PHOTOBOOK REVIEWS, INTERVIEWS AND WRITE-UPS
ALONG WITH THE LATEST PHOTO-EYE NEWS

Social Media

Showing posts with label Lucas Shaffer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lucas Shaffer. Show all posts

photo-eye Gallery Gallery Favorites from
Reuben Wu: Areoglyphs and Other Nocturnes
This week, photo-eye Gallery’s staff has the pleasure of picking a favorite work from Reuben Wu's solo exhibition Aeroglyphs & Other Nocturnes on view at photo-eye Gallery through November 16,2019.
Installation view of Aeroglyphs & Other Nocturnes at photo-eye Gallery

While all of Wu’s photographs in Aeroglyphs & Other Nocturnes technically feature enigmatic shapes drawn in the air with light above monumental landscapes, each piece feels unique.  From the vivid, yawning halos encircling towering mountain peaks, to subtle shapes that blend seamlessly into ethereal atmospheres, these works manage to feel cohesive, and yet simultaneously stand as stark individuals. This week, photo-eye Gallery’s staff has yet again been charged with the difficult pleasure of picking a favorite work from the current exhibition.


Anne Kelly Selects: LN 0377
Reuben Wu, LN 0377Archival Pigment Print, 15x20" Image, Edition of 10, $950
Anne Kelly
Gallery Director
anne@photoeye.com
(505) 988-5152 x121
It has been a busy year for Wu. Just through photo-eye he has exhibited work at photo LA, AIPAD in New York, and now, here in Santa Fe, for his solo show Aeroglyphs & Other Nocturnes. All the while Wu has continued to produce fresh new images, like those from the recently released Fields of Infinity, which is truly impressive based on the lengths that he goes through to create each piece. I look forward to seeing what comes next. In the meantime, though all of Wu’s images are remarkable, the first image that I connected to, remains my favorite. There is just something particularly haunting about LN 0377 (Time present and time past Are both perhaps present in future III). I believe that my kinship with this image relates to having spent the last 20 years living in the Southwest. Though I have never been to this particular location, and it is not in New Mexico, the expansive geographic formation with the perfect harmony or dark rekindles memories of camping in the desert (in Diablo & Chaco Canyon) when I first relocated from Colorado to Santa Fe. A reminder of the sense of awe that I experienced exploring my new home state — and other places that I plan to explore in the future. 


 Alexandra Jo Selects: XT1768
Reuben Wu, XT1768, Archival Pigment Print, 15 x 20 inches, Edition of 10, $950

Alexandra Jo
Gallery Assistant
alexandra@photoeye.com
(505) 988-5152 x116
I’ve always been drawn to the way that Reuben Wu’s photography is able to compress and overlay a sense of time– past and future legible in the present. His clean, futuristic aesthetics combined with references to ancient symbols and the concepts of the land art movement make his work feel tangible, present, and fantastical all at once. My favorite work in the exhibition is XT1768, one of two works in Aeroglyphs from Wu’s most recent body of work, Field of Infinity, which was created this year in Bolivia.  For me, the most successful aspect of this particular work is the tension between movement and stillness, between passing time and a frozen instant, which Wu is able to achieve. The single line of light down the center of the composition evokes images of a portal opening, an origin expanding, or a heavenly body’s trajectory. And yet the stars in the sky around Wu’s illuminated drone are frozen in place, little points of white light flung out into rich blue. The flooded salt flat below reflects the lighted drone path crisply in a field of bleached whites and pastel lavender-blues. The composition contains a symmetry that draws the viewer directly into the horizon and the un-earthy colors contained there. The viewer sees stillness, yet understands that everything in the visual field is truly in motion, from the drone in flight, to the planet spinning amongst the starts. For me, this heightened awareness of and relationship between scales-- micro and macro, man and nature, earth and universe-- is important to realize, and a comfort to imagine.


Lucas Shaffer Selects AE 1144
Reuben Wu, AE 1144, Archival Pigment Print, 15x20" Image, Edition of 10, $950
Lucas Shaffer
Special Projects & Client Relations
lucas@photoeye.com
(505) 988-5152 x114
If you’re familiar with any of the advertising for Aeroglyphs and Other Nocturnes, than it may come as no surprise that AE 1144 is one of my favorite images from the exhibition. As the individual in charge of designing promotional materials for photo-eye Gallery, I’ve put AE1144 everywhere I could – it’s on the banner outside the gallery, our Facebook cover image, our blog ad, and it’s posted on our homepage. If the word obsession comes to mind, I think that’s a fair assessment.

