Luisa Lambri, Certain Variables @Luhring Augustine

I have a handful of shows in the backlog from the summer that I think merit a discussion, even though they are now closed. I'll be working my way through these before I dig into the new Fall offerings.
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JTF (just the facts): A total of 13 Laserchrome prints, framed in white with no matting, and hung in the entry, main gallery, and one back room. The images range in size from 29x24 to 43x35 and are available in editions of 5. All of the negatives are from 2007. (Installation shots at right.)

Comments/Context: With a cursory glance at Luisa Lambri's new photographs, it might be tempting to slap a label on them and think we can characterize what they're all about. Calling them Minimalism or lumping them in with other architectural photographs from across time would be the two easiest paths forward, since her works are, in fact, elemental geometric images taken through the skylights of famous Modernist buildings. But I think those conclusions would be evidence of laziness on the part of the viewer; I think there's quite a bit more to be discovered here beyond figuring out which bucket or category they might belong in.
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Most of the images in this show have the exact same framing: an upward view out a glass skylight at the Sheats-Goldstein House, where a leafy canopy of trees hangs overhead. Two parallel edges of the window running vertically through the frame act almost like a prism, subtly fracturing the natural scene. Changes in the light conditions generate images that range from hazy white Southern California brightness to dense dark green with moody shadows. Aside from a few fallen leaves trapped on the outside of the glass, the only variable is the light; everything else in the frame stays constant.

While this kind of rigorous set up may sound like the recipe for an academic exercise in photographic tonality, I think Lambri's approach is less about rigid rules and tedious variations and more about a personal response to a specific space across time. The images are full of soft contemplation and quiet meditation, an experience of nature via the context of the building and through the eyes of the architect who placed that skylight just so. They are gradual and intimate, where fleeting shadows dance rhythmically across the glass surface or an ephemeral beam of faint sunlight pokes through the leaves. There is the strong feeling of seeing the "outside" from the "inside" and of becoming intricately involved in the architecture, rather than just recognizing its surface features.

I think this is a case where simplicity is deceiving; these pictures have much more personality than a Minimalist nametag might imply. Instead of showing us obvious views of soaring rooflines or elegant siting, Lambri has brought us down to the experience of the individual, showing us both the wonder and the nearly infinite variation that can come from such a controlled setting.
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Collector's POV:The images in the show are priced at either $10500 or $12000 based on size. Lambri's work has very little secondary market history, so gallery retail is likely the only option for interested collectors at this point
 
Rating: * (one star) GOOD (rating system described here)
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Transit Hub:

• Exhibition: Luisa Lambri, Being There @Hammer, 2010 (here)
• Venice Biennale, 2010 (here)

Luisa Lambri, Certain Variables
Through August 11

Luhring Augustine
531 West 24th Street
New York, NY 10011

Photography at the 2010 Armory, Part 1 of 6

Being a photography collector at the Armory show in New York feels a little like going on a treasure hunt. The warren of white booths covers both Piers 94 and 92, creating a dense market containing 289 galleries; with a heavier crowd than last year, the halls were noticeably tighter, with more bumping and jostling for the best viewing spots.

This year, I tried to be a little more systematic, opting for a relentless back and forth, up and down the aisles, rather than a loose serendipitous flow. Finding the photography buried in all this contemporary art requires a sustained scanning of each and every wall surface, as sometimes the images are tucked away in unlikely corners, in back room storage spaces, or on less visible exterior partitions. All in, I found 115 galleries showing at least one photograph; I'm sure I missed a few, but I'd like to think I saw nearly everything that was on view. Beyond the fast fly by that was the norm for many booths, I often spent time talking with gallery directors and sales staff who helped to provide context and detailed information on specific pieces that caught my eye.

After an overfull afternoon wandering through these booths, the feeling of visual overload, worn out feet, and aching shoulders (from carrying my briefcase) brought me to the endless cab line. So rather than present all of the booth notes in one monotonous, droning post, I've decided to break it up into six posts, each detailing the photography in roughly 20 galleries, grouped by their physical location at the fair. In addition, I've tried to focus on work that isn't readily available or often seen in New York, as talking about work we can readily see in the local galleries seems like a wasteful duplication of effort.

Part 1 of this summary covers the booths in the area to the right of the box office at Pier 94 (if you are facing the registers). In general, these reviews will list the photographers on view, with the number of works in parentheses. Additional commentary, editions, prices details, and the like will be added for noteworthy discoveries. All of the galleries are linked back to their websites for further investigation and follow-up:

303 Gallery (here): Florian-Maier Aichen (1), Hans-Peter Feldmann (1) Doug Aitken (1 diptych), Collier Schorr (1), Ceal Floyer (1). The Aitken diptych has a wild tilted horizon, repeated in an over and under manner.
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Luciana Brito (here): Caio Reisewitz (1), Marina Abramovic (1), Rochelle Costi (1), and Leandro Erlich (1). Erlich's image of a Japanese child hanging from a bag is an amazing mind bender. The "floor" of the work is where the action actually takes place (so the child is lying not hanging), and the "wall" is actually a massive mirror (to orient yourself, you can see the artist standing at the top of the image on the mirror wall, which actually represents the real vantage point of the viewer). Check out one of the handy catalogues on the table to see the elaborate constructions required to make such an image. The print is $12000.

