Pigment Ink on Glass, 24k Gold Leaf, Ed. of 20, $1,650 Framed

Big Cloud © Kate Breakey | 8 x 11", Archival Pigment Ink on Glass, 24k Gold Leaf, Ed. of 20, $1,320 Framed

Moon Setting Over Saguaros and Big Cloud are more recent digital capture images. I make these pictures almost daily from my home in the desert. I have a large series of moon and cloud pictures because the sky is a big element of the drama of this landscape - especially during monsoon season. I have started leaving some color in them, because the oranges and and pinks from the sunset seem to give the gold even more warmth.

Palo Verde Beetle © Kate Breakey | 3 x 5", Archival Pigment Ink on Glass, 24k Gold Leaf, Ed. of 20, $900 Framed

Palo Verde Beetle is from a series of insects that include spiders, scorpions cicadas, a dragonfly, moths - all critters I find dead in and around my house. I have always photographed trees and birds, so there are a number of these in the series from work over the years. My work is mostly about the natural world, which never ceases to fascinate me.

White Pumpkin © Kate Breakey | 8 x 8", Archival Pigment Ink on Glass, Platinum Leaf, Ed. of 20, $1,400 Framed

I recently photographed White Pumpkin - I especially love pumpkins and pears because they are such beautiful shapes. I have started working with Platinum Leaf - this is dark silver and works especially well with some images." —Kate Breakey

A selection of the Golden Stardust series will be on display at photo-eye Gallery through October 29th, 2016.

For more information and to purchase prints, please contact the Gallery Staff at 505-988-5152 x202 or gallery@photoeye.com

Read the Portfolio Introduction

View the Golden Stardust Portfolio

A light on the wall. By Emma Phillips. Perimeter Editions, 2016.

Christian Michael Filardo selects A light on the wall by Emma Phillips published by Perimeter Editions as Book of the Week.

Golden Days Before They End. By Klaus Pichler.
Patrick Frey, 2016.

Golden Days Before They End.

Reviewed by Karen Jenkins

Golden Days Before They End.
Photographs by Klaus Pichler. Text by Clemens Marschall.
Patrick Frey, Zürich, Switzerland, 2016. In English. 250 pp., 120 color illustrations, 11x8¾".

“The golden age is over,” concludes Franz Kases, owner of Cáfe Kases, speaking of a certain type of drinking establishment that once thrived in Vienna – bolstered by a cast of robust regulars who are now dying off and fading away. This crystalline self-awareness echoes many other owners’ reckoning with the looming demise of their dens and dive bars, and with it those loyal patrons who once packed their rooms. Those who remain, who seemingly turn a blind eye in the face of change, who have always chosen the escapist comfort offered within, are depicted in a series of extraordinary photographs by Klaus Pichler and interviews by Clemens Marschall in Golden Days Before They End. In images and words, the idiosyncrasies of each joint are secondary to the commonalities that emerge from a shared way of life – a drinking life with a backdrop of divorce, joblessness, illness and other pains. The owners and patrons form families, manifesting as irritant and antagonist, buoy and safety net. It’s no small thing to be an outsider in these hideouts, and yet their inhabitants don’t appear hostile to the intrusion. Pichler and Marschall create a collective portrait of the last of their kind in a funny, uncomfortable, deeply moving conjuring of life’s inexplicable contradictions. These people are awful, but they’re my family. I can’t stand this place, but I’ll never leave.

Installation Preview of Once Upon A Time in Kazimierz at photo-eye Gallery - © Richard Tuschman

In anticipation for photo-eye's upcoming exhibition Once Upon A Time in Kazimierz, here is a preview of the cast and story behind Richard Tuschman's latest photographic achievement, as detailed by the artist. Once Upon A Time in Kazimierz is a photo novella of a fictional Jewish family living in 1930's Poland. For Tuschman, "The project is my attempt to visually weave together narrative fiction with strands of both cultural and family history, … It is my hope that in this way, the pictures in Once Upon a Time in Kazimierz reflect the fleeting, fluid nature of both memory, and of dreams." Please join us this Friday the 16th from 5 - 7PM for the opening Artist Reception, or on Saturday the 17th at 2PM for a Gallery Talk as the artist discusses his inspiration and meticulous cinematic-like process. This is Tuschman's second solo exhibition with photo-eye Gallery and runs through October 29th, 2016.

