SUPPORTING LADY PHOTOGS IN DC

Photo by Susana Raab

WHAT: FotoWeek DC opening + Silent Print Auction of

"Women by Women: A Juried Exhibition by WPOW members"

DATE/TIME: Thursday, November 20th - 6:30 to 8:30 pm

WHERE: Sewall-Belmont House and Museum

144 Constitution Ave, NE Washington DC 20002

(Next to Hart Senate Office Bldg / Metro: Union Station)

DESCRIPTION: The Women Photojournalists of Washington craft a visual journey through the lives of women and girls around the world. From the desperation of an emergency room in Haiti, to an ordered classroom in China; from the bubble gum pink of a girls bathroom during a middle school dance, to a whitewashed detention center on Mexico's border–moments of beauty, humor and darkness present themselves in their rawest form.

COST: Free!! (Bring your checkbooks or cash if you plan to bid during the silent auction!) Can't make the event but still want to bid on our photos? Bid online at: http://womenphotojournalists.org/auction/index.html

Curated by Ken Geiger, National Geographic Senior Editor and MaryAnne Golon, Time Magazine, Consulting Editor



More about WPOW:

Women Photojournalists of Washington (WPOW) is a non-profit organization of 175 women working within or studying the field of photojournalism in the Washington DC metropolitan area.

While still in the minority, women are a quickly growing segment within the historically male dominated field of photojournalism. WPOW seeks to both address the specific needs of Washington DC area female photojournalists by nurturing professional growth, and to educate the public about the role of women in this field.

KEHINDE WILEY @ the STUDIO MUSEUM OF HARLEM

Second day before closing, I caught the awesome show at the Studio Museum of Harlem, "The World Stage: Africa, Lagos, Dakar", the amazing paintings of Kehinde Wiley. I have seen Wiley's work before---maybe at Deitch Projects, I'm not sure---but I didn't remember it having such a powerful effect. In Wiley's newest work, he sets up shop in various locales and soaks in the culture of that place, through hanging out with locals, visiting museums, and studying the relevant history. In Lagos, Dakar local African men were given the chance to pose in stances based on those of local monuments and statues; it was a give and take between artist and subject at these photo shoots. As a result, the gestures in the paintings are almost dance-like, such as in "Place Soweto: National Assembly".
One bit of information which was not provided was the significance of the brightly colored patterns both enveloping the figures and serving as backgrounds; I would assume they are taken from each specific locale of where the painting was made, but if anyone out there knows more specifically, please let me know!

Wiley's technique is nothing short of perfection; invisible brushstrokes, and a complex understanding of color which is nothing short of a modern Vermeer. In a documentary describing Wiley's practice (on display in the Museum), he explained his process as first: photo shoot, then digital work to enhance the colors already present. The nuances in the skin tones were obviously carefully labored over, and the sculptural shadowing combined with the large scale gave each painting a special, monumental quality. ('On Top of the World,' Kehinde Wiley, 2008)

LUCKY NUMBER SEVEN at Site Sante Fe

While in Santa Fe, I finally had the opportunity to visit the well-known Site Santa Fe contemporary art center. The current show was the 7th international biennial to be held there, 'Lucky Number Seven,' curated by Lance M. Fung.

I do appreciate the fact that Fung chose---to more or lesser degrees---emerging artists, many of whom were from the region.

However, much of the work was not exceptional, and came up short of inspiring new conversation or dialogue.

New York based artist Nadine Robinson's piece was the most impressive, a giant trio of X's perched atop the SITE Santa Fe building, illuminated at night with hundreds of industrial bulbs. The 3 X's reference both the historical religious reading of the cross and plays with more contemporary notions of 'x-rated.'



Studio Azzurro had the most interesting and fun piece in the exhibition, featuring locals walking up a city sidewalk, digitally projected on a gallery wall, larger than life. The viewer could place their hand on any of the figures walking by, at which point the figure would turn and face the viewer and give them directions in the area. As a long-time urban dweller, I appreciated this investigation into how people treat and interact with one another in a busy city area. Ignore? Keep eyes focused forwards? Make eye contact? Or talk to each other?

Probably the weakest work in the show was the sculptures of mother and daughter team headed by Eliza Naranjo Morse. Their sculpture---reminiscent of a long piece of poop---was chosen to be draped over the entrance to the museum. If a piece is, in essence, advertising how and where to cross the threshold from outside to in, it better be a strong, or at the very least, interesting, or offensive, piece of work. This was none of those. And especially in contrast with Nadine's giant x's, I really don't know what the curator was thinking to offer this very important site to these artists and this piece of work. I appreciate that they chose 'local' materials for their piece such as clay, but so what? This was an example where MORE would have been effective; the result was just weak. This picture is from some of their other sculpture draped elsewhere in New Mexico.



On one hand, I respect Fung for bringing in regional artists to an international exhibition space, especially as regional work is such a huge part of the art market in New Mexico. However, if it can't provoke thought or be visually seductive, there has to be more to it than 'being regional.'

SHARON CORE and AMY ELKINS at Yancey Richardson Gallery

Several good shows opened up last night, including Sharon Core and Amy Elkins at Yancey Richardson Gallery.

Sharon Core's show in the main gallery, 'Early American,' featured exquisite still lives, an homage, in essence, to Raphaelle Peale, considered the first early American still life painter.


In the rear project gallery was Amy Elkin's project 'Wallflowers,' featuring cute young men up-front-and-center of flowered wallpaper.



