Our assignment was to find a gallery of our choice that we had an invested interest in. I went searching for this invested interest and at first had my eyes set on the exhibition at the Zimmerli. I was even set to go and realized they are closed on Mondays. So I had to do some last minute clutch gallery searching. Just when I was about to give up I stumbled upon this one gallery via my iPhone. Bruce Silverstein Gallery on 24th street it said. The two artists that where being exhibited had work on the website and from my tiny little screen they both looked like paintings and at first I was very disappointed. As you may know I’m not too fond of painting. No offense. But on closer inspection of the work it turns out both artists are Photographers. Photographers that I myself would have an enormous amount of invested interest. The gallery closes at 6 and I got out of work at 515 so I had to run to catch the F train to 23rd street and then for the first time in my life took a bus to 9th ave. I ran the rest of the way to 535w and got there at 535pm which was more than enough time to soak in the wonderful large format prints of both Todd Hido & Nicolai Haowalt.
First I will talk about Nicolai Haowalt’s “Car Crash Studies” piece, which is a photographic study of cars that have been involved in severe and fatal accidents. I really enjoyed how the series goes back and forth from being a documentation of the wreckage and an abstraction of it as well. My favorite ones were the close-up of the slashed metal body of the cars, which turn into an abstract landscape that is filled with vivid color and amazing texture. You can’t help but think how beautiful they are without stopping yourself and thinking of the pain and agony that was suffered to create them. The close-up color plains remind me of my last project I did with the close-ups of man-made and natural objects around me. This is also part of what I will try to achieve in my thesis with imagery.
The next artist in the gallery was Todd Hido. He was exhibiting his series “A Road Divided” which Hido focusing on the American landscape. A quote from the press release explains why he is my new favorite photographer. “Crossing the double lines’ between painting and photography” This entire statement explains what I really love about photography and what it can do. This is also what I have been trying to do with my last few projects and hopefully try to achieve with my thesis. Photos that do blur the line between painting and photography, creating landscapes with vivid colors through the use of a lens rather than the use of a brush. I also am very intrigued at the way he went about shooting these images. By using the vantage point of his car seat and shooting towards the surrounding area out in front of him. It almost feels like he is going on a journey and capturing whatever crosses paths with him. His photos are filled with so much emotion that you can’t help but get an eerie and creepy vibe from them. I also love the way that the condensation on the window causes parts of the image frame to be out of focus or not recognizable. They are also very cinematic and remind me of shooting with slide film and put stuff on the slide to create a hazy dream like state when projecting them.
In the end it was yet again another successful and inspirational gallery visit for the third straight time in a row. Now I am left to wonder what will be in store on my next journey off into the city.
Jeffrey John Masino
Despite the logistical difficulties an ideal post. Lots of why you liked it and detail on the work. The red image, which I presume is a car looks like raw meat, or flesh. Thanks
ReplyDeleteGerry