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| Figure 32, 2014 – Zoë Zimmeramn |
Zoë Zimmerman – Of Men: Strength and Vulnerability, Part III Care
June 1st – July 11th, 2015
photo-eye Bookstore + Project Space, 376 Garcia St. Suite A, Santa Fe
photo-eye is proud to introduce gallery artist Zoë Zimmerman's new photographic portfolio Of Men: Strength and Vulnerability, and announce an exhibition of these images in our Bookstore + Project Space. Divided into three distinct segments, photo-eye is focusing on Part III: Care in this initial release and exhibition.
In Zimmerman's words, Of Men is an examination of male behavior, in particular, platonic intimacy and how cultural biases set the parameters for physical relationships:
Men in American society suffer from an unconscious bias against displays of platonic male affection. This fact creates a pattern of “touch isolation.” It is rare that we see imagery of men engaged in nurturing physical contact with one another. Is this because masculine touch is most often interpreted as inherently sexual? Whether this paradigm is the cause of rampant homophobia or vice versa is unanswerable. My intention with this study is to shine a light on the archetype; to raise the question rather than answer it.
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| Figure 20, 2014 – Zoë Zimmerman |
The poses in Part III: Care are derived from medical texts and place particular attention on the emotional impact of the gentle healing touch between men. In her essay introducing Zimmerman's new self-published monograph, Care, Dawn Marlan describes the portraits as:
...models for how men might touch one another in a way that is not haunted by the specter of the sexual. [The images] are sepia-toned, softer, as if nostalgic for something yet to be. The format is square, condensing the visual field and drawing the figures into a closer proximity. Unlike the other groupings, where the figures float in isolation, here the contact itself is front and center. The camera is close to them, as if holding them in a moment of tenderness. ... Here, Zimmerman indulges the fantasy that there might be a way to overcome our awkwardness without denying our corporeality, including its erotic potential; there might be a way to acknowledge our embodiedness without being enslaved to it.
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| Figure 12, 2014 – Zoë Zimmerman |
Zoë Zimmerman has exhibited nationally including the Opus Gallery in New York and most recently The New Mexico Museum of Art in Santa Fe. Her work can be seen in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Houston Museum of Fine Art in Texas, and the University of Texas at Austin. Zimmerman currently lives and works in Taos, New Mexico.
View Of Men:Strength and Vulnerability – Part III Care
Purchase Of Men: Strength and Vulnerability
For more information, or to purchase prints, please contact Gallery Director Anne Kelly at 505-988-5152 ext 112 or anne@photoeye.com