photo-eye Gallery Gallery Favorites
2019 Group Show This week Gallery Staff has selected their favorite images from our 2019 Group Show including works by Reuben Wu, Michael Kenna, and Beth Moon. The exhibition remains on view through April 20, 2019.
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| 2019 Group Show installed at photo-eye Gallery |
With only a few weeks before the dawning of a new spring, we’re taking a pause to reflect and share with you the images we feel connected to, inspired by and grateful for. Many of you have had the pleasure of visiting the gallery throughout its various exhibits—each show carries with it a unique sense of energy and communication. Our current exhibit,
The 2019 Group Show, is a sort of mixed tape of some of our favorite photo-eye photographers. Gallery Director, Anne Kelly, has selected a collection of pieces for this exhibition, spanning many genres of subject matter, but somehow all seem to be asking us to take moment to be quiet with them and listen. Whether carnivorous plant, a faraway landscape outside of time, or the delicate curve of femininity, each gives us space and reason to get quiet and deliberate with our movements. We hope these favorites of our favorites help you slow down and embrace the changing of the season with calm, peaceful intentions.
Anne Kelly selects LN 0309 by Reuben Wu
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This summer I’ll be celebrating thirteen years with photo-eye Gallery. During that span I’ve had the opportunity to see a lot of inspiring photographs--but it’s certainly not every day I get to experience something I've never seen before! Our newly represented photo-eye artist, Rueben Wu is doing just that. Wu’s images are simply a joy to experience visually, even without the inside scoop of how the work is made, but learning his revolutionary process and dedication to image making moves me that much more. Wu approaches both landscape and night photography with a fresh and innovative approach. Traveling to remote locations, Wu frames his subject matter, often expansive geographic formations, against the inky night sky—but his light source is neither natural or traditional studio lighting. Wu affixes lights to drones using them to illuminate select parts of the landscape occasionally drawing Saturn-like rings and other precise geometric marks in the night sky. This is certainly a feat, but I get the sense that it comes naturally to Wu--or rather the work just flows from him. Though he has since continued to come up with powerful and unique images, there is just something pure and perfect about this first image I encountered. The composition is relatively simple, but complex at the same time: almost symmetrical, but not quite. I also love the color palette of this particular image. Over 15 years ago I took a field experience geology class that inspired my fascination with the striations of colors that appear naturally in rock formations. Wu has perfectly framed this scene with his light which only highlights the natural beauty of the scene. Though the Saturn-like ring was painted in the sky by Wu’s drones--it feels like it could also be a result of natural phenomena. Simultaneously primordial and post-apocalyptic, this image makes me ponder the acts of mother nature that resulted in this formation. I feel myself breathing in a sense of awe and gratitude for this amazing body of work.
Reuben Wu's work will be on display at our booth in
The Photography Show, presented by AIPAD, in New York, NY April 4 - 7, 2019, Opening Preview: April 3rd.
Juliane Worthington selects
Mina, Study 7, Japan, 2010 by Michael Kenna
In the Buddhist tradition, the white lotus flower is said to symbolize the womb of the world--the awakening that unfolds like petals as one attempts to strive towards enlightenment. Kenna’s image of
Mina, Study 7, speaks on a very personal level for me about the relationship of femininity and rebirth resounding in my own life. The fragile edges of the delicate flower seem almost tattered in their unfolding, yet are somehow at perfect ease in union with this beautiful, womanly figure. The blooming light of the lotus plays like yin and yang off the long, dark hair it’s nestled in, reinforcing the concept of interconnectedness between all things. The effect is dramatic, breathtaking, and a reminder of the fragility of life. Michael Kenna’s image reminds me of the importance of slowing down to listen and breathe, and how essential it is to be open and vulnerable with my heart and life so love can be born through me.
Lucas Shaffer selects Nepenthes Bicalcarata by Beth Moon
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Lucas Shaffer
Special Projects / Client Relations
lucas@photoeye.com
505.988.5152 x114
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As an avid lover of platinum prints, it may come as no surprise to readers of our Gallery Favorites articles that I'm choosing to highlight Beth Moon's exquisite
Nepenthes Bicalcarata from our 2019 Group Show. Rendered in black-and-white with soft, raking light against a flat background, Moon's treatment of this curiously carnivorous plant is descriptive and sculptural. Removing the subject from its natural context aids in the investigation of its unique form, and Moon's use of large-format materials allows us to delight in the plant's intricate textural details. Beth Moon is a portrait artist for the natural world. Whether she's photographing ancient trees, heritage chickens, or carnivorous plants, time and time again Moon chooses to accentuate and elevate the individuality and survival instincts of life on this planet. I adore her approach as I find it both dignified and romantic.
Nepenthes Bicalcarata is perfect for collectors interested in gorgeous printing, flora portraiture, and earthly wonder.
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All prices listed were current at the time this post was published.
Prices will increase as the print editions sell.
For more information, and to purchase prints, please contact Gallery Staff at
505-988-5152 x202 or gallery@photoeye.com
2019 Group Show
on view through April 20, 2019
