Alex Prager, Week-End @Richardson

JTF (just the facts): A total of 8 color images, framed in white with no mat, and hung in the main gallery space. The chromogenic prints range in size from 36x47 to 48x62, and are all made in editions of 5. The works are all titled using the names of women, and were all made in 2009. (Installation shots at right.) A companion exhibit of the same body of work is also on view at M+B Gallery in Los Angeles (here).

Comments/Context: As we are photography collectors, we are constantly trying to put contemporary work in some kind of historical context, looking for connections to figures and influences from the past that will inform our understanding of what we're seeing now. As a result, I found it nearly impossible to see Alex Prager's new body of work without being immediately drawn back to Cindy Sherman's untitled film stills from the late 1970s; the similarities and echoes are pretty striking.

Prager's staged portraits of California women are full of saturated colors and an exaggerated retro melodrama. Her models have been styled with dated wigs, bright red lipstick, and obvious fake eyelashes, covered in thick make-up and dressed in vintage polyester. They stare vacantly beyond the picture plane, resigned to the film noir tragedy that is about to occur, or tightly wound but trying to stay calm, struggling to protect their vulnerabilities; the cinematic role playing runs the gamut from coolly passive to wearyingly indifferent.

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Hypothetically placed side by side with Sherman's work, Prager's images have a more amplified and ambiguous tension. Sherman's stills were more conceptual and consciously neutral, with more distinct settings and narrative environments; in Prager's world, the staging is more spare and the situations are more intensely unclear - often all we're given is a head against a monochrome sky. While both bodies of work address the roles of women, the construction of personal identities, and even the creation of the idealized woman by the media, Sherman's fictions seem altogether more plausibly real, while Prager's have been extravagantly inflated to the point where nuances of gesture and facial expression are the only hooks we have to the unknown and mysterious story.

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While scholars might argue whether Prager's work is overtly derivative, the reality is that Sherman's film stills are generally beloved and admired, and Prager's pictures tap into many of the same themes, issues and emotions, but in a colorful, contemporary manner; it is no wonder there is a noticeable buzz in the air.
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Collector's POV: The prints in this show are priced between $3900 and $13700, with a variety of intermediate levels along the way ($4900, $5900, $7300, and $9500). Prager's work entered the secondary markets for the first time in 2009, but there were so few lots on offer/sold that it is hard to draw much of a pricing pattern. While large color portraits don't fit into our collecting genres, my favorite image in this show was Eva, who stands with her face raised up but her eyes closed, set against a backdrop of dark blinds.

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

Transit Hub:

• Artist site (here)
• Reviews: The Daily Beast (here), Wallpaper (here)
• Interview: Art in America (here)

Alex Prager, Week-End
Through February 20th

Yancey Richardson Gallery
535 West 22nd Street
New York, NY 10011

Lee Friedlander: Still Life 2 @Borden

JTF (just the facts): A total of 44 black and white images, framed in black/dark grey and matted, and hung in the main gallery space. For the most part, the specs on the prints are exactly the same as the previous show, but we have repeated the details here for the sake of completeness. All of the prints are gelatin silver prints, either 11x14 or 16x20 (or reverse); there are 4 in the smaller size and 40 in the larger size on display. All of the works were taken between 1999 and 2009, most in the past few years, and the prints were generally made in the same year as the negative was taken; Friedlander does not edition his prints, so there are no edition sizes/numbers for these works. For the most part, the images were taken either in New City or in New York city, with a variety of other locations in and around the United States represented as well. (Installation shots at right.)

Comments/Context: It is my guess that there are very few (if any) artists in recent years who have created so much new work that they have merited taking back to back exhibition slots at a prominent New York gallery, but the prolific Lee Friedlander has done it with this unusual double play. The first part of this show last December was one of our top photography shows of 2009 (here), so I have been avidly looking forward to seeing part two to see what other tricks Friedlander has up his sleeve.

In contrast to the amplified effects of the previous show, this exhibit has a much more subdued and subtle feeling. While there is another selection of shop window reflections on display, these works are less slashingly chaotic and confrontational; for the most part, the scantily clad mannequins have been exchanged for oriental carpets, spools of thread and fabric bolts, New York city tourist trinkets, and elaborate cakes. The signature flattened picture plane and overlapping reflections are ever present, but the overall effect is somehow less jarring. Perhaps there is a little Friedlander fatigue going on; if these same images had been shown six months from now, perhaps I would have seen them with fresher eyes.

A second set of works center on Friedlander's own bookshelves and the tabletop displays of family photographs and personal memorabilia in his home. Elementary school pictures of children and grandchildren are clustered amidst the books, overlapping and mixed together with a Polaroid of Friedlander with Bill Clinton, a post card of Tina Turner, a sheet of postage stamps of Ella Fitzgerald, and the words "best grandpa". There is also a layer of intellectual voyeurism here, achieved by considering which great novels have been selected and saved by the photographer over the years. This is a much quieter and more personal view of the artist than we have seen before, and one that is clearly steeped in the passing of time. But these images are less recognizable as signature Friedlander, as the jolting compression and abstraction of the picture plane is meaningfully less pronounced.
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A third group of pictures uses flowers and plants as its main subject matter. Several of these works take a straight top down view of the flowers in vases, using the shadows of the window frames and nearby Adirondack chairs to create additional patterns and intersecting lines. While the rest of the vegetation images are a jumble of intertwined plant types, these unexpected bird's eye floral views are something we haven't seen before; they're an unusual motif we'd like to see Friedlander explore more deeply and exaggerate even further.
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My favorite picture in this show doesn't fit into any of these neat groups. It mixes fishing tackle (lures, weights, and gloves thrown onto a piece of plywood) with a shadow self-portrait. The plywood table bisects the picture plane, creating two layers of different depth; it's a classic Friedlander visual puzzle to be carefully unpacked.

