four women

Carrie Mae Weems

FOUR WOMEN
Kianga Ford, Jessica Ingram, Carrie Mae Weems, Deborah Willis
JULY 18TH, 2008 - AUGUST 30TH, 2008 Jackson Fine Art, Atlanta

I got a chance to go to the opening for this show with one of my best friends from college. It was an incredible show, and it was wonderful to be able to do this kind of thing again with an old friend.

This piece in particular stuck out, and in particular, this artist, above and beyond the others on the white gallery walls. Why, over all the other work, would this stick out in the gallery, and have me stare at these images for way longer than the others?

Let's pretend, for a minute, that we're in class, critiquing this as it was a fellow student's work. So, as always, we start with a technical critique. Composition, craft, etc. Then move on to the conceptual critique. What do you think the artist is trying to say? Why are they making this image?

i'm a dirty dish

Jessica Bruah, Untitled #4 from "Stories", 2003

Artist Statement - "My body of work titled “Stories” began when I decided to merge my love for fiction with my interest with photography. I began to see each image as its own visual narrative. Because the scenarios depicted are vague and bizarre, the viewers have to interpret each story for themselves. Each photograph contains an anonymous character, seemingly unaware of the lens, whose face is never shown. Although I am playing the dual role of photographer and subject, these self-portraits do not concern the notion of self but rather the idea of constructing reality. Every image is carefully assembled, aided by costumes, props, studio lighting, and posing. All these elements, along with the manipulation of a view camera, bring a surrealistic and often amusing quality to the images. In addition to fiction, I draw inspiration from film and any work that discusses gender, identity, and/or domesticity." - Jesica Bruah.

I love the notion of creating stories with photographs, and especially when the I relate to the stories on a personal or psychological level. This type of photography is probably the most intriguing to me, especially when the photographs are beautiful, as are all of Bruah's images. This image, in particular, seemed to not only catch my eye with it's beautiful composition and bright green colors [my favorite color], but seemed to tell a bit of my story at my current position in life. As you all know, I am a professor, which means summers off. I know, some of you are thinking, how could that be bad, right? Well, summers off is wonderful, yes, but as it turns out, summers off also includes eating more meals at home. Now, I love this. We have an amazing garden this year, with lots of fresh veggies, so I enjoy being able to cook a lot [as opposed to the school year when life is crazy and my hubby and I do most of it together]. However, I have come to find out, that all of this eating at home, also requires a lot more dishes to clean. I've realized that I'm cleaning the kitchen at least three times a day now. It seems like it's all I am ever doing. Eat, clean. Eat, clean. Eat, clean.

This image is a wonderful representation of that story. Is it possible for a domestic chore [be it dishes, ironing, whatever] to so consume our daily life that we in a way "become" that chore? Am I becoming a dirty dish? [oh no, look out world. art professor turns dirty dish. can she still maintain her career?]

February Events with APG

February 8 – February 16, 2008
Opening February 8, 2008, 7:30 - 10:00 pm

Join APG as it begins a year long celebration of its 21st anniversary. Photographers are invited to showcase their latest visual creations by bringing their un-matted images and pinning them up in the gallery. Prints are attached to the wall with push pins in this freeform exploration of the photo arts.

APG’s doors will remained locked for the opening until 7:30 pm. No pictures will be put up early. Wall space is available on a first come basis. Keep in mind that the amount of wall space per photographer is limited to an area equal to 3 - 16"x20" prints or about 960 square inches. Also, all images can be for sale*.

(*APG does not charge commission on sales from the Push Pin Show.)

Admission for this annual fundraiser is only $10 for the general public. Admission is FREE if you become a new member or renew your APG membership at the door. APG members are admitted for $5.




Feb. 29 — April 11, 2008
Opening: Friday February 29, 2008 - 7:30 p.m.

Don't miss this chance to view and collect images from some of Atlanta's finest photographers. Each is represented by an image he or she has personally selected for inclusion in this annual exhibition.

Past shows have included images later selected for inclusion in APG's exclusive Collector Prints. The Collector Prints is hand-picked every year from work seen in exhibitions or critiques that deserves special recognition.

Download the entry form.

Interview with Alec Soth

Garden of Selves

Robert & Shana ParkeHarrison are incredible image-makers whose playful images tell a wonderful story of life after what we now know occurs. Thier images are full of wonderfully dreamlike characters that live in a world that resembles ours, but tends to shift towards the fantasy and dream world. They each tell a different chapter of the story. The elaborate constructions draw us in… to this made up world full of hope and devastation, reality and fantasy, peace and conflict.

This is ParkeHarrison’s image, Garden of Selves. An image where a man dressed in a common black suit with a starched white dress shirt awakens out of an open box to his astonishment, surrounded by a sea of boxes containing what seems to be exact replicas of himself, all in a state of slumber, all ready in a sense to have the same experience only at a later time.

Will each of these selves in the garden be the same person, with the same aspirations, the same goals, the same personalities and experiences, or is each one differently conformed into their own unique individual by their separate experiences which seem to be only different by the time separating their awakenings? Is our life, personality, and character traits, controlled solely by our genetic makeup… by a code, a predetermined blueprint…or is it our surroundings, our family, our experiences and time that control who we ultimately are? One hopes for the latter… that we can each create our own destiny, our own person… to do and think and create as we choose…

This image also offers a great juxtaposition between that being contained verses that being freed… the numbers and numbers of men being contained and restrained, hidden in a way from the reality of what lies outside of their box… sheltered form the truth, unaffected by the devastation surrounding their pod-like containers. This is contradicted with the lone man stepping out. It’s as if he has awoken from years of slumber, years of veiled knowledge, and in a moment, he has become enlightened to the world, to this garden of others, others that resemble himself… It’s as if he’s eaten the fruit, or taken the red pill, and been enlightened to a knowledge that he wishes he could forget, a knowledge with a devastating truth full of questions…who are these others? Why have they not been released? Will they receive enlightenment? When? Questions that could only be answered by time… only to be asked by the next in line…

why even bother?

Why is it that some of the most talented artists fail to get recognized as such?

As an art professor, this can be quite discouraging at times. There are moments when you just want to grab your said student by the shoulders and shake them into understanding... that even though their work didn't get into the show, didn't get an award (because those awards all went to painting even though they were by far not the best in the show, but that is what the juror liked), didn't get a scholarship, or recognized for great artistic achievement...that despite all of those things, they are indeed amazing. That they have produced some of the most beautiful and insightful pieces of work you have seen in a long time. That they inspire you and challenge you to work harder. That the world of art can be terrible, and unfair and make you want to give up.

So here's my soapbox of encouragement:
Don't give up. Don't give up on challenging yourself. Make that frustration a part of your work, instead of inhibiting it. There is a time for you to shine. There will be that moment of recognition, when someone connects with your work... whether it be a juror, or an award, or a quiet moment of a person that notices your work as more than just pretty or well executed, that moment where your work has changed thier life forever... that is why we make art, that is why we can never give up making it, no matter how many shows we get rejected from, no matter how discouraged we get... because we are making it for that one moment.