It was great to see many new and old faces. We both had the pleasure of meeting Tony Bannon, Director of the George Eastman House, whom commented on the high quality of work being shown.

Thank you to Andy Super, Gallery Manager at Booksmart Studio for all the work he did in bringing the exhibition together, and thank you to Eric Kunsman, our publisher at Booksmart Studio, for continuing to support and believe in our project.

Thank you to all our girlfriends and friends who willingly (I swear!) gave up their time to hang the exhibition: Katie, Hannah, and Eric.

Thank you to Shannon Johnstone and Sonja Thomsen. Shannon flew in from North Carolina and Sonja flew in from Milwaukee. It was wonderful to see and catch up with you both. We had a blast.

And a special thank you to my parents for making the drive all the way from Syracuse in a snowstorm AND staying the entire 3 hours. That’s love.

A few pictures from opening night…

Sonja made some pics and a post, too. 

On the left is myself talking to Shannon and on the right is Ethan talking to Sonja.

Kenneth Josephson. New York State, 1970 (http://www.artic.edu/aic)

Culled from the permanent collection, the images that comprised the Art Institute of Chicago’s recent photography exhibition (on view from June 14 to September 7, 2008), “A Mind at Play,” celebrated the photographic medium’s inherent subjective experience.  Thematically, the exhibition sought to separate photographs that act as records of what is in front of the camera in order to highlight those that contain moments more contingent, witty, serendipitous and inspired.  The exhibition showcased the work of more than fifty artists whose influence spans the history of the medium.  Selected by a team of curators and employees at the museum, “A Mind at Play” boasted a comprehensive display of photographs –  everything from an image by Nadar made in 1863 to an inkjet print by contemporary Chicago photographer Suzette Bross (Blue, White and Red with Wheel, 2007).  Certainly not lacking breadth, “A Mind at Play” showcased some of the medium’s most prominent – Duane Michals, Robert Frank, Kenneth Josephson and Joel Sternfeld – to name a few.

At a time when the discussion regarding the photographic medium and the role of digital technology is making weekly headlines, “A Mind at Play” seemed appropriately poised as a retrospective of  the non-digital era.  Although there were a handful of digital inclusions, the gallery walls were filled almost entirely with silver gelatin prints.  Understandably, this bias lends itself to a conversation about contemporary photographic philosophy.  In speaking to the photographer’s ability to manipulate viewer perception, a question arises about the tools photographers are using today versus those used in decades prior.  Particularly when considering contemporary photographers such as Andreas Gursky, Gregory Crewdson or Jill Greenberg (all embrace computer based post-production techniques in order to reconstruct and redefine photographic reality), how should the manipulation of viewer perception be defined?    Raising this question, “A Mind at Play” ignored that subjectivity, curiosity and experimentation are all inherent qualities of photography regardless of the argument between digital versus analog image making.

Positioned to parade highlights from the collection and attract viewers with the promise of tongue-in-cheek images, “A Mind at Play” hit the mark.  The gallery was overflowing with funny and intelligent images.  Entertainment aside, the Art Institute failed to acknowledge changes in contemporary photographic practice, leaving viewers stuck with a Modern vernacular.  Philosophically this omission, albeit justifiable, seemed negligent – ultimately leaving the viewer asking for more.

hole (spring) 2008 © Sonja Thomsen

Who Gets What: a political show

Artists: The Franks, David Opdyke, Michael Ratulowski, Lisa Solomon, Sonja Thomsen, Krista Wortendyke

Running: September 5 – October 18, 2008

David Weinberg Gallery

300 West Superior, Suite 203, Chicago, IL 60654.

holes 2008 installation view courtesy David Weinberg Gallery.

petroleum 2008 installation view courtesy David Weinberg Gallery.

From Tealia:

There are some great young Chicago photographers being featured and I’m happy to have my work included. I know some of you are out of town or out of state but I hope a few of you will be able to come to the opening…it would be nice to see some familiar faces.

The Co-Prosperity Sphere is located at…
3219-21 South Morgan Street
Chicago, IL
60608

Phone: 773.837.0145

The opening is July 18th at 7pm.

Some links to info on the show.

http://reubenkincaid.blogspot.com/2008/07/hic-et-nunc.html

http://www.lumpen.com/CPS/location.html

Tealia Ellis-Ritter © After the Break Up

Tealia Ellis-Ritter © Fallen

Colin Blakely; Ann Arbor, Michigan
Timothy Briner; Boonville, California
Alejandro Cartagena; Monterrey, Mexico
Hin Chua; London, England
Tealia Ellis-Ritter; Barrington, Illinois
Matt Eich; Athens, Ohio
Matthew Gamber; Savannah, Georgia
Shawn Gust; Coeur d’Alene, Idaho
Shannon Johnstone; Cary, North Carolina
Erika Larsen; Hoboken, New Jersey
John Mann; Tallahassee, Florida
Thomas Prior; Brooklyn, New York
Brea Souders; New York, New York
Sonja Thomsen; Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Shawn Records; Portland, Oregon

Please visit www.pausetobegin.com to view a selection of photographs from each selected photographer.

