Another Fine Photographer...

Last night was gallery open night and I had the pleasure going to Shai Kremer's photo show at the Julie Saul Gallery in Chelsea. Shai takes what should be very ugly life scenes and creates beauty from them.

"Without going as far as Dostoyevsky claiming that beauty will "redeem the world”, I do believe in the ability of aesthetics to affect change.
I would relate to R. Misrach saying that “beauty can be a very powerful conveyor of difficult ideas”.

This seven year project portrays the ominous imprint of the Military on the Israeli landscape - and reflectively, on the Israeli society.
The aesthetic, orderly compositions parallel the defence mechanism of Israeli citizens striving for normalcy, while the scars concealed in the landscape correspond to the wounds in the collective unconscious of the country.
The landscape, infected with loaded sediments of the ongoing conflict, becomes a platform for discussion.
If the accumulation of ruins and military remnants turns out to be a defining trait of the Israeli landscape, what to think of the society that grows out of it ?"- artist statement from his site http://www.shaikremer.com/

If you have a chance to make it to Chelsea, I highly recommend this show.

Julie Saul Gallery
535 West 22 Street
New York, NY 10011

212.627.2414
www.saulgallery.com

John Chiara: Land's End Photo Show at Von Lintel gallery

I managed to make it back to Chelsea for a gallery walk this past Saturday and ran into a plethora of wonderful shows. The show that stood out significantly this time, striking that fine art photography chord of my heart, was John Chiara's Land's End show at Von Lintel Gallery. He's produced some fantastic images with a refreshingly new process and perspective. I'm a fine art photographer, so I value process and passion more so than that "perfect print" (I'll leave that to anal retentive commercial photographers-not that there is anything wrong with it). John Chiara's process and final product brought much inspiration to my creative table...

"Chiara takes stunning landscape photographs that involve much more than what is in front of the camera. They are, in essence, images of photography itself. Chiara operates a hand-built, room sized camera that is mounted on a flatbed trailer. He works inside of the camera, physically becoming part of the process. During the long exposures, he dodges and burns by passing his hands in front of the camera's lens. The one-of-a-kind, positive images are then developed utilizing an adapted sewer pipe that he fills iwth photo chemicals."-Von Lintel Gallery release.

The scale of Chiara's pieces is magnificent... 50x60 inches yet retains a very intimate, personal quality. I had the opportunity to speak to the artist himself as he was in the gallery while I was there and hearing his process was truly inspiring. Go see his show...and hopefully you'll have the opportunity to speak to him, as well.

visit the Von Lintel Gallery @ 555 West 25th St, NY, NY 10001. His show will be up until March 1, 2008.
www.vonlintel.com

To watch a video about his process and work, visit

http://www.lightdark.com/

Enjoy!

Bill Armstrong's "Renaissance"

The other show that impressed me on my Thursday night Chelsea art opening walk was Bill Armstrong's "Renaissance" show at ClampArt gallery (521-531 West 25th St. Ground Floor). His work is quite painterly and leaves more to the imagination than the obvious straight photo. Then again, I may be a bit biased because I took a color printing class with Bill Armstrong at the International Center of Photography a few years and really enjoyed the class. Regardless, I enjoy looking at his photography. He's got some great ideas happening...

"Armstrong creates his unique imagery using a process of photographing found images extremely out of focus with his lense set on the infinity setting. In this case, the source materials are master drawings from the Renaissance period which have been radically reworked and presented on vast fields of vivid color. Armstrong's photographs imbue a new life and a new context to the original drawings-a renaissance of the Renaissance, if you will." -ClampArt press release.

I agree.

For more information on this show, visit clampart.com or you can visit his website www.billarmstrongphotography.com

Enjoy!

Chelsea Thursday Night Art Openings

Last night I did the Thursday night Chelsea art opening walk with some friends and two shows in particular stood out for me. Firstly, the show by Nicholas Nixon @ Yossi Milo Gallery (525 West 25th Street). Although I'm not usually drawn to photography that "seems" to capitalize on peoples' pain, I do understand a photographer's/artist's need to investigate life (and himself) through the camera.

"The photographs that comprise the series "Patients" document people who are seriously or terminally ill. Taken while visiting four different hospitals in Boston over the past three years, the project is a continuation of the artists interest in portraiture and in phases of the life cycle rarely shared with other beyond family and close companions."- Yossi Milo Gallery release.

Nixon's 20"x23" silver gelatin prints (yes, real bw photos people, NOT digital prints) are exquisite and emotional. And how could I not respect a man that still uses an 8-by-10-inch large- format camera?