JTF (just the facts): A group show containing the work of nine artists/photographers, curated by Timothy Persons and Pari Stave. The works are displayed in a series of three connected galleries, with an entry space and an adjacent video viewing room, all located on the third floor of the building. (Installation shots at right.)The following artists/photographers have been included in the exhibit, with image details for each in parentheses:
- Pasi Autio (1 HD video, displayed on a small screen, 2012)
- Joakim Eskildsen (12 pigment prints, both large and small sizes, framed in white and unmatted, 2011)
- Tiina Itkonen (3 pigment prints, unframed, 2002-2012)
- Hannu Karjalainen (1 HD video, displayed directly on the wall, 2009)
- Kalle Kataila (5 large pigment prints, framed in white and unmatted, 2004-2009)
- Anni Leppälä (10 pigment prints of various sizes, framed in white and unmatted, 2004-2012)
- Niko Luoma (2 large c-prints, unframed, 2010)
- Riita Päiväläinen (3 large c-prints, unframed, 2005)
- Mikko Sinervo (1 set of 24 small c-prints and 1 large c-print, unframed, 2008-2009)
Comments/Context: While there are many universities and art schools around the world with strong programs in photography, the Helsinki School is certainly one that would be on many people's short list of the most innovative. Unfortunately for those of us in New York, we only get to see the work of the school's graduates intermittently, as most of the artists/photographers lack American gallery representation, making survey shows like this one are all the more important as they give us a quick sampler of what has been going on since we last checked in.
At least to my eye, this exhibit does a nice job of mixing work from familiar and unfamiliar names, juxtaposing photographs from some of the more established graduates with those of upcoming and emerging artists. In the past, two of the hallmarks of Helsinki School photography were dynamic conceptual underpinnings and an affinity for glossy, object quality presentation, and these two facets of the overall approach are still very much evident in the most recent output of its students. Mikko Sinervo probes the process of visual perception via fuzzy candy colored abstract orbs that mimic the afterimage effects of looking at light. Riita Päiväläinen places discarded clothing into natural scenes, creating ethereal installations that play with texture and motion; the patterns of black and white dresses snow get lost in the tangle of snow covered branches. And Niko Luoma's massive linear abstractions throb with electric energy.
Another group of artists stay one step closer to photographic tradition, keeping figures present and opting for standard white framing. Kalle Kataila's works echo 19th century Romantic paintings, with tiny lone figures perching in the foreground, looking out at the wonder of snowy waterfalls, frozen oceans, or vast green valleys. Anni Leppälä creates mysterious fairy tale narratives, where a red ribbon turns into smoke, a young girl peers behind a curtain, and two stockinged feet hang ominously from the rafters of a boat cabin. And Joakim Eskildsen stays closer to home, with quiet, intimate images of his young children wedged next to a fridge, walking down yellow leafed forest paths, and running underneath a rainbow in the greenery of an overgrown garden. Even the video work on view seems firmly rooted in photographic thinking, with Pasi Autio's treatise on walking illustrated by a single figure moving with nearly imperceptible slowness while the rest of the surrounding street scene moves at normal speed. 
It's clear from this show that the Helsinki School is consistently churning out plenty of accomplished contemporary photographers. Smart exhibits like this one can certainly help increase their exposure in America, but I for one would like to see their collective work shown here more often, so we can consider their ideas and influence with less delay. New York gallery owners, it's time to get going and book that long overdue trip to Helsinki.
Collector's POV: Since this effectively a museum exhibit, there are no posted prices for the works on view. All of the artists are represented by the Gallery TAIK (here) in Finland, which is part of the Helsinki School. Niko Luoma is also represented in New York by Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery (here).
