Marie Claire Bozant

Last night I was at the opening for the University of Washington MFA exhibition, and Marie was one of the fine graduating class. Also one of our submissions to our New Directions 09 exhibition, while she was not selected by our juror, George Slade, the work captured my eye.
I was taken by the intimacy of the subject, emotional joy in the tossing of the sheet, and the closeness to her, softness of her outstretched hand. I thought the images were lovely.

Her work at the MFA opening were drawings, objects her subject, as well as some objects as sculpture. While the sculpture was interesting, I am a fan of her photography. There seemed to be more intensity, connection and energy in the photos she submitted to me than what I saw hanging on the walls of the Henry.

Don't miss the exhibition, there were some great ideas, and well crafted works. While I am passionate about photography, I love a great work of art in any medium, and I appreciate Marie's well rounded resume, and look forward to seeing more work from her in the future.

Susan Burnstine on Photographers Speak

How do they do that? What are they thinking? When looking at any artwork, if its interesting, different, unsettling, jubilant, use any descriptor here, you just wonder how that came out of someones creative mind.

Interviewing a photographer can be challenging. After all, it's a visual medium, and the images should explain all of it. Right? Often the statement can give new meaning and depth to the work in a way that the visuals cannot.

Writer/Editor of B&W magazine Dean Brierly has started a fascinating new blog, Photographers Speak. Using his interviews with artists, he delves a little deeper into the mind, process and creativity of talented photographers.

I was excited to see and read this interview with one of our talented gallery artists, Susan Burnstine. please take a minute to read it here.

the image shown above, Lift, is from her newest series, Flight.

Willson Cummer

Wilson's landscapes aren't typical, they take the mundane and peripheral, and force you to look. Sometimes with solidarity, some with silence, and sometimes the paradox and incongruity just gets you.

There is something about his vision, and I am in the process of working it out. I think they are interesting.

He starts with a rooftop garage. How many times have you parked up there on the roof and wish you had the view to yourself? Didn't Joni Mitchell say something about parking lots? Traditional landscape in concrete.
He then moves on to underpasses, and the newest portion of the portfolio is Lake Ontario. A great deal of the work has a sense of irony and silent expanse.

I really find it fascinating what traces we leave of ourselves. I keep thinking planet of the apes, with Lady Liberty coming up out of the sand....having a background in historical geology, studying the rock for clues to our past, I wonder what we will leave behind. In a way, I think Wilson does too. He just visualizes it.

Sarah Malakoff

To say Sarah Malakoff just shoots interiors is to do an injustice to the work.
This body of work, is poignant, hopeful and a little bit quirky. Not to state the obvious, but our homes reflect alot about who we are, what we surround ourselves with, as well as how we want to present ourselves to the world. Sarah gets these moments on film, exposes them without judgment, and lets us make the journey with her about who the inhabitants are and how they live. I want to know these people. After living in New England for four years, I feel like I know them already, but I believe anyone can identify with them. While other artists capture images that can be sad, lonely or just void of emotion, Sarah's images give me hope, fill me with a quirky sense of optomisim, and seem fun. Her use of patterns and textures are great, I love all of the wallpapers. Would I use them? some yes, some no, but they are a great visual cacaphony of delight.

Her work has been featured in Esopus magazine and Art in America, and she has exhibited all over New York and New England. click here to see more of this great body of work.

Frank Relle

Frank Relle's work haunts me.
eerily beautiful. These images of New Orleans keep me on edge, and yet are somehow serene. I think it's that push and pull that brings me in to them. I want to see what each image has captured in its frame. For me what shines through most in this work is Frank's love of his city, and the honor he pays to its beauty.
The first exposure to it was last year's Critical Mass, and then I was lucky enough to see it in person last December in New Orleans during PhotoNola, and went to my local Borders and picked up Color magazine, and was treated to the images again.



about Frank -

Frank Relle (b. 1976) is a photographer born and based in New Orleans, Louisiana. He is the recipient of numerous awards including a 2007 International Photography Award and the Photo Lucida Critical Mass top 50 photographers.
His work is represented in major public and private collections, including the Smithsonian Museum of American History, the New Orleans Museum of Art and the Museum of Fine Arts Houston. His photographs have been printed in the New Yorker, the Southern Review and the Oxford American magazines.

Relle continues to document the changing architecture of New Orleans and is working to share his images with an international audience hoping to inspire people around the world to help rebuild the city of New Orleans with the integrity she deserves.

Shameless gallery pride - Tom Chambers

I am so thrilled when one of our artists has an incredible event.
I just received a recap from Tom, and can't wait to share.

Here is what Tom sent me about the event -

Imagine attending four to six daily art openings over the course of a week showing the work of diverse international contemporary photographers in the heart of Bogotá, Colombia. Then, imagine the opportunity for informal conversation with fellow photographers over coffee or a sumptuous Colombian dinner. Now, imagine exchanging ideas with your colleagues about the creative process in the relaxed and supportive atmosphere of the Bogota arts community.

The biennial Fotográfica Bogotá 2009 sponsored by Fotomuseo, the national museum of photography, provided me with these artistically and intellectually stimulating experiences during the first week of May 2009. Along with sixteen international photographers, twenty-four Colombian photographers, and a cadre of university professors and museum curators from around the world, I shared my work and ideas about contemporary photography in both formal and informal settings.

Following the theme of the Fotográfica I displayed various portraits at the Museo de Bogotá located in the historic Candeleria district. Teaching a class at the Universidad Nacional I explained the process of creating my photomontages to five hundred enthusiastic art students, all remarkably appreciative of their educational opportunities. In a public conversation at the Universidad Central with Guatemalan photographer Luis Gonzalez Palma, we compared and contrasted the themes and symbols in our photographic work. At the city radio station called RadioNica I chatted in a live conversation about the meaning of my photography, as some of my favorite music by Iron and Wine and Andrew Bird bookmarked my comments.

In the spirit of the Fotomuseo's mission to bring photography into the lives of the Colombian people, my photographic portraits were displayed on the exterior of public buildings and along the thoroughfares of Bogota. Most remarkable was the piece Fetch measuring 24 by 65 feet displayed prominently on the front of the Archivo de Bogotá. A bit of a surreal experience, perhaps a parallel to my photography, I was amazed and grateful to view my work on such a large scale in the international arts community of Bogotá.

If you have the opportunity to participate in a future Fotografica, I would highly recommend this experience. Please disregard any unfounded concerns and stereotypes about travel to Bogotá. Throughout my stay I was well taken care of by Gilma Suarez and her attentive staff at Fotomuseo, as well as warmly embraced by the people and arts community in Bogota.

Katrina d'Autremont

Katrina's Si Dio Quiere is a beautiful, romantic look at family.

Her soft color palette, beautiful portraits, and wonderfully warm home makes me wish I could be an extended member of the family. Her narrative of being caught between two worlds, the United States and Argentina, examining her identity, showcases the emotional connection to her surroundings, her family. Her sense of self becomes ours, and we become a larger extended family as a result.

I met Katrina in New Orleans, and ran into her again recently at Photolucida, and have seen that she has been selected as a Hey Hot Shot contender for 2009 - congratulations! She has also been selected at as 2008 top 50 winner at Photolucida's Critical Mass. I think she has good things happening to her, as well as along career ahead of her. I look forward to what's next.