AE1144 resonates with me because of its striking design and curious emotional impact. Unlike many of the works in Aeroglyphs and Other Nocturnes, AE 1144 gives the viewer more environmental context, there is literally more space and information in the image than Wu usually provides. Using a powerful single-point perspective, Wu illustrates a vibrant green river surrounded by a sloping silhouetted embankment. The composition points toward a trio of precisely-spaced glowing lines hovering at the horizon, and this all is set against the pastel backdrop of the sky at sunset. It’s a high-contrast scene dominated by sumptuous colors, deep black voids, and Wu’s impeccable sense of composition. AE 1144 marries comforting familiar elements with those that seem both otherworldly and unexpected. The effect is both serene and unsettling.

In an interview with Anne Kelly earlier this year, Wu mentioned 19th-Century sublime landscape painting as an inspiration for his work and I feel like that connection is very present in AE 1144. In Romantic period paintings featuring sublime landscapes, artists focused on depicting nature, like craggy mountain cliffs, dark chasms, and roiled seas, to create the feeling of a “pleasurable terror.” While that phrase is a little dramatic, I do think there is something thrilling about trying to comprehend the unknown strength of Nature’s awesome power, even from the safety of the gallery's interior. I think Wu’s work, and AE 1144 in particular, taps into the thrill of the unknown: a complex combination of excitement, curiosity, and anxiety, as it’s related to the future, new technology, and our interaction with the environment. This complexity is one of the reasons I love Wu’s images. The stunning visual design draws you in, but you are also asked to consider deeper questions about the responsible use of technology and the responsible treatment of the natural world, not to mention connections to historical mark-making, and performance. AE 1144 is gorgeous, delightful, and maybe a little dangerous – certainly an image and experience I have enjoyed reviewing on a daily basis.  

Aeroglyphs & Other Nocturnes is on view at photo-eye Gallery through November 16, 2019. If you live in Santa Fe, or happen to be visiting we'd love to have you stop by.



»Read more about Reuben Wu's Process

All prices listed were current at the time this post was published.

For more information, and to purchase artworks, please contact photo-eye Gallery Staff at:
(505) 988-5152 x 202 or gallery@photoeye.com

Exhibition Catalogue Available for Preorder
(Shipping Late October)

 *Limited copies available

Aeroglyphs & Other Nocturnes: Photographs by Reuben Wu
Kris Graves Projects, Queens, New York, United States, 2019. In English. 30 pp., 16 color plates, 8½x9" 




Labels: , , , , , ,

photo-eye Gallery Kindred Spirits: Gallery Favorites Three works we love from photo-eye Gallery's current exhibition.This week, photo-eye Gallery’s staff members circle back to the "Kindred Spirits Gallery Favorites" series, picking a second work that they find particularly engaging and inspiring from the exhibition.



Kindred Spirits, photo-eye Gallery’s current exhibition, has been up for a little over a month. Gallery patrons and staff members alike have had the pleasure of spending time with artwork by Keith Carter, David Deming, Pentti Sammallahti, and Maggie Taylor, all of which point to the deep and multifaceted relationships between humans and animals. This week, photo-eye Gallery’s staff members circle back to the "Kindred Spirits Gallery Favorites" series, picking a second work that they find particularly engaging and inspiring from the exhibition.


Anne Kelly Selects Pentti Sammallahti's Przeworsk, Poland, 2005
Pentti Sammallahti – Przeworsk, Poland, 2005, Toned Gelatin-Silver Print, 6.5x6.5" Image, $1,300

Anne Kelly
Gallery Director
anne@photoeye.com
(505) 988-5152 x121
One of the many things I love about photography is the silent dialog it creates between the artist and the viewer. As a medium, photography allows an artist to share their experiences and perspectives by creating a thought-provoking and detailed image, while each viewer can connect to that image through the lens of their own personal experience. This dialog amid artist and viewer is present in a range of genres from photojournalism to personal narrative, and just about everything in between.