Mersey Passion Play. By Colin Thomas. Café Royal Books, 2016.

Rudi Thoemmes selects Café Royal Books as Book of the Week.

ZZYZX.
By Gregory Halpern. MACK, 2016.

ZZYZX
Reviewed by Adam Bell

ZZYZX.
Photographs by Gregory Halpern.
MACK, London, United Kingdom, 2016. In English. 128 pp., 77 color illustrations, 9½x11½".

ONCE UPON A TIME IN KAZIMIERZ
A Photographic Novella by
Richard Tuschman

September 16th – October 29th, 2016
Opening & Artist Reception: Friday Sept. 16th, 5–7pm
Artist Talk: Saturday Sept. 17th, 2pm

photo-eye GALLERY
541 South Guadalupe Street, Santa Fe, NM 87501
For more information and to purchase prints, please contact the Gallery at 505-988-5152 x 202 or gallery@photoeye.com

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION
photo-eye Gallery is pleased to announce Once Upon a Time in Kazimierz a photographic novella by New York artist Richard Tuschman opening Friday September 16th and continuing through October 29th, 2016. An Artist Reception will be held on Friday, September 16th from 5 – 7 PM, and an Artist Talk will take place at 2pm on Saturday the 17th .

ABOUT THE ARTWORK
Once Upon a Time in Kazimierz’s colorful tableaux depict an episode in the life of a fictional Jewish family living in 1930’s Poland. Focusing on the theme of loss, Once Upon a Time in Kazimierz’s dreamlike and poetic vignettes describe scenes of sacrifice, grief, and family tension, but are also punctuated with moments of love, longing, and tenderness. Kazimierz’s images ultimately combine to form a powerful open-ended narrative leading viewers to create their own sequence and fill the gaps between frames with their own imagination. To achieve his cinematic style, Tuschman seamlessly combines live models with meticulously detailed doll-house size dioramas giving him full control to direct each scene – a process the artist pioneered in his previous series Hopper Meditations. For Tuschman, “The project is my attempt to visually weave together narrative fiction with strands of both cultural and family history, … It is my hope that in this way, the pictures in Once Upon a Time in Kazimierz reflect the fleeting, fluid nature of both memory, and of dreams.”

ABOUT THE ARTIST
Richard Tuschman is an artist and educator working with digital imaging to synthesize his interests in photography, painting, and assemblage since 1990. Tuschman’s work has been exhibited both nationally and internationally including Photology Gallery in Milan Italy, AIPAD 2016 in NYC, at the Prix de la Photographie, Paris. He also continues to teach workshops internationally as well at institutions such as The Griffin Museum, The Los Angeles Center for Photography, the Maine Photographic Workshops, and independently in Milan, Italy. Tuschman’s work has been selected to the photolucida Critical Mass Top 50, he was a finalist for the New Orleans Photo Alliance 2016 Clarence John Laughlin Award, and was recently named a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellow in Photography for 2016. Richard Tuschman lives and works in New York City. Once Upon a Time in Kazimierz is Tuschman’s second solo exhibition with photo-eye Gallery.

View Once Upon a Time in Kazimierz

View Hopper Meditations

Read Anne Kelly's 2014 Interview with Richard Tuschman

Jump Into The Fire. By Evan Jenkins.. Self-published, 2016.

Christian Michael Filardo selects Jump Into The Fire self-published by Evan Jenkins as Book of the Week.

In Box Upon the Sea.
By Philip Perkis. Anmoc Press, 2016.

In a Box Upon the Sea.
Reviewed by Blake Andrews

In a Box Upon the Sea.
Photographs by Philip Perkis.
Anmoc Press, Seoul, South Korea, 2016. In English/Korean. 170 pp., 57 black-and-white illustrations, 11½x11¼".

Philip Perkis is what you might call a photographer's photographer. He uses simple equipment to record his world on black-and-white film. "When I see something that moves me or interests me," he says, "I take a picture. I don't care what it's a picture of." In the contemporary photo world that approach is somewhat antiquated. Perkis' photographs fit more easily into the 1970s aesthetic than any current gestalt. Nevertheless he's cultivated a small fan base.

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