Overall, while there are a handful of excellent pictures in this second collection, this work is less consistent than the images in the previous show. Perhaps it merely comes back to a question of editing; even when you are as talented and prolific as Friedlander is, maybe there just aren't enough astounding new pictures to fill two big gallery shows.
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Collector's POV: Once again, the prints in this show are priced at $5200 or $7400 based on size. The market for Friedlander's work has not changed in the past month, so see our previous post for details about secondary market pricing and recent auction history.

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

Transit Hub:

• Reviews of part one: NY Times (here), DLK COLLECTION (here)

Lee Friedlander: Still Life 2
Through February 27th

Janet Borden, Inc.

560 Broadway

New York, NY 10012

Book: The Düsseldorf School of Photography, Stefan Gronert (ed.)

JTF (just the facts): Published in 2010 by Aperture (here). 320 pages, with 162 color and black and white images by 11 different photographers. Includes a foreword by Lothar Schirmer, an essay by Stefan Gronert, and summary biographies, exhibition lists and bibliographies for each of the artists. The German version of the book is being published by Schirmer/Mosel (here). (Cover shot at right, via Amazon.)

The photographers included/discussed are:

Bernd & Hilla Becher
Laurenz Berges
Elger Esser
Andreas Gursky
Candida Höfer
Axel Hütte
Simone Nieweg
Thomas Ruff
Jörg Sasse
Thomas Struth
Petra Wunderlich

Comments/Context: The Düsseldorf school of photography is probably the largest topic in contemporary photography that has yet to receive the kind of in-depth scholarly treatment we would expect for such an important and influential artistic movement. While I'm sure there have been quite a few masters and Ph.D. theses that have been written about the Bechers and their students, until the publication of this book, there have been effectively no survey style volumes brought to market with the broader public in mind. Given the many monographs and exhibition catalogues that have been written about these photographers individually, the gathering of a representative sample of the various artists' work is the lesser of the challenges here; the real test falls to the essay and how coherently and insightfully it ties together what heretofore have been generally separate but parallel narratives. We have all been searching for someone to help connect the dots and fill in the gaps; I'm happy to report that this book is certainly a good start.

One important semantic definition is required before we get to the analysis: what is it we mean by the term the "school"? In general, I think there are two possible answers as applied to artistic movements: the narrow - the education derived from a specific set of teachings/learnings (i.e. the how/what of the curriculum at the Düsseldorf Kunstakademie or the Yale School of Art and how it was absorbed by specific students), and the broad - the larger geographic and temporal phenomenon (i.e. Düsseldorf or Helsinki as the umbrella term for a common style of working).

This volume (and its keystone essay) has chosen to focus on the Düsseldorf school in the broad sense, looking for the larger commonalities seen in its most successful and best known adherents. It lays at the feet of the Bechers the "emancipation of photography": the critical artistic mindset that photography was fully equal to painting, the results of which are embodied in the downstream success of the students who wholeheartedly embraced this unorthodox-at-the-time concept. It also implies an amorphous teaching by osmosis approach, where the Bechers were effectively leading by example: off doing their own highly stringent and objective documentary work, using the series and typology as modes for working and comparison, all underneath a rigid conceptual framework, with the students watching and absorbing some or all of what they saw as they saw fit. The narrative is thus one of commonality rather than causation: the students all started from a generally similar location; as they grew and matured as artists and selectively incorporated the Bechers' teachings over time, they went off in different but often parallel directions.

While there are some anecdotal comparisons and back and forth between the artists, in general, the book follows each photographer down his or her own particular evolutionary path, often starting prior to their involvement with the Bechers, and running to the present, now decades after the teacher/student relationship has ended. Each photographer gets a short biographical analysis, often through the lens of the Düsseldorf similarities. We see some exploring the limits of conceptual ideas (Ruff, Hütte, Esser, Struth, Sasse), while others have consistently worked in subject matter based series (Höfer, Wunderlich, Nieweg, Struth); over time, many have experimented with the use of large formats and prints (Höfer, Hütte, Nieweg, Struth, Berges, Ruff, Esser, Gursky). The challenge here is that most of these artists have worked through a handful of different projects over their careers to date, moving back and forth between working styles and approaches - the Düsseldorf narrative is therefore circular and cyclical rather than strictly linear, the Bechers' influence waxing and waning as the artists continually evolve and reinvent themselves.

As such, the story of the Düsseldorf school is not nearly as neat and tidy as one might expect from the rigid Germans; the Bechers put down some foundation concepts, but their students have long since moved beyond those initial ideas. Perhaps it is the mark of great teachers that they imparted their wisdom and experience about successful methods for discovering one's artistic voice through photography, without imposing their own specific vision too strongly.

While this book provides the satisfying summary and overview I have outlined, I found myself still wishing for more specifics; perhaps the next scholarly book on the Düsseldorf school needs to limit its scope to the period when the photographers were actually studying with the Bechers, and needs to cover in more detail how the curriculum was embodied in the early pictures. I'd also like to see more work from a broader range of the students (not just the "winners") to see how the teachings got applied in different ways. Similarly, I think some commentary from the artists themselves on what they took away from the Becher experience would be enlightening. Clearly, all of these photographers have long since moved beyond their early education, but I for one would be interested to hear what if anything they still find of value.

Overall, this book fills a gaping hole in the history of photography. It provides a well-selected sampler of the work of the best known members of the Düsseldorf school and offers a readable explanation of how it all fits together. While I have an insatiable appetite for more on this group of photographers, this volume certainly delivers a solid and thoughtful introduction to one of the most important movements in contemporary photography.

Collector’s POV: In many ways, there isn't much "new" information to be found in this book on the best known photographers in the group. It was therefore the sections on Petra Wunderlich, Simone Nieweg, Jörg Sasse, and Laurenz Berges that were the eye openers for me, in terms of exposing me more fully to some of the other students who are a little further out of spotlight. I also think the essay was helpful in clarifying my rudimentary understanding of the evolution of both Axel Hütte and Elger Esser, neither of which I have felt particularly comfortable with in the past.

