John Wieland Gallery Visit

The Wednesday January 28th visit to The Wieland Gallery felt like Dorothy Gale meets Area 51.

There's no place like home, and very few know where it is and what goes on inside.

The central theme of the Wieland's private collection is based around the concept of "house", and is interpreted by dozens of artists through paintings, drawings, sculptures and photographs.

In some of the photographs the house was used as an object, in relationship to the location it resided on or near to. It occasionally presented me with various questions like who occupied the space, what kind of living took place within it, and ultimately what was left behind upon vacating it.

In Mitch Epstein's Amos Power Plant the modest post WW2 home looked almost sacrificial to the monstrously imposing cooling tower in the background. Another photo that comes to mind is the wooden structure constructed in the middle of the Nevada desert for the atomic bomb testing program that "emulated" the size and design of a typical suburban home. It's fate was pre-destined in the name of science and national security.

In other photographs the house seemed implied, or secondary in importance. Abelardo Morell's Lauren and Brady in the Shadow Of Our House and Julie Blackmon's Girl Across the Street had a playful sense of life seen through the eyes of children. The house seemed to be an extension of their personal security zone allowing them freedom to play and socially interact.

And then there is Gregory Crewdson's collection. Beyond the high production value and celebrity participation, I started looking a little more closely at what was going on. I observed emotionally-vacant, sleep walking people occupy a space of "amplified" life. Using the people/person as the center point in the composition, every expanded concentric circle outward provided objects of color and activity that contrasted the expressed emptiness. If I recall, our W.G. hostess said that Crewdson wanted to allow the viewer "to arrive at their own narrative" in what they saw. I saw situational contrast, emotional contrast, and tonal/color contrast. All very deliberately designed and well orchestrated.

Another selection I was enamored with was Martha Rosler's Here and There photo collages, using images from House Beautiful and Life Magazine's coverage of the Vietnam War. Her message was very clear and executed without overt complexity.

Some of the sculptural samples I enjoyed were Brian Tolle's The Forgotton vinyl house that looked like a mini-tent, and Roy Lichtenstein's House using optical illusion to play with perspective.

I was giddy when I came upon Ansel Adams' Moonrise Over Hernandez, but was disappointed by the print quality. I found Jerry Uelsmann's print (quality) to be far superior.

Overall, I found the Wieland Gallery experience rewarding and appreciative. And the idea of home. Not house, but home. Maybe the difference between a house and home is the living that takes place within it.

Hagedorn Gallery Visit

The visit provided a review of two artists, Peter Bahouth and Matthew Gamber.

Point number one:

 The insight into Hagedorn's history and general business practice shed light on to the commercial relevance of marketing and presenting new works of art for purchase. From the business side they are aware of their market demographic, both of economic affluence and geographic location. Even though they are set up as a not-for-profit gallery, they still have bills to pay. And herein lies the difference between a museum and a gallery. If an interior designer is shopping for a wall piece based on size and color, the art itself and it's intensions, becomes secondary. A sale is a sale, regardless who buys it, and for what reason.

Point number two:

 I found Peter Bahouth's "The Red Planet" to have a playful, children's book sense about it. Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom came to mind, with the perpendicular camera perspective, emulating looking straight down into the opened book while reading. The art direction overall gave a believable sense of accuracy to the (re)creation. Was I impressed? No. Why? Because I lived in that era, and it's not new to me. Does Peter have an integrity of vision and purpose to his work? Absolutely, and I appreciate that more than what I saw.

 Matthew Gamber's "New Takes" was a lil' o' this and a lil' o' that. He'd have been better served by removing the color series and the smaller decorative samples (3D and etched plexi). In doing so, there would have been two sets of stronger, and diametrically opposed work. One side presented very exacting work; graphically composed, very sharp (for the most part) single objects, while the other side was visually, and deliberately, nebulous in execution. Conceptually, both sides seemed to lack a little depth.

 For the viewer, it might seem a bit confusing on how to exactly define what Matthew does (best), and who he is as an artist. Or......or, maybe he was demonstrating his willingness to both control and remove barriers of his creative curiosity. I can appreciate that. That's how we grow as visual artists.

Overall: Eye candy, with a touch of shallowness. Perfect for Buckhead.

Whitespace Gallery

Visiting the Whitespace Gallery was enjoyable. I liked the backstory and renovation of the space. Meeting Susan and Beth gave added value to the experience. Their openness was both helpful and refreshing. And Forest was excellent with his set up questions. Like a modern day Jack Paar.

Beth's work was well presented. I found the larger, single (b/w) images more effective than the similar sized color versions. The Rolodex boxes were clever and provided an alternative perspective of the overall idea. The smaller 7 over 2 rows of color prints seemed like a B-side of a 45 RPM. Was that why they were third in the presentation line?

To make the 7/2 collection better: maybe edit down the series, print them smaller to make them feel more precious, and present the new collection in a single row instead. The shots were graphic enough to be sized down, to like a 5" x 7" original.

I left wondering a number of things. Who made the decision to show what? In the editing process, was it a case of the "delicious apple" that couldn't be left out? And why so many shots of the same subject matter?

Overall, I left remembering about four pieces of the entire show. Two of the B/W's, one of the larger color and one of the Rolodex boxes. And....AND..... Beth's motivation of her creative process. Her perpetual need to move forward, in both space and time, and to put her un-ease, her anxiety, in her rear view mirror. Not the side view mirror which clearly states: "Objects in the mirror are closer than they appear". Not good. That would totally freak her out.

The last few years have been influential in changing my sense of purpose. As expected, my background is different than others. With this return to school, I have an opportunity to change, or at least modify my personal creative process.  

The MFA title is secondary to my motivation. I am entering my 25th year of teaching/mentoring photography students. In a way, I've been in school just as long, learning new things. Evolving. Now  I have a desire to create for me.  To actualize my vision. Degas was quoted as saying "Everyone has talent at 25. The difficulty is to have it at 50." As another birthday cycle approaches, I intend to challenge Degas' position.

A lot of me is old school: Composition. Light Manipulation.  Craftsmanship.  120 and 4x5 film formats. Black and White. Print Quality. Classic Iconic Visual Impact. Influences include: Penn, Avedon, Bresson, Michals, Steichen, Horst, Frank, Newman, Hurrell, Steiglitz, Adams, Capa, and Newton. And late models: Leibovitz, Watson, some of Ritts, more of Seliger. Some recent discoveries include:  Gertrude Kasebier, John Rawlings, Ruth Harriet Louise and Oleg Oprisco.

Being around creative people on a daily basis is refreshing and challenging. What I have found is that we are creatures of habit, and have a tendency to seek a comfort zone. Something familiar. Something easy.  In order to grow beyond one's immediate reach, there needs to be a genuine sense of curiosity. Of motivation. Of exploration. 

Old habits are hard to change. I intend to pursue a "think different" approach without ignoring the integrity of my old school training. One thing I've noticed is that memorable photography falls into five categories: Beautiful, Interesting, Important, Innovative and Fun. If I can have at least one of the five in every piece, I'll feel some sense of success, regardless of the subject matter.