VSA Arts (here): Allen Bryan (2)

PiST (here): Osman Bozkurt (4)

Ambach & Rice (here): Abigail Reynolds (8), multi-dimensional, spliced together tourist images, exploding in geometries; Roy McMakin (2 works, one a set of 4 images, one a set of 6). The two McMakin sets explore the limits of camera-based perception. In one group, an orchid in a pot is observed from four different angles, and in multiple perspectives, all in the attempt to eliminate the effects of the curvature of the lens. (The work at right is an edition of 5, and is $12000 framed.) The other group applies the same technique to an old painting, echoing Vik Muniz' verso series.

International Sculpture Center (here): Andy Goldsworthy (1). A Central Park sculpture of a hole in the canopy of leaves, accompanied by a dried leaf with a similar hole.

Simon Lee (here): Sherrie Levine (1 work, as a set of 18 prints), Hans-Peter Feldmann (1). While the Levine images in this series are not exactly photography (no more camera, only a computer), given her history as a photographer, they are still very relevant, especially vis a vis what we were discussing in our Ruff review earlier this week. The work is entitled "After Cezanne", and each print is a pixelated, abstracted image of one of Cezanne's Mont St. Victoire paintings. The colors end up being square blocks, reminiscent of Ruff's JPEGs, but more akin to Albers and his color studies. The work is $100000.

Zeno X (here): Dirk Braeckman (2)

Gallery Sfeir-Semler (here): Taysir Batniji (1 work, set of 12 images), Akram Zaatari (9), Elger Esser (1 heliogravure), Walid Raad (1), Hiroyuki Masuyama (1 lightbox). Batniji's work is a clever riff on a Becher typology. The gas tanks have been replaced by Israeli watchtowers, taken surreptitiously, but in generally the same deadpan style. The set is priced at 18000€.

Galerie Anne de Villepoix (here): Hank Willis Thomas (1)

Galerie Gabrielle Maubrie (here): Dennis Adams (2), Patty Chang (2)

Angles Gallery (here): Judy Fiskin (1), Ori Gersht (1)

Pierogi (here): Nadia Bournonville (2)

Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin (here): Paola Pivi (1). This image documents a performance work, where fishbowls were strapped into the seats of an airplane and then flown around. There is a wonderful whimsy to this piece; I also liked another I was shown on the gallery's website, where the water is severely tilted as the plane descends. The print at right was made in an edition of 5, and is priced at $30000.

Richard Telles Fine Art (here): Josephine Pryde (3)

Simon Preston Gallery (here): Daniel Joseph Martinez (6)

Marc Foxx (here): Luisa Lambri (3), Anne Collier (1). The three works by Luisa Lambri are from a new body of work now on view at the Hammer (here). In these images, a dense view of trees is seen from a glass encased room that is part of a designed by the architect John Lautner. As usual, Lambri explores the differing effects of light (from dark to bright); the effect is quite lyrical. Some of the works I was shown in a brochure are even better than the ones on the wall. Given the blank wall opposite these images, this is a small oasis of meditative space in the bustle of the fair.

Ratio 3 (here): Ari Marcopolous (2), Miriam Böhm (4)

Galerie Anhava (here): Jorma Puranen (5), Hrafnkell Sirugrsson (1), Hreinn Fridfinnsson (1), Hamish Fulton (1). The Puranen images in this booth are another example of Old Masters paintings obscured by flash glare (Tim Davis and Juergen Teller are two others who have also done this).

i8 Gallery (here): Olafur Eliasson (1 work of 35 prints), Elin Hansdottir (1). The Eliasson work gathers together a wide variety of contributed images of cars and trucks stuck in Icelandic rivers. Against the stark and often beautiful landscape, the submerged vehicles represent the extremities of both danger and folly (especially those in water obviously too deep to cross). The work is made in an edition of 2, and is priced at 145000€.

Part 2 of this series will continue down the first part of the longest hall in front, and can be found here. Thanks for your patience, as there is a lot to cover and these summary posts will clearly extend into next week.

Luisa Lambri, Photographs @Luhring Augustine

JTF (just the facts): A total of 14 black and white Laserchrome prints, framed in white and minimally displayed in the entry, main gallery, and one back room. The images are of three different sizes (29x25, 30x36, and 48x37) and are available in editions of 5. All of the negatives are from 2008. (Marginal installation shot at right.)

Comments/Context: Italian photographer Luisa Lambri makes architectural images in the buildings constructed by the masters of modernity, and instead of documenting the triumphant vision and bold details that we have seen so many times before, she interprets the spaces in more personal ways and finds introspective moments of meditative quiet.

This is perhaps the subtlest show of photography I have seen in quite a while. On one wall, a grid of six images taken in the Centro Galego de Arte Contemporanea in Galicia, Spain (built by renowned Portuguese architect Alvaro Siza) are displayed, spread widely on a large blank wall. At first glance, these images appear identical, and are vaguely reminiscent of stairwells photographed by Tina Modotti and Charles Sheeler. As you contemplate these images, minute variations in the light in the images present themselves as slight tonal gradations and color shifts, so small as to be nearly imperceptible. The other images in the exhibit are also grouped to highlight these ethereal permutations.

These solemn and quiet abstractions grew on me over time and I started to appreciate a bit more their tender intimacy. I came around to seeing these images as sensory exercises in light, less about realism and more about minimalism. If however you are wound tight and moving quickly when you see this show, you will have little patience for these delicacies and will likely leave mystified.

Collector's POV: These images will, of course, appeal to the all white, open and airy, minimalist crowd. The images in the show are priced at $9000, $10000, and $12000 based on size. Lambri's work has been virtually absent from the secondary markets for photography, so retail is likely your only avenue for acquiring her work in the short term.

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

Luisa Lambri, Photographs
Through February 7

Luhring Augustine
531 West 24th Street
New York, NY 10011