The image that I have selected for the second part of our Kindred Spirits Gallery Favorites series is Pentti Sammallahti’s Przeworsk, Poland, 2005. In this image, a horse and cart travel across the low horizon and is contrasted against the stark sky topped with power-lines that are inhabited by birds – some in mid-flight. Przeworsk, Poland, 2005 is quiet, carefully composed, and exquisitely printed. Many of Sammallahti's photographs could be described similarly, but I am drawn to Przeworsk, Poland, 2005 because I have always been fascinated by the way that birds congregate on power lines. It makes me wonder where if they planned to arrive in that particular location or if they are purely just existing in the moment?  Birds are both wild and familiar. I find it refreshing to take a brief break from the hustle and bustle of everyday life and look up to find rows of birds carefully composed the power lines – like notes on sheet music in the sky.

Knowing what I know of Pentti, he likely sought out this place where the birds gather and waited for the magic to find him. In this case, a horse and cart pass by at just the perfect time. The horse and cart are different than the modern cars that I am accustomed to, yet I connect. There is something simply beautiful about pondering how tiny moments, such as this one, connect all people across the globe, regardless of language or geography.



Alexandra Jo Selects Keith Carter’s Leopard Appaloosa
Keith Carter, Leopard Appaloosa, 2014, Archival Pigment Print, 16 x 20 inches, Edition of 25, $1,600

Alexandra Jo
Gallery Assistant
alexandra@photoeye.com
(505) 988-5152 x116

Keith Carter’s Leopard Appaloosa is all dreamy atmosphere and magic to me. As a small girl I had a particular obsession with Appaloosa horses. Something about their dappled coats and flowing manes, the way their eyes sparkled like deep pools amid the colored flecks of their fur, felt special and idiosyncratic. The way that Carter captures the horse in this particular image in a moment of slight motion, wrapped in ethereal mist and light, is spellbinding. The photograph is a perfect expression of the way that I saw these enchanting creatures as a child: graceful, full of beauty and mystery, genial, and yet maybe not wholly of this world.

The horse in Carter’s photograph seems to be hovering in and out of corporeality. The highly contrasted speckled fur is mirrored by floating orbs in the thick, dark, hazy atmosphere around the edges of the image; a result of Carter’s complex and specific photographic process. This image was originally created as a tintype photograph, which is a process that allows for rich atmospheric texture and a full, deep tonal range. Carter’s mastery of analog photographic techniques combined with his keen ability to see the magic and the surreal in the everyday world comes to life, perfectly balanced, in this photograph. 

Lucas Shaffer Selects: David Deming's Hooper II

David L. Deming – Hooper II, 1998 Painted Steel Sculpture 80x26" $10,000


Lucas Shaffer
Special Projects & Client Relations
lucas@photoeye.com
(505) 988-5152 x114
David L. Deming’s sculpture Hooper II is a triumph of expression and transformation. As Alexandra Jo noted in her interview, Deming has the incredible ability to make thick patches of welded steel appear agile and weightless through gesture and technique. Just look at Hooper. Back stretched, legs flailing, and head cocked, they perform a seemingly-impossible single paw front leg stand at the direction of a trainer just outside the sculpture’s tableaux. As the proud owner of a Great Dane who’s been known to execute some Scooby Doo-level improvisational acrobatics, I am impressed at Hooper’s focus and immediately recognize the face of a happy dog. I think Hooper II succeeds with its relatability even in such a whimsical scene. Deming’s skilled rendering of Hooper’s form and facial expression connects me to the relationships I’ve established with the animals that are a part of my family while creating a playful moment packed with charm.


• • • • •


On view through August 24, 2019

Featuring work by Keith Carter, David Deming, Pentti Sammallahti, and Maggie Taylor





All prices listed were current at the time this post was published. Prices will increase as editions sell. 


Labels: , , , , , , , , , ,

photo-eye Gallery Kindred Spirits: Gallery Favorites Part 1 Three Works We Love from Kindred SpiritsGiven the scope of our Kindred Spirits exhibition, we're breaking our usual Gallery Favorites post into two parts. This week, photo-eye Gallery’s staff members have had the pleasure of writing about which pieces in this exhibition they individually relate to or find uniquely compelling.


