DLK COLLECTION: Photography Is @Higher Pictures

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Photography Is @Higher Pictures

JTF (just the facts): A group show consisting of a total of 27 photographic works by 20 different photographers/artists, variously framed and mounted, and hung against white walls in the main gallery space and the back viewing room. All of the works were made between 2008 and 2012. Edition size/information for each piece was not available on the checklist. (Installation shots at right.)

The following photographers/artists are included in the show, with the number of works on view and image details in parentheses:

Lucas Blalock (1 c-print, 2011)
Matthew Brandt (1 c-print soaked in Fall Creek Lake water, 2009)
Talia Chetrit (1 gelatin silver print, 2011)
Joshua Citarella (1 c-print, 2011)
Jessica Eaton (1 archival pigment print, 2010)
Sam Falls (1 acrylic, pastel, and watercolor on archival pigment print, 2011)
K8 Hardy (2 c-prints, 2011)
John Houck (2 archival pigment prints, 2012)
Katherine Hubbard (4 Polaroids, 2012)
Sarah Anne Johnson (2 chromogenic prints, embossed and screen printed, 2011)
Anouk Kruithof (1 inkjet on Hahnemuhle Baryta paper with favorite color sheets, 2011)
Andrea Longacre-White (1 archival inkjet print, 2012)
Adam Marnie (1 inkjet photographs mounted on displaced wall, 2011)
Aspen Mays (1 archival inkjet print, 2008)
MPA (1 c-print, 2012)
Illiana Ortega (2 archival pigment prints, 2010)
Emily Roysdon (1 gelatin silver print, 2010)
Matthew Stone (1 archival inkjet on wood, 2011)
Arite Vierkant (1 uv print on sintra, 2012)
Letha Wilson (1 cement, c-prints, 2012)

Comments/Context: Trying to pin down an exacting definition of "contemporary photography", an ultimate list of what's in and what's out, has proven to be an elusive, frustrating, and perhaps even delusional, pastime. Do we distinguish between or eliminate camera-less images, photograms, darkroom effects, collage, montage, and rephotography/appropriation? Or do we just include anything and everything that has its output as a photographic print, regardless of the intermediate processes used to make it? Where are the edges and bright lines? These kinds of questions and debates have become even more puzzling with the increasingly broad use of digital technology and the advent of countless new printing processes. The boundaries of our photographic playing field are getting murkier every day.

This smart show declares this kind of old school thinking tired and outdated. It sees contemporary photography at the nexus of interdisciplinary art making, where the definitional intersections between traditional photography and painting, sculpture, performance art, collage, computer-based art, and other less well defined genres are less clear or even important. Processes and techniques from various disciplines are layered on top of each other, creating hybridized end products that defy easy categorization. We're now living in the in-between spaces and borderlands of art, where the rules are less well enforced and the outcomes less predictable, and this multivalent thinking is offering new avenues for exploration and experimentation.

There really isn't a single straightforward "photograph" in this entire exhibit. Letha Wilson merges nature photographs and cement into an abstract object with textural roughness and slashing elegance. John Houck starts with computer-generated all-over grids of color, which are then repeatedly folded and rephotographed to create subtle undulations and angles. Jessica Eaton’s piece begins with a pile of sculptural blocks which are then painstakingly masked off in-camera in small squares, resulting in a single aggregate exposure that becomes a shifting, chance-driven geometric mass of color. Matthew Stone starts with a seemingly classical nude, overlays it with a draped fabric reproduction, and outputs the image on wood, creating a multi-layered, fleshy distortion with unexpected textural warmth. Talia Chetrit resizes everyday coins into a deceptive trail of conceptual breadcrumbs. And Lucas Blalock turns Tums (or are they SweetTarts) into a decorative pattern of pink and purple spots. Performances are staged, photographs are overpainted, collage elements are added, and unconventional ideas and methods are free to spread and evolve, sometimes melding two or three previously separate approaches or discrete steps into a unconventionally heady brew.

I think this kind of show is a message from the future. It indicates that the simplistic Photoshop effects of a decade ago are far in the rear view mirror. What lies ahead, at least on the bleeding edge, is the mature investigation of multiple media in concert, with the artist employing increasingly sophisticated levels of control to achieve his/her desired results. The camera is just one tool in the overstuffed tool box, and the thought patterns we bring from the world of vintage photography will be increasingly irrelevant. This show is fresh, and challenging, and unexpected, and this new style of "photography" is going to knock us out of our comfort zone until we begin to accept that the edges we once drew around the medium have been erased.

Collector's POV: The works in this show are priced as follows, listed alphabetically by photographer/artist:

Lucas Blalock: $3300
Matthew Brandt: $4500
Talia Chetrit: $2500
Joshua Citarella: $1800
Jessica Eaton: $6500
Sam Falls: $6000
K8 Hardy: $6000 each
John Houck $4000 each
Katherine Hubbard: $1200 each
Sarah Anne Johnson: $4500 each
Anouk Kruithof: $1500
Andrea Longacre-White: $2000
Adam Marnie: $3000
Aspen Mays: $2800
MPA: $1500
Illiana Ortega: $3300/$3400
Emily Roysdon: $8000
Matthew Stone: $8500
Artie Vierkant: $4000
Letha Wilson: $3000

In general, none of these photographers/artists has much, if any, secondary market history. As a result, gallery retail will be the best option for those collectors interested in following up.