Ray Mortenson: Full Scale / Meadowland Still Lifes @Borden

JTF (just the facts): A total of 9 large scale black and white works, framed in black and not matted, and hung against white walls in the main gallery space. All of the works are gelatin silver prints (with thin black borders) and were made between 2002 and 2003. The prints come in two sizes: 40x50 or 50x60, both in editions of 2; there are 2 images in the large size and 7 images in the small size on display. (Installation shots at right.)

Comments/Context: I'll bet if you did a quick study of the visitors to Ray Mortenson's new show, a decent percentage would exhibit the following behavior: drift in, scan the walls in one continuous circular movement (like being on a moving walkway), and then exit without registering much more than a cursory summary: big pictures of middle grey garbage. The reason I think this is happening is that these images defy a quick ADD reading, and only reveal themselves after slow, elemental looking, when this unruly mess of hard, dirty ugliness is quietly transformed into something astoundingly beautiful.

I found the scale of these works to be the key to their originality. Mortenson has carefully controlled the depth of field, choosing cross sections of decaying strata, all in generally the same plane so that everything is in crisp focus. He has then enlarged the images to make the objects life sized; a rusted shovel head, rubber tire, or soda can is shown in normal one-to-one proportions. As a result, the compositions have the feel of excavations, where layers of natural and manmade refuse are mixed into a dense bog of junk: railroad ties, rebar, the cover of an old oil drum, tree trunks, girders, a broken fan, pipes, roots, a ripped car seat, plastic bags, and scraggly weeds are deposited like sediments, in chaotic, messy, almost abstract formations. These gatherings of forgettable stuff are then photographed in a palette of muted grey, with very few contrasts of pure white, bringing juxtapositions of textures and surfaces to the forefront.

Given their large scale, the viewer is enveloped by this environment, and each image offers details to be deliberately unpacked and discovered. These specifics move at the pace of a geological dig: look over here between the vertical stripes of an old iron fence, brush away some dirt to see a slippery bag, prod further to get beneath the strands of weeds. It's easy to get lost in the small pieces, traversing the face of the pictures, seeing the fragments of a dark hole in a boiler or a pile of concrete chunks. This is one of the most consistent shows I have seen in quite a long time; every single image offers a surprisingly lyrical view of this swampland of gritty detritus.

I suppose this show will appeal most to that ever shrinking tribe of purists who find enchantment in the lushness of a masterfully executed gelatin silver print. But these pictures aren't a throwback to the 1970s. Their combination of scale and detail is altogether contemporary, but if you fail to invest the time in really looking at them, all you'll see is a heap of trash.
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Collector's POV: The works in this show have two prices: the larger 50x60 prints are $11000 each and the smaller 40x50 prints are $9500 each. Mortenson's work is largely absent from the secondary markets, so gallery retail is likely the only real option for interested collectors.

While I liked almost all of the images in this show, my favorite was UNTITLED (Chain Link), 2002; it's on the far right in the middle installation shot. I liked the waves of twisted chain link fence, punctuated by slashes of angled pipe, a line of rubber wire, and a shredded plastic bag. The fencing is furrowed and wiggled, like a thicket of manmade bushes.

Rating: ** (two stars) VERY GOOD (rating system described here)

Transit Hub:

• Review: NY Photo Review (here)

Ray Mortenson: Full Scale / Meadowland Still Lifes

Through May 27th
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Janet Borden, Inc.

560 Broadway

New York, NY 10012

Ray Mortenson, Manhattan @Borden

JTF (just the facts): A total of 30 black and white images, taken in 2008 and 2009, framed in white, with no mat, and hung chronologically in the main gallery space. The images are 9x9 (on paper 18x14.5) and are titled with their location and exact date. (Installation shots at right.)

Comments/Context: Given all of the famous images of New York (the previous post as just one example of many), the challenge of making contemporary images of classic views and moments of the city without rehashing the recognized masters is a daunting one. And yet, the city has certainly changed dramatically over the years, so there must be new discoveries to be made, even in the context of these traditional subjects.