Transit Hub:

• Review: Conscientious (here)

David Maisel, Library of Dust @Von Lintel

JTF (just the facts): A total of 7 large scale color images, framed in black with no mat, and hung in the single room gallery space and above the reception desk. All of the works are c-prints from 2005. The prints come in three sizes: 64x48, in editions of 1, 40x30, in editions of 5, and 14x11, in editions of 3. The exhibit contains 6 images in the largest size and 1 image in the medium size. A monograph of this body of work was published by Chronicle Books in 2008 (here). (Installation shots at right.)

Comments/Context: While we often try to convince ourselves that seeing photography on our computer screens is an acceptable substitute for the first hand experience, once in a while a body of work comes along that systematically destroys this nice theory. David Maisel's Library of Dust first surfaced several years ago on the West coast, and we have since seen JPEG reproductions of the work in plenty of articles and reviews. But now that the work has finally reached New York, I can say that even though I was largely familiar with what I was going to see, I was wholly unprepared for the powerful effect these prints actually have in person.

At first glance, these are deceptively simple pictures: straight forward still life shots of copper canisters set against an enveloping black background. Some are burnished to a shiny glow, but most are covered with colorful corrosions and salty encrustations that have built up along the edges and seams. What is altogether surprising is how astonishingly and sublimely beautiful these objects are. The mineral deposits and residues cover the spectrum from sparkling blues and aquamarine greens to acidic yellows and rusty reds; the thick layers of color look alternately like Italian marbled papers and top down views of rugged coastlines and coral reefs. Swirls, waves, bubbles and bumpy sediments are piled on in ever more complex and chaotic forms. Chemical reactions have never looked so good, especially when enlarged to such a massive scale.

Amid all this loveliness, however, comes the jarring backstory to these objects, which turns the beauty on its head and adds a darker, more philosophical meaning to the photographs. The canisters contain the unclaimed cremated remains of patients at the Oregon State Insane Asylum. The simple cans had been sealed in a less than water tight vault for more than a century; the combination of the flood water and the leaching chemicals from the ashes inside caused the corrosions that now decorate the outsides.

These historical facts add an entirely different set of conceptual questions and ideas to the works. Some might see them as meditations on death and passing of time. Others might center on the horrors of such hospitals, or the emptiness of living and dying, abandoned and forgotten by family. Perhaps there is even some glimmer of hope in the idea that the individual personalities of these patients seem to have been reborn in the colorful residues (the images becoming anonymous "portraits"). However the viewer interprets the narrative, the pictures now have many more layers of meaning, and a striking duality that is both inviting and repulsive at the same time. This tension between the visual and conceptual is what makes these works stand out. These prints are also an excellent example of the intelligent use of monumental scale: the scope of the biggest prints highlights the seductive elegance of the objects, which in turn amplifies the contrast with the haunting backstory; not big for the sake of big, but big to increase the power of the emotional payoff.

Overall, these are accomplished, mature images that successfully work on multiple levels. Don't miss the chance to see these prints in person; they're really nothing like the thumbnails you've seen before.

Collector's POV: The prints in this show are priced as follows:

• The 64x48 prints are $15000 each
• The 40x30 prints range from $6600 to $7500, based on the place in the edition
• The 14x11 prints are $2100, or can be purchased in sets of 5 for $9000

Maisel's work has very little secondary market history, so it is difficult to discern any meaningful price pattern; as a result, interested collectors will need to follow up at retail. While these works don't fit into any of our collecting genres, my favorites were the images that have become extensive harmonies in blue, covering every available inch of the canisters in waves of churning color.

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

Transit Hub:

• Artist site (here)
• Features: Artforum (here), BLDGBLOG (here), LA Times (here), Flyp (here)
• Interview: Archinect, 2006 (here)
• Book review: Lens Culture (here)

David Maisel, Library of Dust
Through February 27th

Von Lintel Gallery
520 West 23rd Street
New York, NY 10011

Von Lintel also has a new blog, with plenty of detailed information on David Maisel (here)

Versus @Hous Projects

JTF (just the facts): A group show comprised of a total of 63 photographs from 18 different photographers, variously framed and matted, and densely hung (salon style) in the entry and gallery spaces that wrap around to the right. The show was curated by collector/blogger/photographer Ruben Natal-San Miguel. (Installation shots at right.)

The following photographers are included in the exhibit, with the number of images on view in parentheses and detailed specs to follow. Unfortunately, the exhibition checklist is full of typos, mistakes, and omissions; in addition, the images on the website do not entirely match those on the walls (I was told some were sent to LA, so some replacements were hung), so consider the information below to be the best of what was available at the time (please feel free to correct any inaccuracies via the comments):

• Jen Davis (3): Chromogenic prints, 20x24, in editions of 10, from 2003/2005.
• Amy Elkins (3): C-prints, 20x16 or 24x20, uneditioned, from 2008.
• Elizabeth Fleming (3): Giclee prints, 14x21, in editions of 15, from 2007/2008.
• Kris Graves (3): Digital chromogenic prints, 16x20, uneditioned, from 2006/2008.
• Molly Landreth (4): Digital pigment prints, 16x29, uneditioned, from 2007.
• Alex Leme (4): Archival pigment prints, 16x24 or 10x15, uneditioned, from 2009.
• Gina LeVay (3): Archival pigment prints, 20x24, in edtions of 10, from 2007/2008.
• Ruben Natal-San Miguel (7): C-prints, 16x20 or 24x20, in editions of 6 and 5 respectively, from 2007/2009.
• Eric Ogden (3): Archival pigment prints, 30x40 or 20x24, in editions of 4 and 6 respectively, from 2009.
• Cara Phillips (3): Gelatin silver prints, 30x24, in editions of 5, from 2008.
  Matthew Pillsbury (3): Archival pigment prints, 13x19, uneditioned, from 2008.
• Nadine Rovner (4): Archival pigment inkjet prints, 24x30, in editions of 10, from 2009.
• Zoe Strauss (4): C-prints, 12x16, uneditioned, from 2000-2010.
• Hank Willis Thomas (2): Lightjet prints, 26x60 and 30x40, uneditioned, from 2008.
• Mickalene Thomas (4): Mounted c-prints, 30x24 or reverse, in editions of 5, from 2009.
• Phillip Toledano (3): Digital c-prints, 12x16, in editions of 6, from 2008/2009.
• Brian Ulrich (5): Pigmented ink and chromogenic prints, 14x11 (or reverse) or 40x30, in editions of 5, from 2006, 2008, and 2009.
• Michael Wolf (2): Lambda prints, 27x34, in editions of 9, from 2007.