I loved these two projects together. It would have been great to see the works in one room, instead of separate spaces. Both artists used a painterly, careful use of light and color palette; both are heavily entrenched in art historical reference.

This show is open until December 6th.

10:15 DOT COM

My friend Beth turned me onto this really cool website, where you upload a photograph you take at 10:15 a.m. I love the idea of all of these simultaneous lives coming together on a website at a specific moment. Here is one of the pics from 10:15

photo by Jay Heinz of Chapel Hill, NC 'Unicorns and Freakin' Rainbows'

ART AND NATURE IN NEW MEXICO

New Mexico is incredible.

It's my 3rd time here, and the first time I've been here with my 4 x 5 camera and much better skills at making pictures. It is stunning here---an extremely wide and vibrant color spectrum, tiny humble homes set against massive, impassive mesas and mountains, and a moon that doesn't disappear until late in the afternoon. Made some pictures in White Sands, Raptor Lake, and along Route 3 in the middle of some rolling hills dotted with farms and yucca and trees, the leaves a pale golden green in the sparkling autumnal sun. It was pretty awesome.

Now in Santa Fe.
Saw a really lovely photography show at the Monroe Gallery of the work of Stephen Wilkes, another photographer who has been investigating the rapidly changing environment of China.

The image I found most enigmatic in the show was this:


Farm house before demolition, China, 2006, Stephen Wilkes

This photograph was exhibited as a diptych with a matching image, the farmhouse just now a pile of rubble. While I have certainly seen plenty of before/ after destructions depicted in photography, the strange, ethereal lighting and overcast, yet shimmering sky really contributed to the overall feeling of: is this really happening?

TROPICAL STORMS IN PUERTO RICO

Well wanted to add a brief something in here....have been on my honeymoon in Puerto Rico for the last couple of weeks, which has been quite an adventure, from the boozshie pools at El San Juan Resort and Casino to the wild coasts of Rincon to the insane, extremely verdant jungles and mountains of the interior of the island. After that, the odd, decrepit city of Ponce, the rain forests of El Yunque, and now....stuck in Fajardo, a small coastal town trying to escape the island before the hurricane scheduled for tomorrow!

So, rather than go to the tropical Caribbean island of Vieques as planned, we've decided to abandon PR and head to New Mexico instead, one of our favorite places to road-trip, camp, and make 4 x 5's. My friend Sarah Palmer has made some pretty sweet pictures out there.



Shelter, White Sands
2008, Sarah Palmer

BENEFIT TO SAVE THE BOWERY: TONIGHT, SEPTEMBER 27TH

I am helping out with a benefit to help stop the rampant destruction along the Bowery. For those of you new to town, the Bowery only recently became home to all of those swanky hotels and high rises. Its history is much more colorful and sordid than what it has become.

In addition to music and performances, there will be a silent art auction---great opportunity to score a great piece of art and help support a grassroots organization. Artists include Mette Madsen, Aimai Reporter, Anna Sawaryn, Gilda Pervin, Phillipe Solomon, Sally Young, and an 11" x 14" by yours truly, from my ongoing photo project examining the rapid destruction of Red Hook, Brooklyn.

Hope to see you there!

Bowery Alliance of Neighbors
BAN
presents

An Evening to Save The Bowery
Saturday, September 27, 2008
6:30 - 9:30 p.m
at
Bowery Poetry Club
308 Bowery
one block north of Houston St.
music, poetry and film
--art auction--
--raffle--
proceeds benefit the Bowery Alliance of Neighbors (BAN)
a grassroots organization working to protect
residents, small businesses - the neighborhood
&
the historic character of the Bowery
admission: $10 per person
additional donations welcome
checks payable to:
Bowery Alliance of Neighbors
184 Bowery #4
NYC, NY 10012
∼ boweryneighbors.org ∼

BUCKMINSTER FULLER AT THE WHITNEY MUSEUM

A big part of American worlds fair history is the geodesic dome, the creation of a wildly brilliant engineer / inventor named Buckminster Fuller.

The show currently open at the Whitney museum is a brilliant portrayal of two creator's interpretations of how we experience space --- and domes. Buckminster's dome was featured prominently in the Montreal 1967 worlds fair.
In addition to Fuller's drawings, models, photographs, and other such paraphernelia, there was also an exhibition of Paul McCarthy's work. Instead of the performance art involving condiments and cooks which most people are so familiar with, this was installations examining how we understand space. One piece involved standing in the middle of a small, square room which slowly rotated. Each wall had one door in the center. As it slowly rotated---viewers standing inside and spinning along with it---each wall started slowly opening up, the door opening slowly and then slamming shut violently. It was disorienting and an interesting examination of our perception of structure as a solid and non-moving entity.

JOEL STERNFELD AT LUHRING AUGUSTINE

As many of my colleagues know, a day gallery hopping is never completely awe-inspiring or rewarding---in fact, it can be often downright depressing.

So, I was extremely pleased to see the show at Luhring Augustine of Joel Sternfeld's large-format photographs around Oxbow in upstate New York.


I find it very fulfilling to find work like Sternfeld's still so solidly holds its own in the contemporary art world, as opposed to trendier, flashier photography with less gravitas. These photographs depict the subtle nuances which nature presents in one tiny corner of the world over a period of time. The work is sincere, beautiful, and perhaps a bit obsessive---my favorite type of photography. Even if the work is a 'break from the sublime' as the press release describes, the pictures are luscious just in their scale and perfect composition. Each photograph is obviously the product of a very slow, meditative picture-making process.