Starting May 1, 2008, David and Ethan will depart the state of Maine with documentary filmmaker Bruno Toré for 1 month to meet the aforementioned photographers. Upon returning in June, 2008, Pause, to Begin will begin to unveil one photographer’s complete series of work per day at www.pausetobegin.com.

Stay tuned for forthcoming updates right here on our blog and we look forward to seeing the selected photographers and their work while on the road.

© Brea Souders (L) and © Shannon Johnston (R)

I am certainly in an untraditional position to critique or even speculate about the 2008 Whitney Biennial. I have not been to New York to see it. Rather, my Biennial experience this year is one that is entirely virtual. Everything I know about the 2008 Biennial I learned from the internet.

This year marks the 74th Biennial, a summary of contemporary art from the past year. Situated in the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Park Avenue Armory, 81 artist’s works will be on display. Interestingly, a great deal of the work is site-specific. Boasting the catch phrase, “where American art stands today,” Biennial advertisements do not speak highly for a thematic exhibition that emphasizes lessness, slowness, ephemerality and failure.

Unable to arrive at 945 Madison Avenue sometime before March 23, the curious long-distance viewer can experience the Biennial several different ways:

1. The Whitney has created a Flickr account with a collection of photographs from the exhibition. Not necessarily remarkable images, the photographs do provide the viewer with an idea of the installation and preparation processes for the show.

2. On March 6, 2008 the New York Times uploaded an interesting interactive feature on their website that allows viewers to explore the exhibition virtually. This feature is particularly engaging — allowing the viewer to see a panorama view of both the third and fourth floors of the museum.

I am curious to observe how exhibitions in the future will continue to take advantage of online tools to promote and proliferate art work. I recognize that there is certainly no substitute for seeing a work in person, but the accessibility of internet media is making it easier to view and understand artists without ever stepping foot in a gallery or museum.

This idea of internet accessibility is one that is not particular to the 2008 Whitney Biennial. Photo District News recently released their PDN 30, a collection of 30 emerging photographers. Via their website, viewers can browse through each artist’s portfolio and read brief biographical information. Despite boasts of this topic as the cover story for the March issue of PDN’s monthly periodical, the sleek website offers access to full images as well as direct links to each photographer’s website. The virtual gallery is an amazing tool for spreading information quickly and without much hassle.

To close, the curators of the Biennial (Henriette Huldisch and Shamim M. Momin) seemed to get it right when citing ephemerality as a foundational element for artwork this year. When the internet makes art viewing as easy as flipping channels on the television, why bother leaving the couch?

image from:  Democrat and Chronicle

Throughout the month of February the George Eastman House in Rochester, NY is holding a series of events and lectures titled Not Forgotten: Portraits of life and death in Rochester. Included in the series is a teen poetry slam, a community outreach education night and a lecture by Magnum photographer, Eli Reed.

Last evening, I had the opportunity to attend one part of the series: a panel discussion by Will Yurman (a Democrat and Chronicle staff photographer) and local artists Juliana Muniz and Heather Layton. Each artist discussed his or her body of work – all of which related to the 54 homicides that occurred in Rochester, NY in 2005 (a record number of homicides that consequently earned Rochester the highest murder-per-capita rating in New York State that year).

Will Yurman discussed his project, Not Forgotten: Portraits of Life and Death in Rochester. The project documents each of the 54 homicide victims and their families and friends. A combination of his own still photographs and a multimedia presentation that compiles images, family photographs and sound, his work is on display at the Eastman House through March 2.

Next, Juliana Muniz showed her documentary project — a yearlong endeavor to photograph each on-site memorial created for the homicide victims.

Finally, Heather Layton explained her project titled (sub)urban homicide. After plotting each of the original murder locations on a map, Layton used tracing paper to superimpose the crimes sites onto suburban neighborhoods on the southeastern side of Rochester. Creating fictionalized suburban homicide sites, Layton installed and photographed a flower memorial on each new site in order to “bridge the gap by presenting a fictional scenario to our wealthiest citizens…”

Following the presentation of work, the audience was invited to participate in a question and answer session with the artists. Several interesting points were discussed — particularly regarding the future of crime in Rochester and how a citizen can begin to combat the issue firsthand. My own overwhelming feeling at the end of the evening, however, was a fascination of the potential role art can play as a tool for social activism.