Comments/Context: A generation ago, the support community that a photographer built around him or herself was largely made up of other local photographers and artists, the people who had attended the same art schools or summer workshops, and perhaps a few long distance friendships with like-minded photographers or curators in other citites. With the advent of the Internet and social networking tools, emerging photographers from around the world can now interact with each other much more easily; photographers working to secure their first shows and gallery relationships all have websites displaying their work, and many are active bloggers/writers. Communities of international photographers are springing up all over the place, and a sense of collegial inclusiveness and acceptance is the norm.

Via his enthusiastic support of emerging photographers on his blog ARTmostfierce (here), active collector and photographer Ruben Natal-San Miguel has become an evangelist and champion for many lesser known photographers. He has curated shows of emerging and established work, collaborated with artists, marketed limited edition prints, and used his bully pulpit to advocate for causes he cares about, all with a relentless energy and positivity that is contagious. He is an example of a collector who has deeply engaged with the contemporary photography community, and along the way, has transformed himself into something quite a bit more than an anonymous acquirer of pictures.

From a collector's perspective, this show is really a sampler of early career photographers that are "on the bubble"; some have recently settled into solid gallery representation, while others are still looking for that elusive first partnership. Much of the work on display will be familiar to those that travel in emerging photography circles (most of it still relatively inexpensive); many of the same names often appear in group shows both in galleries and online, and several are prominent in the active shaping of the virtual photography community. Natal-San Miguel has built this exhibit by pairing works by sets of photographers, creating juxtapositions, echoes and opposites of style, subject matter, and mood.

If there is a common theme to this diverse collection of work, I think it is a rejection of the cool conceptualism and global scale of the Dusseldorf school in favor of a more intimate, sensitive brand of photography, much of it emotional portraiture and story telling on an inward or personal level. In these images, the photographers explore vulnerabilities and stereotypes, inadequacies and surface imperfections, hopes and dreams (not all realized). The challenge with this approach is that it's tricky to find the right balance between compelling human-sized narratives and overly precious self-consciousness; many of these artists are still so early in their careers that they're still discovering and refining their voices, so what we see here is clearly just the beginning.

Given the wide mix of photographers included in the show, it's not hugely surprising that the results are a bit uneven. While I won't go through each of the bodies of work on display, here are three that I found to be the most successful:

• Phillip Toledano: Toledano's pictures of his aging father are very nuanced, so much so that it is easy to walk right by and not see them for what they are (which is exactly what I did in my first turn around the gallery). But after a second deeper look, I found these pictures to be the most moving in this exhibit (by a pretty wide margin). The washing of his father's hair and the twilight view of the sunlight over the city are both strongly evocative images.
• Amy Elkins: I first saw Amy Elkins' Wallflower series of male portraits against colorful flowered wallpapers in the project room at Yancey Richardson a year or so ago, and as the months have passed and I have encountered them again in other contexts, they are growing on me. Even though we are not portrait collectors, I am liking the mixture of feminity and masculinity they explore more and more, as well as the subtle openness and vulnerability she has deftly captured.
• Cara Phillips: Using ultraviolet light, Phillips has made penetrating head shot portraits that reveal the skin imperfections that lie beneath the surface of her subjects' faces. While these images are somewhat reminiscent of Chuck Close's daguerreotypes (that often highlight all kinds of bodily flaws and blemishes), I found these portraits striking and memorable. I'd enjoy seeing one hung next to a 1980s colored background portrait by Thomas Ruff.

Curatorially, I think the show would have benefitted from a tighter edit; there are too many pictures, jammed too close together. I think the same ideas could have been brought forth with much more clarity had the pairings been limited to two pictures each; the images would have had more room to breathe and the juxtapositions would have been sharper. My favorites list would also normally have included both Mickalene Thomas and Brian Ulrich, but the specific images chosen for this show seemed weaker than others I carry around in my head from prior viewings. So while I like the spirit of warm inclusiveness that this show embodies, I think a heavier editing hand might have cut away some distracting flabbiness that wouldn't have been missed.

Overall, this show provides a helpful snapshot of a group of increasingly visible photographers who are working hard to establish themselves (and their point of view) more fully. There's a nugget of something new going on in all of this work; how much of it will evolve into something even more powerful and lasting still very much remains to be seen.

Collector's POV: The photographers included in this show are a mix of represented and unrepresented artists, with little or no secondary market history. In the list below, I have included the prices of the works on display, as well as any gallery representation that I could discern (if I have missed any, please add them in the comments). As I mentioned above, the printed price list was somewhat unreliable as a source of information, so recheck the data with the gallery as appropriate:

• Jen Davis: $2100 or $2500 each. Represented by Lee Marks Fine Art (here).
• Amy Elkins: $1200 or $1500, based on size. Represented by Yancey Richardson Gallery (here).
• Elizabeth Fleming: $450 each.
• Kris Graves: $800 each.
• Molly Landreth: $400 each.
• Alex Leme: $400 or $600, based on size.
• Gina LeVay: $1200 each.
• Ruben Natal-San Miguel: $500 or $1000, based on size.
• Eric Ogden: $800, $1500, or $3000.
• Cara Phillips: $2600 each.
• Matthew Pillsbury: $1800 or $2200. Represented by Bonni Benrubi Gallery (here).
• Nadine Rovner: $1200 each.
• Zoe Strauss: $750 each. Represented by Bruce Silverstein Gallery (here).
• Hank Willis Thomas: $6500 each. Represented by Jack Shainman Gallery (here).
• Mickalene Thomas: $6500 each. Represented by Lehman Maupin Gallery (here).
• Phillip Toledano: $1700 each.
• Brian Ulrich: $900 or $4000, based on size. Represented by Julie Saul Gallery (here).
• Michael Wolf: $5000 each. Represented by Bruce Silverstein Gallery (here) and Robert Koch Gallery (here).

