Review of Jay Heikes Inanimate Life :

Upon entering the Marianne Boesky Gallery, I was met with the familiar apathetic stares by the lackey behind the desk, a common occurence almost ritual at this point . I usually try and read the perceived success of the pieces on display by the character of the gallery employees and from their expressions I could see they were less than impressed. I however was very much impressed by the animate, voluminous sculptures at the gallery. The first piece I encountered entitled Prickly, Sickly, and Thickly, was a long tubular wooden shaft adorned with various quills and spikes from what I could only imagine are porcupines. These towering pillars seemed reminiscint of the pillars at St. Peters altar in the Vatican the artist write up describes Hienke as attempting to create inanimate life forms. The may serve as the founding pillars of his new biological Kingdom. Observed in the round the pillars are threatening, but not extensively so, it at once draws in and rejects the viewer. They appear insect like penetrating the gallery floor, like something out of a wonderfully bad Dune rip off.
The influence of Biological descriptions was extremely apparent in Heartless Ascension, here Hieke conjoins corroded iron and Bronze in the vein of Louis Bourgeois spiders. The figure however appears more languid then Bougeois' sturdy monsters on one side a long iron bar is melted to resemble a rope or a tail. The sculpture itself, according to the write up produces a corrosive energy akin to a dying battery. This may symbolize the decay inherent in modern post-industrial life, as resources dwindle. The piece, which, at some angles looks like a mosquito is for me a depiction of Ginsburg's Moloch, the terrible sprit of industry, whose methods expose the arbitrariness of matter and put (relatively) static elements through an infinite process of creation/destruction.
Hieke's third and I believe most successful work called Molting, was a series of giant skin like silver fragments on the gallery floor. According to the write-up the forms are intended to resemble the shedding of Histories baggage and the potential for new life. I find this description too simplistic. The delicate pieces, due to their location on the floor, are less prominent than his more solid sculptures. They, however, embody the ethos behind his work. Heike it seems, is obsessed with decay and time, I see Molting less a personification of change but of the cohesion of memory and time. Skin flakes are the perfect sign for memory in the face of times endless movement. OUr conception of the present is always influenced mainly by memory which appears as thin and malleable as a dry membrane.
This Conception of molting is Directly related to Battleship Potempkin, a large Photographic collage of secenes from the 1925 Eisenstein film. The Write up claims the piece is about the Postmodern struggle to combine fragments of time into cohesive historical unity. A task that is , no doubt, rendered impossible by subjectivity.

PDN Student Photo Contest

True Fiction

LaToya Frazier, the Associate Curator for the Civic Square Art Gallery, is featured in a new exhibition at the Philadelphia Photo Arts Center.

The photographs featured in True Fiction exist between truth and fantasy, working within the lines of the documentary and tableau genres. With the onslaught of digital imaging technology, it is increasingly more difficult to believe in the idea of photographic truth. From Facebook to newscasts, our culture is oversaturated with a phenomenal amount of imagery whose original source will always be unknown. Photo manipulation, however, has always been connected to the process of image making. Contemporary photography has built upon the documentary genre, expanding into an endless array of photographic expressions.

As the debate of truth within the photographic medium recedes, a renewed interest in access has taken its place. These photographers provide us access into unseen worlds of vulnerability and secrecy, revealing unique physical and psychological spaces. True Fiction illustrates the numerous and complex new perspectives in photography by exploring the perceptual gaps between artifice and the authentic experience.

True Fiction features work by:

Yasser Aggour, Kelli Connell, Gregory Crewdson, La Toya Ruby Frazier, Beate Gütschow, Bradley Peters, Taryn Simon, Chad States, Elaine Stocki

The exhibition runs from September 9 – November 27, 2010

Opening Reception: Thursday, October 14, 2010, 6:00 -9:00 PM

Don't miss this exhibition.

WLCM BCK

Please join us today, September 1st ,from 4-6pm for WLCM BCK, at the Mason Gross Galleries, Civic Square:

Participating artists:
Liv Aanrud / John Almelchenko / Eileen Behnke / Caetlynn Booth / Anna Bushman / Damian Catera / Katherine DeGaetani / Erin Dunn / Megan Flaherty / Gabbe Grodin /Chris Guerra / Catherine Haggarty / Annie Hogan / Suzanne Joelson / Marketa Klicova / Gary Kuehn / Julie Langsam / Allison Lindblom / Ardele Lister / Toby MacLennan / Barb Madsen / Tony Masso / Anne McKeown / Traci Molloy / Diane Neumaier / Raphael Ortiz / Kate Pollard / Alan Prazniak / Tom Raggio / Martha Rosler / Erik Schoonebeek / Patrick Strzelec / Richard Tuttle / Betsy VanLangen / Timothy Warner / Tyson Washburn / Stephen Westfall / Shane Whilden / Wendy White / Bryan Whitney / John Yau

Summer Program in Berlin

Hi! Interested in a summer study abroad in Berlin for Photograph? Check out this great program:
The application deadline is April 9th.

Picture Berlin, founded in 2009, is a four-week program designed for emerging artists working and using the medium of photography. Set in Berlin, a city renowned for both its tumultuous political history and its thriving contemporary art scene, this program gives participants an unparalleled opportunity to develop their individual portfolios while immersing themselves in Berlin's multifaceted culture. This unique artist-initiated program encourages participants to develop an individual approach to the photographic medium by offering close mentoring from internationally practicing artists. Picture Berlin is designed to be urban and mobile, actively encouraging the participants to use the city as a resource with a rich program of workshops exploring the city, visiting artists in their studios, lectures and film evenings. Additionally, each participant is given the option to do an internship with a Berlin-based artist during that period.

A rigorous studio practice forms the heart of Picture Berlin. Over the course of the program, participants attend photography-based workshops led by the Picture Berlin faculty. Each workshop is rounded off by a group critique led by the faculty together with a selection of artists and art professionals. The program culminates in a group exhibition of the work produced over the month.

Picture Berlin brings each participant directly into contact with the vibrant cultural scene in Berlin, offering an intense four-week insight into the international art world as well as professional exhibition experience. The program leads the participants into the art scene through the backdoor, offering them access, information, and possibilities other institutionally based programs are unable to offer.

http://www.pictureberlin.org/

The program is directed by April Gertler.

Exposure Photography Show

The Rutgers Photography Club is looking for artists to submit to Exposure. To put your work into the show, please see our Facebook Event here.

For more information:
Email: ruphotographyclub at gmail dot com
Website: ruphotoclub.com

Three Photography Shows at Zimmerli

Lalla Essaydi: Les Femmes du Maroc

Jan 30, 2010 - Jun 06, 2010

Out of the Ordinary: Photographs by Gary Winogrand and Larry Clark

The David and Ruth Robinson Eisenberg Gallery

Mar 19, 2010 - Jul 11, 2010

Four Perspectives Through the Lens: Soviet Art Photography in the 1970s-80s

The Lower Dodge Gallery

Oct 03, 2009 - Mar 28, 2010