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Went to FotoFest Grand opening last night. FotoFest should be commended
on the China theme, but I hope they don’t do a Europe, Latin America and
…. Theme.
I hope the documentary photojournalist photographers here from China
got/get to see the Baume Mercier/Magnum photographer exhibit at HCP.
Their approach to printing is markedly different with the Chinese gray
and flat. The Magnum prints have a full spectrum of black to white and a
full range of gray. I didn’t feel that the Chinese prints did the
subject matter the full justice a dynamic black and white print can
deliver. If part of the intent was to say something about the flatness
of life with such lifeless prints, perhaps they successful, but I have
seen such messages communicated with stunningly dynamic prints, and find
the dynamic print more capable of message delivery. These prints left me
flat.
There were a few attempts at color work and “art”. Technically and
tonally, the prints were masterful. One set of prints was staged
theater, with what I in the west think of as traditional costuming and
makeup. The gender bending nudity in these images was simply banal in
the worst connotations of the word. Perverse in their lack of respect
for tradition, humanity and the arts, their only redeeming quality was
technical mastery and perhaps the ability to shock. Please don’t believe
I am anti-nudity in art, I‘m not, my Silhouettes series, and my older
models series (available by request only) has nudity in it, and I would
like to think not perverse.
There were other things, staged or real it didn’t really matter, teen
violence on the second floor, at most something to consider, certainly
not for everyday living on the walls. These images reminded in odd ways
of A Clock Work Orange, with out nearly the sophistication of symbol
manipulation, subtle use of color shift or the layers of intellectual
debate on mind control, free will and government manipulation. True, a
Clock Work Orange is a movie, but its also a book and could be made into
a series of photographs. I got the feeling this “artist” was trying to
“discuss” some of the same issues that Clock Work did, but I didn’t
think he succeeded.
The color work of the dead animals, again technically well done, should
consider the many western still life paintings of food, animals ready
for butchering etc. Compositionally, these photographs didn’t utilize
their space completely. Use of negative space is very important, these
didn’t use negative space well.
I found the show educational and thank FotoFest for having it. I look
forward to seeing more work.
——
Thornwood had an opening of C.A. Smith paintings – very nice livable
impressionistic style paintings. Nothing particularly new innovative or
stunning, but nicely done and livable. You’ll have to decide if the
price is right.
Diverseworks – One Year Later a set of Diptychs of the same young woman
a year later- interesting, might be more interesting to see a very long
study of these women 20yrs or more. Certainly not for my walls, but
maybe on the web or a book. Broken Earth – quite frankly my little
groups consensus was to walk out a little way through it. When we left
we couldn’t figure out why six screens in a circle and the pace.
mArchitects – Branching Out Tree limbs and leaves, nice decorative but
I’m not wanting one for my collection, would have a hard time
recommending it for someone else’s, unless they really loved it – but
then they would need/want my recommendation.
Nance Street Studios: Potential there, but not “fully developed voices”
in my opinion.