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

Transit Hub:

Each of the photographers in the show has an artist website and/or blog. These sites are linked below:

• Jen Davis (here)
• Amy Elkins (here)
• Elizabeth Fleming (here)
• Kris Graves (here)
• Molly Landreth (here)
• Alex Leme (here)
• Gina LeVay (here)
• Ruben Natal-San Miguel (here)
• Eric Ogden (here)
• Cara Phillips (here)
• Matthew Pillsbury (here)
• Nadine Rovner (here)
• Zoe Strauss (here)
• Hank Willis Thomas (here)
• Mickalene Thomas (here)
• Phillip Toledano (here)
• Brian Ulrich (here)
• Michael Wolf (here)

Versus
Through March 8th

Hous Projects
31 Howard Street
New York, NY 10013

Richard Misrach @PaceWildenstein

JTF (just the facts): A total of 18 large scale color photographs, framed in either beige or dark brown wood frames with no mat, and hung in the massive gallery space, which is divided into three viewing areas and the entry. The largest of the works measure roughly 8x10 feet, and are archival pigment prints mounted to aluminum, in editions of 3. The rest of the works are archival pigment prints mounted to Dibond, either roughly 60x80, in editions of 5, or roughly 45x60, in editions of 7. There are 3 works in the largest size, 11 in the medium size, and 4 in the smallest size. (PaceWildenstein does not allow photography in the galleries, and no installation shots are available on their website. So annoying as it is, there are no installation shots for this show. UPDATE: I found some installation shots buried on the Pace/MacGill website, and have added them to the post.)

Comments/Context: The otherworldly nature of the negative image has captivated photographers from the very beginnings of the medium. Pick up any book on 19th century photography and you'll find negative images of Grand Tour destinations, the Sphinx or the Taj Mahal glowing white in an otherwise dark black world. Fast forward to today, where Vera Lutter's large scale camera obscura images transpose light and dark, capturing cities and built structures in striking contrast. The fact is that even the most pedestrian of everyday snapshots can become puzzling and downright bizarre when the black and white tonalities are reversed; normal becomes abnormal in the blink of an eye.

In his newest body of work, Richard Misrach has taken this relatively simple idea and updated it for the digital age. His works are color negatives, where all of the complex colors and hues of the spectrum have been "reversed". Surfers now ride waves of cotton candy pink water and the towering rock formations of the Oregon coast look like frozen Antarctic icebergs. Up close rock walls and thickets of interlocking shrubbery become swirling all-over abstract designs. Tiny figures are now pinpricks of bright white.

The danger with a project like this one is that it relies too heavily on a technical gimmick. I'm happy to report that Misrach has avoided the "parlor trick" effect for the most part by selecting scenes that are transformed in unexpected ways by the complicated palette switch. Given the surfeit of iceberg photography these days, the boulders and sand dunes turned icy blue and white seem all too familiar; while the scale makes the images more impressive and memorable, I think these compositions are in the end the least interesting; they are undeniably the most eye-catching when you first walk in, but after a turn around the gallery, I found myself drawn back to other more nuanced works.

The palette reversal in the more abstract photographs is actually much stronger and more mesmerizing; it's quite a bit less obvious and flashes of weird muted color splash across the images, highlighting unexpected textures. Tangled branches and sticks become pure Jackson Pollock; explosive lines run in every direction, intersecting and overlapping like dashes of ink. A sunny sea scene becomes a cream colored fabric, covered by black dots and sparkles. And the jumbled walls of rock are even more romantic and painterly, becoming blobs of thickly applied Abstract Expressionist paint. Again, the scale here is monumental, so the images encourage both getting right up close to peel back layers of information, and then moving much further back to see the forms coalesce.

What I like best about these works is that while the images have a process-centric undercurrent of technology experimentation, the subdued colors in the resulting pictures have a expansive lushness that I found surprisingly enveloping. The exhibit is a soothing and meditative mix of greys, browns, blues and greens. While not every picture was a standout for me, I think the abstractions are both photographically original and quietly beautiful. All in, this body of work explores plenty of rich and thoughtful topics, and offers some truly new conclusions on the uses of color, the nature of the contemporary digital landscape, and the power of scale.

Collector's POV: While I wasn't able to get detailed information on prices for this show, I was told the works on view range from $22000 to $90000, based on size. Misrach's photographs have become consistently available at auction in the past few years, especially his earlier desert works that are generally smaller in size; these have rountinely ranged from $2000 to $12000, with a few outliers even higher. The newer works of more monumental size are just beginning to find their way into the secondary markets; these have ranged in price between $40000 and $80000 for the few lots that have come up for sale.

For the sake of clarity, Misrach is not actually represented by PaceWildenstein (the venue of the show); he is represented by Pace/MacGill Gallery in New York. Given the size of the works, it is no wonder that a partnership was needed to display them. A selection of the images on view can be found on the Pace/MacGill website (here). Richard Misrach is also represented on the West coast by Fraenkel Gallery (here).

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

Transit Hub:

• On the Beach: NGA, 2008 (here); AIC, 2007 (here)
• Interviews: SeeSaw, 2006 (here); View Camera, 1998 (here)

Richard Misrach
Through February 20th

PaceWildenstein
534 West 25th Street
New York, NY 10001

Ulrich Gebert, This Much Is Certain @Winkleman

JTF (just the facts): A total of 9 works, both color and black and white, hung in the reception and main gallery spaces. 3 of the works are from the Typus series and consist of groups of c-prints (either 5, 6, or 7 individual prints) framed in brown and not matted, and hung in tight groups that each measure 67x59. Each group of prints is also accompanied by a printed list of scientific names. These works are made in editions of 3+1, and were taken in 2005. 3 additional works come from the Life among beasts series and consist of gelatin silver prints mounted to aluminum (2, 3, or 4 prints) hung together without frames. The works vary in size from 36x40 to 58x65, are made in editions of 3+1, and were taken in 2009. The final 3 images are all single gelatin silver prints mounted to aluminum and not framed, ranging in size from 13x12 to 24x17. These prints are made in editions of 5+1, and were taken in 2009. (Installation shots at right.)