Humans relate to animals in ways that are as varied and unique as we are. photo-eye Gallery’s current exhibition, Kindred Spirits, contains a range of artworks that speak to the multitudinous ways in which humans and animals connect. From the tangible reality of Pentti Sammallahti’s captured moments, to the  Keith Carter’s transformation of the everyday, to the magic realism of Maggie Taylor’s photomontage, to David L. Deming's playful canine constructions this exhibition is diverse in its presentation of subject and spirit. There is something here for everyone. Given the scope of our Kindred Spirits exhibition, we're breaking our usual Gallery Favorites post into two parts. This week, photo-eye Gallery’s staff members have had the pleasure of writing about which pieces in this exhibition they individually relate to or find uniquely compelling.



Anne Kelly Selects Maggie Taylor's The alchemist's chamber, 2019

Maggie Taylor – The alchemist's chamber, 2019, Archival Pigment Print, 15x15" Image, Edition of 15, $2800

Anne Kelly
Gallery Director
(505) 988-5152 x121
The work I am selecting for the first part of our Kindred Spirits Gallery Favorites post is Maggie Taylor’s lush and colorful image, The alchemist’s chamber. I find this image to be completely captivating. The alchemist's chamber could be a photorealistic oil painting from the Dutch Golden Age – a simple, but perfectly arranged composition with raking light streaming through a cathedral-like window, perhaps the first or last light of the day. When I first viewed this image I was delighted to discover a goldfish floating in what appears to be a vintage cocktail glass, yet on further inspection, came to learn that the fish is actually not a fish at all, but rather a cleverly composed arrangement of orange flower petals. Evidence of alchemy. Perhaps all the flowers in the vase will transform into moths, maybe or they were moths to begin with. In this image, anything is possible.





Alexandra Jo Selects Pentti Sammallahati's, Untitled, 2005

Pentti Sammallahti – Untitled, 2005, Gelatin-Silver Print, 7x6", Image, $1300


Alexandra Jo
Gallery Assistant
(505) 988-5152 x116
I have always felt connected to animals in some deep, intuitive, vital way.  My little sister and I spent a large portion of our childhood playing with the menagerie of cats, dogs, chickens, horses, goats, ducks, etc. that our grandparents kept on their land in rural Alabama. These experiences greatly impacted the way that we related to each other as children and the way that we still connect to the world at large. Loving animals is something that vibrates at the core of my being, intrinsic. However, I also firmly believe that the human capacity for tenderness toward the other creatures with which we share this planet is innate, not just specific to my family, and acknowledging and fostering that capacity is crucial for a thorough understanding of humanity’s place in the world.

It is this belief that draws me to one particular Pentti Sammallahti photograph in our Kindred Spirits exhibition. “Untitled, 2005” captures a candid moment in which a girl lifts her little sister to get a better view of a tiny kitten, alone and mewling on an outdoor counter. Another small girl looks back expectantly, waiting her turn. Knowing the extensive travel Sammallahti undertakes to create his work, it is safe to assume that this moment took place far away from Alabama, and yet the scene is so familiar to me that I become nostalgic. I instantly remember the shared moments with my own sister centered around the numerous kittens that we watched come into the world, or rescued with the help of our grandparents. These animals were our constant companions through childhoods thick with the discovery of how life blossoms. This photograph is a reminder, maybe even a confirmation, that these kinds of experiences take place across all of humanity. Our relationship with the animal world shapes who and what we are as a species, not just as individuals, but also as a whole. It unifies.

So, it isn’t the masterful composition of lines and geometry or the delicate printing techniques that speak most to me, though those things are certainly beautiful, and apparent in the photograph. It is the way that Sammallahti’s poetic, ever-watchful eye was able to capture this unifying essence between human and animal subtly, gracefully, through subjects full of youthful innocence and wonder. For me, this one photograph completely embodies the meaning of “Kindred Spirits.”   