Rating: * (one star) GOOD (rating system described here)
Transit Hub:- Helsinki School/Gallery TAIK site (here)
- Pasi Autio school page (here)
- Joakim Eskildsen artist site (here)
- Tiina Itkonen artist site (here)
- Hannu Karjalainen artist site (here)
- Kalle Kataila artist site (here)
- Anni Leppälä artist site (here)
- Niko Luoma artist site (here)
- Riita Päiväläinen school page (here)
- Mikko Sinervo school page (here)
Through April 6th
58 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10016
JTF (just the facts): A total of 18 large scale photographic works, framed in thick black wood and unmatted, and hung in the entry and the three rooms of the main gallery space. All of the works are digital chromogenic prints mounted on Dibond, made in 2012 from source material taken between 2000 and 2011. Square format dimensions range from 16x16 to 72x72, while the more panorama style works range in size from 17x51 to 50x107; some images are available in multiple sizes. The works have generally been printed in editions of 8 regardless of size, with a few exceptions in editions of 3. A monograph of this body of work was published in 2012 by Abrams Books (
While it may not seem immediately obvious, I'd put Benson in a loosely held together "archive mining" bucket, along with growing group of artists as diverse as Zoe Crosher, Doug Rickard, Kate Steciw, and Penelope Umbrico. Starting with a body of source material (often digital, but sometimes analog like vernacular photos or postcards), they sift and sort, crop and rephotograph, edit and rework, order and reconsider, using the imagery as a jumping off point for their own artistic projects. Some stay "close" to the material, while others turn it into something nearly unrecognizable. This is a wholly different kind of appropriation than the old school Pictures Generation recontextualization we are used to; in many cases, the original context isn't hugely important to the conceptual basis of the new end result and there is often no inherent irony at work. The artists are mining archives for material they find exciting or simply useful, which can then be used to make downstream artworks. Photography purists tend to scoff at this camera-less process, pooh-poohing the effort as some kind of less than admirable short cut. I think this is a mistake; we are just seeing the birth of a new strain of photography that starts with the wealth of visual material already readily available (rather than newly clicking shutters) and we will naturally see the development of new and diverse technical approaches and measures of craftsmanship, some that will match our current definitional categories well and others that won't. 
So back to Benson. His works start with raw imagery taken by NASA and European Space Agency probes and scientific missions, which he then meticulously stitches and tunes into large, vibrant art objects. Geysers on Enceladus, swirling flares on an eclipse of the Sun, flashes of comet impacts, many of his images show us something truly special or amazing, at least to the non-expert viewer. Others take the elegant rings of Saturn and turn them into abstractions of slicing cross section lines, perfect arcs, or sweeping electric blue stripes. Wavy Mars dunes in red sand turn into something akin to Edward Weston, while clouds on Earth flatten out like tabletops as they reach the upper atmosphere. In some cases, Benson is extremely crisp and literal, seemingly cleaning up a straightforward shot for better viewing/understanding; in others, his editing hand is much more visible, outer space becoming a forum for abstraction.
Rating: * (one star) GOOD (rating system described 
The photography results from Sotheby's Contemporary Art auctions in London last week were generally lackluster, dragged down by a few too many passes on the higher priced photographs. With an overall Buy-In rate for photography across the two sales of nearly 30% and almost no meaningful positive surprises, the Total Sale Proceeds for photography came in under the low end of the range.
JTF (just the facts): A total of 14 color photographs, framed in white and unmatted, and hung in the elongated single room gallery space. All of the works are archival pigment prints. The images come in two sizes: 16x20, in editions of 8, and 40x50, in editions of 6. (Installation shots at right.)
Nadel's trees run the gamut from thin and spindly to dense and furry, depending on his distance from them and their natural clustering. Long views turn the trees into hairy bands and layers of medium grey that settle into the mounded hollows and angled valleys of the mountainous terrain. Closer in compositions are made of striking, all-over verticals, the trees striped into high contrast minimalist lines or feathered like bottle brushes. Against the blank whiteness of the snow, the endless repetition of the textural trees becomes meditative, the enveloping monochrome environment broken only by the isolated splashes of color of a lone, defiant regrown evergreen or the thin red stems of dormant undergrowth.
Rating: * (one star) GOOD (rating system described 
JTF (just the facts): A total of 13 large scale color photographs, framed in white and unmatted, and hung in the single room gallery space in the back. All of the works are chromogenic prints, made in 2011. The prints come in two sizes: 20x24 (in editions of 10) and 42x50 (in editions of 1, accompanied by an original signed witness testimony). There are 12 images in the small size and 1 image in the large size on display. A monograph of this body of work has recently been published by Kehrer Verlag (
My first, and admittedly infantile reaction to these pictures was to try to break the code, to locate the place where in the bathroom where Robert de Niro was concealed or to figure out how Jay Leno hid behind his car in the parking lot, my brain still wired to maniacally search for the star, to hit the button for the endorphin reward. As I circled the gallery and frustration gave way to failure, I began to see the real power of the images. We subconsciously attribute value to places graced by the presence of celebrities, going all the way back to the George Washington slept here phenomenon. Somehow David Lynch's back yard, John Hamm's cinder block parking space, or David Byrne's office (complete with a flat packed Big Suit) seems full of some kind of special essence; we care more about a hotel foyer because Russell Brand is hiding there or are suddenly more interested in a striped shower curtain because Weird Al Yankovic is standing behind it. This is, of course, completely crazy, and yet, the weird aura effect remains - we absolutely see these places differently. The photographs are therefore both of the celebrities and not, simultaneously pictures of their obvious absence and their lingering influence.
