photo-eye Gallery Three Works We Love from LIGHT + METAL Gallery Staff highlight three notable works from our group exhibition LIGHT + METAL, on view at photo-eye Gallery through September 15th.
 |
| LIGHT + METAL installed at photo-eye Gallery |
Featuring sixty unique works by fourteen artists, selecting three objects to feature from LIGHT + METAL was a daunting task. Perhaps more than usual, this exhibition with its diverse array of photographic techniques, intents, and expressions has captured our attention and imagination. More than a year in the making, producing LIGHT + METAL was a labor of love and each of us have a strong investment and interest in every work installed at the Gallery. To truly cover our favorites, our lists could have easily run ten or more artworks long. It's possible we may return to highlight a few additional images and artists during the run of the show, but for now, please enjoy our discussion of three unique pieces we find notable and compelling from LIGHT + METAL.
Anne Kelly selects Molecule by Anne Arden McDonald
 |
Anne Kelly - Gallery Director
anne@photoeye.com
505.988.5152 x121
|
The image from METAL + LIGHT that I keep returning to is
Molecule by Anne Arden McDonald. I had a chance to discuss the making of this image in detail with Anne when she was in town for the reception- and learned that it was created by placing soap bubbles directly on top of silver gelatin paper in the darkroom prior to being exposed it to light. I love how playful the process of creating this image was, and every time I pass by this piece I see it differently. Sometimes
Molecule appears simply as an abstract image and other times it's a powerful combination of elements capable of making oceans and atmosphere.
Lucas Maclaine Shaffer selects For Anna Vol. II, Plate 31, by Meghann Rippenhoff
I've adored Meghann Riepenhoff's Cyanotypes since Anne first made me aware of the work a few years ago, and am incredibly excited to feature four of her works in LIGHT + METAL. As an artist and collector, I respond to the print's unique nature, physicality, and purpose. En mass, Riepenhoff's work questions the nature of our relationships to the landscape, images, time, and permanence – given the impact of her images, it is no wonder she was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship this year.
 |
Lucas Maclaine Shaffer
Special Projects & Client Relations
lucas@photoeye.com
505.988.5152 x114
|
For Anna Vol. II, Plate 31 is part of a larger series paying homage to prominent 19th-century cyanotypist Anna Atkins and a response to her influential book
Photographs of British Algae – widely considered to be the first published using photographic illustration. I've read that while viewing a copy of the original publication, Riepenhoff became fascinated with a progression of impressions left by a previous reader. Here, Riepenhoff witnessed a lasting interaction, a dialogue of sorts, with Atkins work left for consideration by future readers and has responded by creating a series of dynamic cyanotypes printed on location, exposed by the sun and developed in the ocean. Unlike Atkins' traditional photograms produced with dried manicured specimens, Riepenhoff's images are made with wet seaweed on location,
creating an impression of both the object and its environment. Although the print is unique, it's naming convention indicates it is part of a larger single volume, a new edition of blue photographic drawings for the 21st-century, here Riepenhoff is able to also include a subtle statement about contemporary culture.
As for the print; it's gorgeous. It's deep pervasive blue surface possesses a patina that transforms from a smooth solid at the top to a translucent and granular liquid at the bottom. The central algae impression radiates with a glowing white border and its dark jagged form creates a kind of portal, or nexus, in the surface of the image. For me, the object is delightfully paradoxical, at once exhibiting abstract aesthetics while presenting an utterly exacting representation of a specific object from a specific location.
For Anna Vol. II, Plate 31 is a stunning and complex addition to any collection.
Yoana Medrano selects Rose by Kate Breakey
 |
| Kate Breakey, Rose, Hand-Colored/Encaustic, 25x27" Image, Unique, $2000 Framed |
 |
Yoana Medrano – Gallery Associate
yoana@photoeye.com
505.988.5152 x 116
|
I’ve become a fan of Kate Breakey’s: she makes a lot of different work that is constantly inspiring me. While getting ready for the LIGHT + METAL show we received many boxes, Kate sent a large box with two pieces. As I peeled back the cardboard, I was stunned for an unexpected moment and then felt like I wanted to cry: delighted and nostalgic tears. I knew the moment that I saw it that it would be my favorite pick and instantly called dibs.
As I looked at
Rose, a hand-colored encaustic print, I could only think of my mother. My mother’s hobby and passion are taking care of her rose garden and if I could capture the essence of her this image would be it. There is something about the encaustic wax that just softens the entire piece as well as giving it dimension. I’m pleased to say that I have the luxury of having a perfect view of
Rose for the duration of the show as it hangs directly in across from my desk.
LIGHT + METAL is on view through September 15th, 2018 at photo-eye Gallery.
For additional information, and to purchase works from the exhibition, please contact Gallery Staff at 505.988.5152 x202 or gallery@photoeye.com.
» View LIGHT + METAL
» Read More about the Exhibition
» Visit the Gallery
541 S. Guadalupe St.
Santa Fe, NM, 87501
-click for map-