Lucas Shaffer Selects Keith Carter's San Galgano, 1998

Keith Carter – San Galgano, 1998 Toned Gelatin-Silver Print, 15x15" Image, Edition of 50, $3600


Lucas Shaffer
Special Projects & Client Relations
(505) 988-5152 x114
San Galgano is quintessential late-90’s Keith Carter. I adore the contrast of these two white fluffy felines against the murky dilapidated stone interior of the 13th-Century Italian abbey. For me, there is a logical dissonance seeing the cats here in the abbey’s ruins, their presence seems out of place, curious. Most likely these cats are doing just as cats want to do – find a safe sunny spot to lounge about in, but Carter plays off the situation’s delightful curiosity to build a scene imbued with mystique by tilting his lens, split toning the print, and using a gorgeously symmetrical composition. This is what Carter does best; he excels at using his photographic tools to transform the commonplace into the wonderous. Paramount in this transformation is the trio of glowing lancet windows to the top of the frame. Even without knowing the Abbey at San Galgano is a gothic church, the form of the lancet windows with their tall, arched, bright but blurry forms punctuate the frame further separating the scene from reality and helping lend the image it's ethereal, dare I say, spiritual quality. Now I know that these cats are not “ghost cats” or “angel cats”, but Carter’s image creates a space to believe in forces and connections outside my own sensorial perception. Here’s to witnessing the extraordinary, the miraculous, and the sacred in the everyday.



All prices listed were current at the time this post was published.

For more information, and to purchase artworks, please contact photo-eye Gallery Staff at:
(505) 988-5152 x 202 or gallery@photoeye.com


• • • • •

On view through August 24, 2019

Featuring work by Keith Carter, David Deming, Pentti Sammallahti, and Maggie Taylor

All prices listed were current at the time this post was published. Prices will increase as editions sell. 








Labels: , , , , , ,

photo-eye Gallery Gallery Favorites
Christopher Colville – Flux Anne, Lucas, and Alexandra highlight three notable images from Flux, currently on view at photo-eye Gallery through Saturday June, 22nd.


Christopher Colville’s exhibition of unique, camera-less, gun-powder generated photographs, titled Flux, opened at photo-eye Gallery on April 26th to an intrigued, perplexed, and ultimately enraptured audience. Colville’s one-of-a-kind photographs are enthralling in both their creation and their visual presence. It is easy to get wrapped up in the thrill and mystery of the process when looking at photographs created without a camera by igniting gunpowder directly onto photographic paper onsite in the desert at night. Indeed, understanding that process can be an important aspect of looking at and responding to these explosive abstract images. However, Colville’s work also has the distinct ability to speak directly to individual viewers on a powerful personal level. Each piece uniquely evokes fantastical landscapes, captures bursts of violent action, opens up enigmatic celestial maps, or creates murky, gossamer atmospheric texture in a way that allows each viewer to enter the work in their own way. This week the photo-eye Gallery staff was charged with the seemingly-impossible task of picking a favorite piece out of this compelling and captivating exhibition. Read more on their selections below.



Anne Kelly Selects Dark Hours Horizon 101

Christopher Colville, Dark Hours Horizon 101, Unique Silver Gelatin Print, 3x12" Image, $3,180, Framed


Anne Kelly
Gallery Director
(505) 988-5152 x121
The works by Christopher Colville that are included in our current exhibition Flux are unique photographs that are made without the use of a camera, but with simply the essence of photography–light. Each composition is pure abstraction which is the orchestrated result of tiny gunpowder-fueled explosion on moonless nights in the Arizona desert.  Though the images are abstract, I have noticed that gallery visitors have started to see objects within the imagery like planets, rocket-ships, cactus', and more. The piece that I’ve fallen in love with is Dark Hours Horizon 101, a tiny tryptic that reminds me of a stormy desert landscape. So there you have it, I continue to be attracted to unique, expressive landscapes that connect to my own personal experience. I also love the scale of this piece, it just asks you to slow down and take a closer looks at the surface and beyond. Over the horizon hang stormy clouds where an epic storm is blowing in. The surface of this print almost looks like rusted metal, and on closer inspection, there is just a touch of iridescence, which I recently learned is possible in certain rare clouds. Dark Hours Horizon 101 is a tiny abstracted landscape created by a small explosion–what is not to love?