Comments/Context: When the title "conceptual photographer" is overtly bestowed upon someone, as a collector, I read this as secret code for "in this case, the actual pictures don't matter at all; it is the ideas that underlie them that I should be concerned with". While one might conclude that all conceptual photography will therefore be cerebral, intellectual, and oftentimes indecipherable, in my experience, conceptual photography can also be quite witty and subversive, assuming you get the inside jokes. But when the word "German" is added in front of the term "conceptual photographer", it's hard not to think of the serious deadpan objectivity of the Bechers.

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It is with these biases that I visited this show by the German conceptual photographer Ulrich Gebert. Both of the bodies of work on display are generally concerned with idea of man's desire to control nature. In the Typus series, Gebert has gone to botanical gardens and made straightforward color images of a wide variety of coniferous trees and shrubs (the pictures themselves are reminiscent of a natural history field guide). The conceptual twist is that all of these species have disputed scientific names: over time, they all have been "discovered" or named by more than one person, with one Latin name eventually becoming the dominant or "right" name. A printed sheet that accompanies the images (the "List of Invalid Names") details the "before" and "after" names of these plants. While the press release text ties these images to racism and the "totalitarian categorizations of humans", I have to admit I didn't really see that connection. What I saw was the obsessive human instinct toward control and order, the self-centered taxonimization of the environment around us, in the face of the mute indifference of the natural world (which really doesn't care what we call things).

The Life among beasts series is altogether more unsettling. In these images, Gebert has taken appropriated photos of humans interacting with domesticated animals (many of them dated veterinary shots I would guess), cropped them down to fragments, and blown them up to a size that exposes the halftone printing dots. Animals of various kinds (horses, pigs, even a possum) are poked, prodded, groped, fondled and handled in a weirdly disturbing way. Hung in combinations and groups, the concept of man doing what he wants with the natural world comes through powerfully, and is more than a little ridiculous and creepy.

All in, the show delivers what was promised: a thought-provoking and sometimes quirky use of photography to explore deeper ideas and hidden truths.

Collector's POV: The works in this show are priced as follows. The Typus groups are 6500€ each, regardless of the number of prints included. The Life among beasts groups are 3200€, 4800€, and 5500€, based on overall size. The smaller single image prints are 400€, 500€, and 850€ . Gebert's work does not seem to have found its way to the secondary markets yet, so gallery retail is likely the only option for interested collectors at this point.
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Rating: * (one star) GOOD (rating system described here)

Transit Hub:

• Review: Village Voice (here)
• Article: Foam (here)

Ulrich Gebert, This Much Is Certain

Through February 13th

Winkleman Gallery

621 West 27th Street

New York, NY 10001

Reinterpreting Alec Soth's Cadillac Motel

I've come to think that one of the most fascinating things about photography (and art more generally) is how each viewer brings his or her own history and perspective to the process of seeing a work. Regardless of what the artist may have originally intended, we each see through our own specific set of eyes, and given our own history, biases, and memories of works we have seen before, we often walk away with completely different reactions from those who stood right next to us. If we are not provided with some kind of overt back story up front, we unknowingly (and routinely) invent one of our own.

I was reminded of this phenomenon when we purchased a copy of Alec Soth's NIAGARA, a book that certainly should have been in our library years earlier, but somehow didn't actually find its way to our shelves until just recently. In this book, there is an image of the doorway to a motel room (I believe the actual title of the work is No. 48, Cadillac Motel, 2005). I've reproduced the picture below (via the Christie's website).

Prior to seeing this image in the context of the book (which I'll talk about in a second), I had only seen it separated out as a single picture; most recently I saw it both in the catalogue and in person at the preview for the Berman sale at Christie's last October. It's actually printed bigger than you might imagine (40x32), giving it some heft on the wall.

Given our particular interest in city/industrial images, and more generally in the photography of built structures, this work caught my eye immediately, even though I remember thinking at the time that it wasn't exactly representative of what I thought Alec Soth's work was all about. In any case, what I saw then (from my vantage point) was a combination of Lewis Baltz and William Eggleston: pure deadpan geometries (the rectangles of the door and window frames, the repetition of the brickwork, the parallel lines of the roof, the vertical lines of the drapes), accented by a keen eye for color (the call and response of the maroon and yellow across the composition; and the thin line of the fluorescent yellow light tube on the ceiling actually makes the whole picture for me). Given all of this analysis, it seems like a dead ringer for the kind of work we normally like.

Now fast forward to a recent evening in our living room, when I actually spent the time to look over NIAGARA closely, reading the essays, looking at the images, and thinking about the sequencing and overall feel of the book. For those of you who are not intimately familiar with this book, the project tells the story of Niagara Falls, via a carefully sequenced set of architectural shots of tourist motels, images of the misty falls themselves, portraits and nudes of couples/lovers, reproduced hand written love letters, and various still life fragments. Without going through a full analysis of this terrific book, let it suffice to say that it is a melancholy narrative about the search for love (embodied by the mythical honeymoon trip to Niagara Falls) and its ultimate elusiveness.

So let's go back to the Cadillac Motel above. Given this back story, the image of the front of room 17 is, I think, entirely different. I am now completely haunted by the trail of lonely footsteps in the snow leading to the door, now drifted over and forgotten, footsteps that I had hardly even noticed (or generally disregarded) before. While the architectural geometries and patterns are still there of course, the whole image is now infused with a heavy pathos, a gloomy mood that I can't shake. The image has been transformed by the context.

The point of this little mind bending exercise is not to prove that I now "know the answer" and can see the image "correctly". My takeaway is that our brains are programmed to pattern match, to seek comparisons and relationships to things we already know; as such, absent some outside direction, we often see what we want to see or what we already know. Collectors are constantly being exposed to work that is taken out of its original context (at least as intended by the maker); our reaction is to look closely for connections to work we do understand and remember, and to ask about historical precedents, influences, or images that are "like" the work at hand.

