Ah summer … we hope you’re enjoying yours. We were lucky enough to have helped three of our fabulous clients prep shows for this laziest of seasons. The works are so nice we couldn’t help but post them here (click on the individual images to view a longer selection of each series):

Eyes
Sebastiaan Bremer
Houk Zurich,
June 9 – July 28, 2012

Sebastiaan Bremer stated the summer off with an amazing opportunity presented to him through the Edwynn Houk Gallery. Somehow, he was giving the blessing to rework with his own hand a series of iconic images of artists eyes originally shot by the British master, Bill Brandt. Brandt’s super close up images of Max Ernst, Henry Moore and Alberto Giacometti among others become the jumping-off point for Bremer’s signature approach of applied dots of ink and paint.

As Gregory Volk wrote in The more you look, the more you see (2004)  “Bremer’s technique is novel and utterly hybrid. Using various inks, he draws directly on slightly blurry c-print enlargements of photographs, and often adds splotches and streaks of photographic dye.

So yeah, the “slightly blurry c-print” part is what we contributed to this one …

Sex Cells
Natasha Gornik
Emanuel Fremin Gallery
June 28 – July 28, 2012

Emmanuel Fremin presents Sex Cells, a group show curated by Asli Unal.

 
Natasha Gornik: Sienna

From the press release: In Sex Cells, eight contemporary photographers explore how we direct sex appeal, both consciously and unconsciously, as a means of empowerment and manipulation. From the provocative to the grotesque, the featured artists combine familiar props and subjects in an original manner as they tackle themes of seduction, bondage, religion and bestiality.”

Here we produced four pieces for Natasha and I have to say, they are total knock outs. From the compelling imagery to the slickly conceived framing presentation; this represents a benchmark for Gornik’s work and portends of great things to come from her.

After Images
Amy Arbus
School House Gallery, Provincetown, MA.
June 20 – July 18, 2012

Amy Arbus: After Raven, 2012

We got to work on these tricky portraits by Amy Arbus this summer as well. Sometimes we’ll start work on a project and have no idea what we’re being presented with (conceptually) … and really, that’s not such a stretch ’cause I mean, we are the technicians after all and somewhat removed from the “intellectual” side of the process … it’s actually kind of fun, trying to figure what’s going on in a project beyond the technical perimeters. So as you can imagine, this is one of those projects that had us scratching our heads for a bit …

From the gallery’s press release:  Arbus is no stranger to portraiture, but this latest series is perhaps her most visually arresting to date: After Images is a daring and vivid evocation of classic paintings by Picasso, Modigliani, Schiele, and Ingres to which the photographer brings her own style and originality.

And in her words: In emulating these paintings, the challenge for me has been to use much softer lighting than I have in the past and to figure out how to represent the sloped shoulders, elongated necks and fingers that don’t exist in real life. The more I make these images the more involved I become in how they differ from the originals.

That’s it for now so … go outside and enjoy!

Tags: Amy Arbus, Digital-C Printing, Exhibitions, Natasha Gornik, Sebastiaan Bremer

Sex Cells (curated by Asli Unal)
Natasha Gornik
Emmanuel Fremin Gallery
June 28 – July 29, 2012

 
Natasha Gornik: Alexcaliber

From the press release: In Sex Cells, eight contemporary photographers explore how we direct sex appeal, both consciously and unconsciously, as a means of empowerment and manipulation. From the provocative to the grotesque, the featured artists combine familiar props and subjects in an original manner as they tackle themes of seduction, bondage, religion and bestiality.”

Here we produced four pieces for Natasha and I have to say, they are total knock outs. From the compelling imagery to the slickly conceived framing presentation; this represents a benchmark for Gornik’s work and portends of great things to come from her.

Natasha Gornik: Phobia

Natasha Gornik: Sex Cells

Opening night: Sex Cells at Emmanuel Fremin Gallery … looks like fun, no?

Tags: Archival Pigment Printing (Inkjet), Emmanuel Fremin Gallery, Exhibitions, Framing, Mounting, Natasha Gornik

Eyes
Sebastiaan Bremer
Houk Zurich,
June 9 – July 28, 2012

Sebastiaan Bremer started the summer off with an amazing opportunity presented to him through the Edwynn Houk Gallery. Somehow, he was giving the blessing to rework a little known series of close up images of iconic artists eyes originally shot by the British master, Bill Brandt. Max Ernst, Henry Moore and Alberto Giacometti among others become the jumping-off point for Bremer’s signature approach of applied dots of ink and paint.

Sebastiaan Bremer: Eye # 8, 2012
Digital-c print, ink and paint

Sebastiaan Bremer: Eye # 7, 2012
Digital-c print, ink and paint

Sebastiaan Bremer: Eye # 1, 2012
Digital-c print, ink and paint

Tags: Digital-C Printing, Edwynn Houk Gallery, Exhibitions, Sebastiaan Bremer

After Image
Amy Arbus
School House Gallery Provincetown, MA.
June 29 – July 18, 2012

Sometimes we’ll start work on a project and have no idea what we’re being presented with (conceptually) … and really, that’s not such so unusual if you think about it ’cause, I mean, we are just the technicians after all and somewhat removed from the “intellectual” side of the process …but it’s actually kind of fun, trying to figure what’s going on in a project beyond the technical perimeters. So as you can imagine, this is one of those projects that had us scratching our heads for a bit …

Anyway, for some clarity, read on:

From the gallery’s press release:  Arbus is no stranger to portraiture, but this latest series is perhaps her most visually arresting to date: After Images is a daring and vivid evocation of classic paintings by Picasso, Modigliani, Schiele, and Ingres to which the photographer brings her own style and originality.