Lucas Shaffer Selects Fluid Variant 2

Christopher Colville, Fluid Variant 2, 2015, Unique Silver Gelatin Print, 12x15" Image, $3,550, Framed

Lucas Shaffer
Special Projects & Client Relations
(505) 988-5152 x114
Like my colleagues, I had a difficult time highlighting just a single image from Christopher Colville's impressive collection in Flux. This is my favorite type of photography, it's tactile, experimental, material-based, cameraless, and unique. Fluid Variant 2 stands out for me due to its bold design, sense of balance, and expressive nature. A precise, but broken, diagonal, bisects the picture plane perfectly separating light from dark, the concrete from the organic. The effect is striking. A burst of energy erupting from the center dramatically joins these two disconnected planes breaking the diagonal, evenly cutting the image again vertically, and throwing the lighter portion into fluttering chaos. Paired with Colville's rich rust-colored print tone the overarching effect of Fluid Variant 2 is earthly and elemental. More than any other work I've seen recently, Colville's images seem physical, their representations of movement, weight, texture, and material are extraordinary. I've probably already spent hours viewing Fluid Variant 2 delighting in its consummate aesthetic and meditating on its dynamic paradoxes. Overall, the image is enigmatic with an impressive design that leaves room for personal interpretation and reflection.


Alexandra Jo Selects Dark Hours Horizon 87

Christopher Colville, Dark Hours Horizon 87, Unique Silver Gelatin Print, 3.5 x 4.38" $1,280, Framed


Alexandra Jo
Gallery Assistant
(505) 988-5152 x116
In a recent conversation with Christopher Colville, we discussed the writing of Cormac McCarthy, as Colville uses a quote from Blood Meridian in one of his artist statements that happens to be a favorite of mine. In the discussion, we spoke about the landscape of the desert, in which Blood Meridian takes place, and what that specific environment means to each of us. Colville's entire process often takes place outside at night in the open desert. We agreed that there is a violence to that landscape, but also a specific loveliness, and talked about McCarthy’s ability to articulate darkness and beauty simultaneously. For me, Colville’s work is also able to do that; it emphasizes the dichotomy and symbiosis between light and dark, and reveals the allure of the shadow.

Dark Hours Horizon 87 was my favorite work in Flux the instant we pulled it out of its shipping crate. The image is one from Colville’s Dark Hours series, which features mostly smaller works, each resembling desolate and mysterious landscapes. The placement of gunpowder in lines and ridges on the photographic paper implies a physical horizon line when ignited to create the image, allowing these camera-less photographs to obliquely point to the environment in which they were created.

Dark Hours Horizon 87 in particular is only 4 x 5 inches and offers an intimate examination of Colville’s mercurial physical process, drawing the viewer in with flashes of iridescence in the dark, ethereal atmosphere of its “horizon.” The colors of the image range from rust to copper to metallic blues and greens, down through magentas and deepest blacks. The way the smoke and light from this explosion swoops skyward conjures images of ravenous prairie fires, wind-swept cloud formations over vast desert mesas, and the feeling of standing alone and vulnerable in the openness of nature under boundless stars and galaxies. Ultimately for me, the power of this tiny image lies in its ability to evoke the colossal, enduring power and chaos of nature and the cosmos that has always been beyond complete human reckoning.


• • •



Christopher Colville: FLUX
On view through Saturday, June 22nd

For more information, and to purchase prints, please contact Gallery Staff at 505-988-5152 x202 or gallery@photoeye.com.
All works listed were available for at the time this post was published.


Labels: , , , , ,

photo-eye Gallery 2019 Group Show
Michael Kenna: Rafu 裸婦 Michael Kenna's Rafu, 裸婦 is a new series of female nude portraits made in Japan over the last 10 years. Roughly translated, Rafu stands for "nude or undressed female" in Japanese, and the series highlights the human body's unique form and the individuality of each model as well as examining the interplay between the body and human-constructed environments. photo-eye Gallery currently has 6 works from Rafu 裸婦 in our 2019 Group show.

Michael Kenna, Mina, Study 3, Japan, 2011 Gelatin-Silver Print, 8x8" Image, Edition of 25, $3000
Ten years ago, after a particularly tumultuous period in his life, Michael Kenna quietly made a decision to expand his photographic practice to include the human form. Kenna is well known for his minimalistic landscapes, and has been vocal in the past about the absence of the human figure in his photographs stating, "I feel they gave away the scale and became the main focus of the viewer’s attention." But, believing "fixed dogma is not a creative tool," Kenna has created Rafu, 裸婦 a series of female nude portraits made in Japan. Roughly translated, Rafu stands for "nude or undressed female" in Japanese, and the series highlights the human body's unique form and the individuality of each model as well as examining the interplay between the body and human-constructed environments.
Michael Kenna, Namiko, Study 2, Japan, 2016, 
Gelatin-Silver Print, 8x8" Image, Edition of 25, $3000

It was important to Kenna not to use professional models, "The women I photographed were a cross-section of friends of friends and their associates: office workers, dancers, yoga practitioners, actresses, and photographers, who wanted to see how it felt being nude in front of a camera…" the photographer states in a recent interview with Zoé Balthus, "…some were being photographed nude for the first time in their lives." Kenna views "both historical and contemporary creative representations of the nude as open invitations to explore this esthetic challenge. My efforts may add little or nothing to the enormous existing mountain of artistic treasures, but that is not important. This is another chapter in an ongoing story.” We are proud to feature six images from Rafu in the 2019 Group Show.