Ray Mortenson has stepped into this realm with his recent body of work and has found some surprisingly fresh perspectives on old favorites. A handful of images take vertiginous upward views of abstracted skyscrapers that echo the well known images of Abbott and Newhall (linked below), but highlight new sleek forms of glass and steel, rather than the stone carved facades of the 1920s. Others capture light poles, water towers, billboards, and street grates; fragments of the city that become geometric forms. Images taken at morning and night, complete with wispy smoke, use the available light to broaden the tonal ranges. And Mortenson has even found new ways to see many iconic New York moments: skating at Rockefeller Center, the ceiling at Grand Central, the Chrysler building, Times Square, and Bryant Park.

Of course, all of this has been done before, but a good many of these images still find a way to be unexpected. While I think this show would have benefited from a slightly heavier hand in the editing process (the show might have been tighter at 20 pictures instead of 30), it is refreshing to see that overworked subjects can still be new in the hands of a talented photographer.

Collector's POV: The prints in this show have been made in editions of 3, and are priced at either $3000 or $3500, depending on the location in the edition. I particularly enjoyed the image of a skewed angle light post against some tall buildings entitled Broadway & Columbus Circle, 15 April 2008.

Rating: * (1 star) GOOD (rating system described here)

Transit Hub:

• Broken Glass, Photographs of the South Bronx @MCNY, DLK COLLECTION review (here)
• Berenice Abbott, Canyon: Broadway and Exchange Place (here)
• Beaumont Newhall, Chase National Bank (here)

Ray Mortenson, Manhattan
Through May 29th

Janet Borden, Inc.
560 Broadway
New York, NY 10012

Broken Glass: Photographs of the South Bronx by Ray Mortenson @MCNY

JTF (just the facts): A total of 50 black and white gelatin silver prints, of varying sizes, mostly small 5x7 or reverse, with a handful of larger (20x24 or mural sized) prints as well, in a single hallway gallery. A large grid of images (77 total prints) and two glass cases containing artist books are also on display. All of the works are from 1982-1984. (Installation shot at right; image of grid below right.)

Comments/Context: With the growth and prosperity across the nation in recent years, it is often easy to forget what many urban areas went through in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Ray Mortenson's photographs take us back to a time in the South Bronx when the streets and neighborhoods resembled an abandoned war zone, with tumble down houses, destruction, and utter collapse the prevailing landscape.

Mortenson made an in depth study of this environment, in an almost anthropological way, taking pictures of both interiors and exteriors, and placing buildings in the context of their surroundings and separating them apart. The images are entirely empty; not a single person is to be found anywhere. What remains are the architectural remnants of broken walls and windows, graffiti, and rotting furniture. It is a bleak world of peeling paint, massive holes, chaos and neglect. There are echoes of Gordon Matta-Clark's work here, minus the conceptual overlay: walls and buildings are slashed and torn, with peep hole views through the decay.

Given the depressing subject matter, it is perhaps surprising to find that these works are consistently engaging and beautiful. Mortenson has used strong contrasts of black/white, light/shadow, and line/texture to bring vitality to these abandoned rooms and buildings. Each view has been carefully composed and crafted, and the small images draw the viewer into an intimate dialogue. The work is thought provoking, in the sense that Mortenson has taken spaces that were defined by negligence and dereliction, and paid respectful attention to them. In doing so, he has exposed some glimpses of simple beauty hidden underneath.

Collector's POV: Prior to this show, we knew nothing about the work of Ray Mortenson. Given this body of work, we have come away impressed; one of these images would easily fit into our collection. Ray Mortenson is represented by Janet Borden (site here).

Rating: ** (two stars) VERY GOOD (rating system described here)

Broken Glass: Photographs of the South Bronx by Ray Mortenson

Through March 3rd

Museum of the City of New York

1220 Fifth Avenue

New York, NY 10029