I haven't come across a work that has such a strong duality in quite a while, but the truth is, it happens all the time, given the imperfect knowledge of all kinds of viewers. Even when we have all of the important ("right") information that would directly lead us to the conclusion intended by the artist, we're still all connecting to work in unimaginable ways, finding links to ourselves that lie far beyond the most obvious reading of the work. So the next time you ask a fellow gallery-goer or collector the simple question of "what do you see in this work?", the answer may be altogether more complex and unexpected than you might have anticipated.

Speed & Chaos: Into the Future of Asian Art @Wolkowitz

JTF (just the facts): A group show of a total of 18 works from 7 different artists, in a variety of mediums, hung in the entry, hallway, and back gallery spaces. (Installation shots at right.)

The following artists are included in the show, with details of the works on display to follow:

• Hu Jieming: 1 c-print, 50x84, in an edition of 5, from 2007/2009
• Hsin-Chien Huang: 3 lightboxes filled with printed acetates, in editions of 5, from 2007, and 1 interactive computer simulation, in an edition of 5, from 2009
• Miao Xiaochun: 1 3D computer animation, in an edition of 5, from 2007
• Noh, Sang-Kyoon: 1 large sculpture, from 2008, and 6 sequin covered records with original jackets in glass cases, from 2009
• Junebum Park: 2 color videos (silent), in editions of 5, from 2008
• Wang Qingsong: 1 DVD, in an edition of 8, from 2008
• Xu Changchang: 2 c-prints mounted to aluminum; 1 is 59x44 in an edition of 10, the other is 96x40 in an edition of 5; both are from 2008

Comments/Context: As a general rule, I think that non-Japanese Asian photography (particularly work from China, Taiwan, Korea and India) is consistently underrepresented in the swirl of art in New York, so I'm always on the look out for shows that include exciting examples of contemporary imagery from these locales. This group show gathers works from a variety of media, with several video and computer generated displays and a few digital photographs. While the technologies may be cutting edge, the underlying ideas and themes being explored will be familiar: the impacts and effects of rapid expansion, globalization, and consumerism, and the clash of old and new ways (including the place of religion).

I have run across the photography of Xu Changchang previously, but the works in this show have a new twist. In earlier works, Xu took a physical photograph (often of an appropriated artwork), crumpled it up and rephotographed the result, complete with all the detailed wrinkles and tiny points of glare from the flash. The works on display in this exhibit start with the same type of image (in this case, pictures of an island sunset and the aftermath of a tsunami), but they are now punctured by bullet holes and rephotographed; the holes are therefore not actual holes but a photograph of a photograph full of holes. I found this layering of appropriation and the multiple levels of physicality in the works conceptually intriguing.

Hu Jieming's moonscape image, complete with a tiny latticework of futuristic settlements, is like something from the cover of a science fiction novel. From afar, it looks like 1960s era NASA footage; up close, the geometric roadways and buildings blanket the crater pocked rock; the effect is unsettling, with a heavy dose of impending doom. As such, it does a successful job of asking questions about the perils of never-ending expansion, without grounding them in the now obvious specifics of contemporary China.

Two artists perhaps best known to collectors for their photography have contributed videos to this exhibit:

• Wang Qingsong's photographs have often considered the effects of consumerism on traditional Chinese culture. In this video work, Wang has taken hundreds of still frames of the construction of a yet another skyscraper in suburban Beijing and tied them together, into a fast forward, flip book style view of the building growing into the sky. As the days pass, the scaffolding rises, becoming the tallest structure for miles around; the completion of the tower is celebrated by nighttime fireworks, a thoroughly hollow and ironic endpoint.


• Miao Xiaochun's photographs have often been built from appropriations of famous paintings. In this video, Miao reimagines Michelangelo's Sistine Ceiling (including the creation of Man) using clusters of computer generated mannequins floating in space, surrounded by bubbles or transformed into drifting bones.

And while it isn't exactly photography, take a moment to stand in front of Hsin-Chien Huang's interactive display: as you move your arms and body around, large buildings made up of tiny image fragments are quickly built up and taken down, the transience of the region's construction boom effectively skewered.

All in, the title of this show is surprisingly apt: things are changing fast in this slice of the art world, new technologies and ideas are rapidly being incorporated and exploited, and the overall effect is one of cacophony and chaos; I for one could use an updated photography roadmap for the region. While some of the underlying themes are consistent, it's clear that we need to see this art/photography in New York much more often if we ever hope to make sense of it all.

Collector's POV: The prices for the works in this show are as follows:

• Hu Jieming: The photograph is $9000.
• Hsin-Chien Huang: The 3 lightboxes are $15000 each; the interactive display is $18000.
• Miao Xiaochun: The video is $20000.
• Noh, Sang-Kyoon: The large blue Buddha sculpture is price on request. The sequined records are $5000 each.
• Junebum Park: The two videos are $7750 and $12400.
• Wang Qingsong: The video is $15000.
• Xu Changchang: The 2 photographs are $8000 and $10000, based on size.

There is little or no auction history in the photography market for most of these artists, so discerning any kind of real price pattern is tricky. While several photographs by Wang Qingsong and Miao Xiaochun have come up for sale in recent years, their works on display here are both videos, and therefore may not be meaningfully representative of or related to their overall bodies of photographic work.

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

Transit Hub:

• Miao Xiaochun interviews/press (here)

Speed & Chaos: Into the Future of Asian Art
Through February 17th

Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery
505 West 24th Street
New York, NY 10001

Auctions: Contemporary Art Evening and Day Sales, February 12 and 13, 2010 @Phillips London

The early London season ends with Phillips De Pury and its Contemporary Art Evening and Day sales in February. Unlike Sotheby's and Christie's, who have both seen increases in photography consignment activity over the same sales last year, Phillips has seen a drop in both total photo lots for sale and in total estimated value on the block. There are 27 photography lots on offer across the two auctions, with a Total High Estimate of £1097000. The Cindy Sherman history portrait in the Evening sale is the standout photo lot. (Catalog covers at right, via Phillips.)