Rafu, Photographs by Michael Kenna
Nazraeli Press, Paso Robles, 2019
Hardbound: $75.00
Earlier this year, Rafu 裸婦 was published as a monograph by Nazraeli Press to coincide with a major retrospective exhibition of Michael Kenna’s photographic work at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photographic Art. The following is an excerpt from Collier Brown's excellent review of Rafu 裸婦 for photo-eye.

"In some ways, Kenna’s nudes seem inevitable. Having worked with Ruth Bernhard, one of the most accomplished photographers of the female nude in the twentieth century, I can’t imagine Kenna not wanting to try his hand at the genre. The surprising thing is that unlike so many apprenticeships, the work of the apprentice, in this case, resembles the master’s only by way of attention, not style. I see in Rafu an eye toward elegance and form that puts me in mind of Bernhard, but I see a rawness too—a mortality in the bones that reminds of me Eikoh Hosoe and the choreography of Japanese Butoh. There’s also a substance in the darkness, a depth, a “praise of shadow” that writers like Junichiro Tanizaki have described as essential to Japanese art.

Kenna’s monuments and landscapes rise up from the mists. But the nudes are hewn from harder stuff. Sculptural, Klimtian. No angelic down or wisp of incense. No Grecian symmetries. The female nude in Rafu is exactly what the body wants to be: not the dream of itself, not the paradigm or archetype, but the self-containment of its own mystery.

Michael Kenna, Namiko, Study 3, Japan, 2016
Gelatin-Silver Print, 8x8" Image,
Edition of 25, $3000
Mystery is important to everything Kenna has done. The hills and long horizons of his previous books draw us beyond the human shape of things. Oddly enough, that much is still true in Rafu, but in reverse. A photograph, even a print, says Kenna, should be “deliciously unpredictable.” It’s an ambition achieved in Rafu, where each image is a beginning and end unto itself. There’s no way of knowing what the next pose, the next expression, the next mood will be. Rafu is an exceptional addition to the nude genre in photography, living up, in its own way, to Bernhard’s insistence that artists try new things, that they be “consistently inconsistent.” She would have been proud." – Collier Brown

Collier Brown is a photography critic and poet. Founder and editor of Od Review, Brown also works as an editor for 21st Editions (Massachusetts) and Edition Galerie Vevais (Germany).


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

All prices listed were current at the time this post was published. 
Prices will increase as the print editions sell.

2019 Group Show
on view through April 20, 2019

» View work from the exhibition

Select Included Artists:

» Julie Blackmon
» Kate Breakey
» Mitch Dobrowner
» Michael Kenna
» Clay Lipsky
» Beth Moon
» James Pitts 
» Reuben Wu 
» Brad Wilson 

photo-eye Gallery – 541 S. Guadalupe Street, Santa Fe, NM 87501 | VIEW MAP



Labels: , , , ,

photo-eye Gallery Gallery Favorites
Tom Chambers: Hearts and Bones This week Gallery Staff has selected their favorite images from Chamber's current exhibition Hearts and Bones, a mid-career retrospective containing 26 images spanning twenty-five years of work and ten separate projects. The exhibition remains on view through February 16, 2019.

Tom Chambers: Hearts and Bones installed at photo-eye Gallery
Tom Chambers is a master storyteller. His intricate photomontages construct convincing single-setting narratives delicately balanced between beauty, danger and wonder. His images captivate us as they leave room for our own personal experience and imagination to answer the questions each scene poses. Our reaction becomes part of the creative process and a reason to revisit the image time after time. This week our Gallery Staff has selected their favorite images from Chambers' current exhibition Hearts and Bones, a mid-career retrospective containing 26 images spanning twenty-five years of work and ten separate projects. The exhibition remains on view through February 16, 2019.