In an ideal cultural climate, the institution would be a beginning environment for a discussion of artwork — particularly artwork that deals with social issues. I am reminded of artist Barbara Kruger, whose highly graphic work examined power struggles, feminism and consumerism in public spaces such as billboards, posters and buscards.

I am interested in the notion of photographers seeking out equally public venues in order to present their work to members of the community outside of the arts. I applaud Will Yurman for using the internet (particularly the Democrat and Chronicle website) as a space to share his project with the masses — but are there other places for the photographer to engage with the general public? I am not sure how the individual artist can engage with with the general population without assistance from the institution. Specifically, I am interested in the way Layton’s work confuses boundaries between socially active image-making (i.e. photojournalism/documentary) and work with a more art-related philosophy. Critical engagement with the masses seems essential to the continuation of fine-art photography as we know it. Our challenge is to figure out how this interaction can successfully take place.

Now, they are putting together this: Is it possible to make a photograph of New Jersey regardless of where you are in the world?

I heart photograph’s latest “real world” project. we’re running a global open call for entries and responses will be included in the exhibition “is it possible to make a photograph of new jersey regardless of where you are in the world?” at the pierro gallery in nj. deadline is february 22nd. full details here.

Alex Baker already has made his image for it, you should too.

Pause, to Begin is pleased to announce that the book produced as a part of our competition will be published by Booksmart Studio in Rochester, NY. Susan and I have had the great pleasure of working with Eric Kunsman, the founder of Booksmart Studio, when we produced the catalogue to OX: CIAS Senior Show 2007. We know our second experience will be just as wonderful.

With the wonderful help of Booksmart Studio we will be publishing three different versions of the catalogue.

1. The Catalogue Edition, which consists of a hard cover book.
2. The Deluxe Catalogue Edition, the Catalogue Edition with a slip cover and it will be editioned.
3. The Limited Fine Art Edition Book, it will consist of a higher quality paper printed on a better printer than the previous two, and will be hand sewn. It will also include a print with it from an image within the book.

Booksmart Studio also has a gallery space called Gallery Kunstler. The Pause, to Begin Exhibition will visit there at a yet to be determined time because we are still currently working on having the exhibition travel. Stay Tuned.

Check out Booksmart Studio here.
Apply to Pause, to Begin here by April 1, 2008. We need applicants to make this a reality, so step up to the plate and apply now!

Discussing the exhibit afterwards, I realized that since this collection of nearly every important painting Hopper made in his life was in an established museum it was bound to tell many of the holiday gallery goers that Hopper is a definitive, masterful painter of the 20th Century. That sentence may sound overly obvious, but my point is as soon as a work of art is displayed in a museum, opposed to a gallery, it has been decided by at least one person (the curator) that such artwork is of a quality that it is to be shown in an arena that is geared towards the masses, not simply the art community. Museums are also more of an educational space than a gallery. Museums inform us about things ranging from art to insects to dinosaurs. Galleries mostly show us popular art that can sell, and if the artwork in a gallery is not know to be popular then it still most likely looks contemporary. In other words nothing overly new and strange.

Hopper’s most famous paintings look an awful lot like photography created within the last several years. From color palates to composition and themes, visually a Gregory Crewdson photograph looks a lot like a Hopper painting. Clearly, Hopper has served as an influence to photographers beyond just Crewdson, but he is perhaps the most famous example. I think it is safe to say the Crewdson was educated in part by looking at Hopper’s paintings.

Somehow all of this reminded me of Sally Mann and one sentence that she said in the film. As she reflected on the whole process of the What Remains opening being canceled at the last minuet by Pace/McGill Gallery and instead opening at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington D.C., Mann said something about how in a way it worked out better because the show was now more accessible to her friends, and the Corcoran was showing the work because of it’s artistic merit not it’s salability. Mann also went on to speculate that Pace/McGill canceled her show because they thought that they could not sell her work.

Sally Mann was at a point in her career where she no longer needed a Chelsea Gallery opening to solidify her place in the contemporary photography art world, after all she is still represented by the Gagosian Gallery.

All of this brought to mind some of what I consider to be the most influential photography to young photographers today. The likes of Stephen Shore and William Eggleston come to mind, and they both had early prominent exhibitions at the Met and MoMA respectively. Their photographs are now iconic, just as Mann’s photographs are. To be shown in a gallery is wonderful, especially since there are some amazing galleries that only show the very best work, but to be exhibited in a museum is a testament to the artist’s place in their generation as one of the most important artists of the era.