Here's the breakdown:

Total Low Lots (high estimate up to and including £5000): 5

Total Low Estimate (sum of high estimates of Low lots): £12000

Total Mid Lots (high estimate between £5000 and £25000): 10

Total Mid Estimate: £100000

Total High Lots (high estimate above £25000): 12

Total High Estimate: £985000

The top lot by High estimate is lot 6, John Baldessari, Puzzle (Two Views), 1989, at £200000-300000.

Here is the very short list of photographers who are represented by more than one lot in the sale (with the number of lots in parentheses):

Bernd and Hilla Becher (2)
Thomas Struth (2)

The complete lot by lot catalogs can be found here (Evening) and here (Day).

Contemporary Art Evening Auction

February 12th

Contemporary Art Day Auction

February 13th

Phillips De Pury & Company

Howick Place

London SW1P 1BB

Timothy Briner, Boonville @Cooney

JTF (just the facts): A total of 19 black and white images, framed in black and not matted, and hung in the single room gallery space and entry hall. All of the works are gelatin silver prints, taken in 2007 or 2008. The prints come in two sizes: 20x15 or reverse (in editions of 7) and 29x23 or reverse (in editions of 5). The show includes 12 pictures in the smaller size and 7 in the larger size. (Installation shots at right.)

Comments/Context: The solitary road trip is a romantic fixture of human cultural history, its roots in the itinerant wanderings of Odysseus and its recent manifestations transformed by the automobile and our vast network of highways into something uniquely American. Often this journey is a search: a search for adventure and challenge, or home, or self, or just something authentic and new to experience. Artistic documents of legendary road trips, like those of Kerouac and Frank, have become touchstones for how we see ourselves.

Timothy Briner's photographic project Boonville isn't a road trip of world hot spots; there are no scenes of Shanghai, or Baghdad, or Bangalore, or wherever you might think the "action" is going on or history is in the making. Instead, Briner traveled to six small towns across America, all called Boonville; his unusual itinerary took him to New York, North Carolina, Indiana, Missouri, Texas, and California. Most importantly, Briner did his best not to be an anonymous traveler just passing through, inspecting these towns with the critical eye of an outsider. On the contrary, he grounded himself in the communities for weeks or months at a time, becoming familiar with the locals in a non-threatening way and getting to know the rhythms of everyday life in each place. When the images from the far flung Boonvilles are brought together and juxtaposed, they form a unique portrait of the commonalities of small towns in contemporary America, as seen from the inside. Regardless of the specific zip code, the emotional terrain seems remarkably similar.

Like many emerging photographers of this generation, Briner's artistic approach seems descended from the school of Stephen Shore, Joel Sternfeld, and more recently Alec Soth, where environmental portraits, still lifes, architectural views, and documentary scenes are combined into more nuanced and personal narratives. These images also show fleeting glimpses of Walker Evans, Robert Adams, and George Tice, all of whom were/are interested in the routines of daily life in American towns and cities.

What I like about this body of work is that Briner has captured the slow pace and sense of restless ennui that pervades many shrinking small towns; there just isn't a lot to do. The high school wrestlers and cheerleaders are earnest but bored, hunting is a prime hobby, and abandoned houses/cars, dreary roadside bars, and lingering teenagers tell the story of squelched optimism. We've landed in present day Anytown, USA, and the reality isn't very promising; folks are gritting their teeth and scraping out a life, but on the whole, it's a pretty gloomy scene.

My favorite image in the show is of a front yard in Boonville, MO, where two deer skins are slung across the hood of a dated car, with a second vehicle with huge sport tires up on blocks in the background; it's a classic scene of rural America. While there are other memorable images in this small show, I think the work will be more powerful and effective in book form, where a larger number of pictures can be carefully sequenced to get at the subtleties of the overall small town story. All in, this is a solid show, and a good reminder that a road trip back into the real world can be just the thing for an emerging artist looking for his or her entry point into photography; it's a move away from self-conscious art for art's sake and a step back into the realm of the genuine.

Collector's POV: The images in this exhibit are reasonably priced at $1000 or $1500 each, depending on size. Since Briner's work has effectively no secondary market history, gallery retail is really the only option for interested collectors at this point.

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

Transit Hub:

• Artist site (here)
• Interviews: Too Much Chocolate (here), We Can't Paint (here), Exposure Compensation (here)

Timothy Briner, Boonville
Through February 27th

Daniel Cooney Fine Art
511 West 25th Street
New York, NY 10001

Auctions: Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening and Day Sales, February 11 and 12, 2010 @Christie's King Street

Christie's is up second in the early London season, with its Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening and Day sales at King Street in February. On the whole, the photography on offer isn't particularly important or memorable, but consignors seem to be getting more comfortable. There are 22 photography lots on offer across the two sales (up from 10 lots last year), with a Total High Estimate of £1143000 (up more than 75% year over year). (Catalog covers at right, via Christie's.)

Here's the breakdown:

Total Low Lots (high estimate up to and including £5000): 0
Total Low Estimate (sum of high estimates of Low lots): NA

Total Mid Lots (high estimate between £5000 and £25000): 12
Total Mid Estimate: £193000

Total High Lots (high estimate above £25000): 10
Total High Estimate: £950000

The top lot by High estimate is lot 50, John Baldessari, Former Site of Duck Pond Bar, 3003 National City Blvd, National City, Calif, 1996, at £300000-400000.

Here is the very short list of photographers who are represented by more than one lot in the sale (with the number of lots in parentheses):

Gregory Crewdson (3)

Louise Lawler (3)

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There were three new names that surfaced for the first time, at least as far as I can remember:

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Matthew Day Jackson

Sigalit Landau

Anri Sala

The complete lot by lot catalogs can be found here (Evening) and here (Day).

Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening Auction
February 11th

Post-War and Contemporary Art Day Auction
February 12th

Christie's

8 King Street, St. James's

London SW1Y 6QT