Anne Kelly selects Moat Float

Tom Chambers, Moat Float, 2018, Archival Pigment Print, 28x29" Image, Edition of 10, $2300
Anne Kelly, Gallery Director
505.988.5152 x114
I distinctly recall the first time I encountered one of Tom Chambers' prints. Twelve years ago I saw Prom Gown #1. At the time I couldn’t articulate what it was about the image that moved me--I knew immediately I was looking at an artist with vision and promise. Since then Chambers has continued to produce images that speak to me. The first time I saw Moat Float I was transported back to my childhood days, swimming in the lake at my grandparents', floating along with my little butterfly sailboat. Tom depicts a fragile, young girl, still in her dress, lying in the cold waters of a dreary lake, gulls circling a lonely castle, a small sailboat carried on the ripples of time. The scene is both chilling and calming. The muted colors elicit a feeling of sadness, yet the boat sails proudly forth while smoke pours from the chimney, a fire waiting inside. Life carries on despite the grayness we often feel. It reminds me of the resilience we all hold within us, especially when we remember to embrace our child-like wonder. I'm often asked how I choose artists to represent and how I build my own personal collection. The answer is the same: I follow my intuition, gathering the things that speak to me most.


Lucas Maclaine Shaffer selects Now Now


Tom Chambers, Now Now, 2018, Archival Pigment Print, 22x13" Image, Edition of 20, $950
Lucas Maclaine Shaffer
Special Projects & Client Relations
photo-eye Gallery
505.988.5152 x114
Now Now, from Tom Chambers upcoming Portrait Series, exemplifies the artist's ability to construct a resounding fiction in a simple frame. Eschewing his standard square format for an arched vertical, Chambers borrows a classic form akin to that of Medieval iconography, and in doing so, imbues Now Now with both mythological status and symbolism. Something important, something powerful, is evident in the image, but the narrative details are yours to decipher.

The idyllic pastoral setting is delightful, yet clashes with the young woman's rigid posture, unexplained injury, and piercing gaze aimed directly at the viewer--one that seems to say, "I see you." The tension of the narrative is delivered in the delicate gesture of the young woman's left hand. Hovering her hand just above her wolf-protector's head, she appears to be keeping it momentarily at bay, her eyes focused intently on us, the viewer. Chambers deftly creates the feeling of being seen by the subject and gives us the illusion of agency in the confrontation, as if our actions will somehow determine the next scene in this narrative. The moment is rife with anticipation. Now Now is magnetic. It draws me in with its pristine detail and muted pastels and holds me in place with its mysteries. Who is this girl? Why is she hurt? Why does she need protection? Who am I to her? Is she far from home? Where are her shoes?

I find the image captivating and can imagine it being especially powerful if presented in life-size. I adore Chambers' ability to build complex worlds worth visiting on a daily basis. I appreciate the room he leaves for our own imagination, interpretation, and reflection in the process.


Juliane Worthington selects Late for Dinner

Tom Chambers, Late For Dinner, 2013, Archival Pigment Print, 20x20" Image, Edition of 20, $1600
Juliane Worthington
Gallery Associate
505.988.5152 x116
I love the way Late For Dinner feels like a scene from a fairy tale dream. The edges are soft and blurred, the pink hue of the sunset fading behind the small, old village on the hill. At first glance the sweet girl, in her best gown grabs my entire focus. But the more I study this image, which I asked be hung next to my desk in the gallery, I’m aware of the ravens circling the structures that appear to be vacant and abandoned. Why is such a beautiful child, barefoot and alone on a road to a forgotten place? How late is she really? Is it an hour or a hundred years? I can’t see her face to know with what intent she’s running up this damp and slippery path. What Chambers executes so well in in his work is the ability to create a vision of an idea that’s nearly possible, slightly dangerous, and completely mystifying. His montages often ride the line between dreams and nightmares. Perhaps it’s up to us to decide—will the girl break the spell on the ghostly village and restore it with the beauty and life of her own innocent spirit, or is she too late?


———

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


On view through February 16th, 2019

» View the Work

» Read Our Interview 
   with Tom Chambers

» Purchase the Monograph 

photo-eye Gallery
541 S. Guadalupe Street
Santa Fe, Nm 87501
–View Map–
Labels: , , , , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)