And in her words: In emulating these paintings, the challenge for me has been to use much softer lighting than I have in the past and to figure out how to represent the sloped shoulders, elongated necks and fingers that don’t exist in real life. The more I make these images the more involved I become in how they differ from the originals.

Amy Arbus: Nina After Jeanne, 2012 from After Image
digital -c print

Amy Arbus: Manuel After Patroclus, 2012 from After Image
digital -c print

Amy Arbus: Nina After Melancholy, 2012 from After Image
digital -c print

Amy Arbus: Qwen After Peasant, 2012 from After Image
digital -c print

Amy Arbus: Nina After Raven, 2012 from After Image
digital -c print

Tags: Amy Arbus, Digital-C Printing, Exhibitions, Mounting

Afronauts
Cristina De Middel
Jen Beckman Gallery / Hey Hot Shot 2011 Second Edition Showcase
Mar 9 -Mar 25, 2012

Our 2011 WIP-LTI/Lightside Individual Project Grant recipient, Cristian De Middel has been given another nod for her project, Afronauts. This time, she was chosen as a finalist for the Hey Hot Shot 2011 Second Edition Showcase, which, is opening Friday 3/9, as always, at the Jen Beckman Gallery.

Cristina De Middel: n°07 Yinqaba, 2011

Cristina was kind enough to forward us more images from Afronauts. She is preparing to exhibit the full project in Spain this year and is working now on the design of the book to be published later in 2012 as well.

What follows is an extended selection of the final project. If you’re in New York, be sure to stop by Beckman to see the show!

Cristina De Middel: n°05 Ifulegi, 2011

Cristina De Middel: n°08 Butunga, 2011

Cristina De Middel: n°13 Butuagnbai, 2011

Cristina De Middel: n°40 Kilimanju, 2011

Cristina De Middel: n°34 Gwendalu, 2011

Cristina De Middel: n°38 Wolohka, 2011

Cristina De Middel: n°42 Botonba, 2011

Cristina De Middel: n°27 Lala Kale, 2011

Cristina De Middel: n°28 Angani, 2001

De Middel’s work will be on exhibit through March 25th. For more on Jen Beckman’s Hey Hot Shot competition (and for a peak into the depth of Beckman’s empire in general), click here. To see additional images from Afronauts click here (or keep scrolling down) for our initial entry announcing the 2011 WIP-LTI/Lightside Individual Project Grant.

Tags: Cristina De Middel, Digital-C Printing, Exhibitions, Hey Hot Shot, Jen Beckman Gallery, Mounting

Print/Out
Museum of Modern Art / 6th Floor
February 19 – May 14, 2012

Print/Out is the third in a series of large print surveys periodically organized by the Museum’s Department of Prints and Illustrated Books in order to assess the evolution of the medium. LTI/Lightside worked with Trisha Donnelly to produce a large format print edition for the exhibition.

Donnelly’s piece, Satin Operator, consists of (13) 44″ x 60″ archival pigment prints spread throughout the show, mostly in pairs .. the first print hangs high off the floor right next to the massive entrance wall text. Interestingly, the entire edition takes advantage of MoMA’s soaring gallery ceiling height, as you can see if you click through the installation pics linked here.

Trisha Donnelly: Satin Operator #12, 2007
44″ x 60″ archival pigment print

For more on Print/Out click here to be redirected to the MoMA site.

Tags: Archival Pigment Printing (Inkjet), MoMA, Trisha Donnelly

Tags: Archival Pigment Printing (Inkjet), B+W Silver Gelatin Printing, Some Days ...

Justin James King is a customer of ours. We’ve helped him produce a few things for exhibitions in the past but it should be said that he’s also just a really nice guy who happens to like bikes, too.

Portable TV is one of those hip-culture websites that offers all the promise of what the internet and the iPad are supposed to be delivering already. By this I mean: lots of smart, up to the minute content spanning all the cool stuff we used to like to read about in magazines but now expect delivered digitally, instantly … and with imbedded video. I myself watched a vaguely NSFW cartoon video from Adult Swim involving a pink haired vixen in a gas station, but I digress.

The link to Justin’s interview oddly does not include video but then again, he is a photographer. It does include some thoughtful and insightful answers and a bunch of good looking jpegs of his project And Still We Gather with Infinite Momentum, which, we helped produce for The Jen Beckman Gallery back in the spring of 2010.

The following is a re-post from Portable TV, which, by the way, has a logo that looks like this:

And Still We Gather With Infinite Momentum

By Brodie Lancaster / February 10th, 2012 in

It was from visiting tourist spots while living in San Francisco that New York-based photographer Justin James King came to create And Still We Gather With Infinite Momentum, a series that depicts tourists visiting great sights on the west coast, which have been blacked out from the images, so all that is left is their experiences encountering nothingness.

“I’ve always been interested in the way people move through and around a given space,” King—who arrived at photography after using the medium to capture the sculpture work he was creating at the time—told us, “I used to visit heavily touristed spots around San Francisco, watching the way people gathered at certain designated “scenic viewing areas.” I would watch the way they all wanted to stand in the same spots and sometimes there would be subtle competition to get to those perfect viewing angles–not dissimilar to finding the “best” seat in a movie theater.

“I started thinking about how different their experiences must be from each other, both personally and culturally. I tried to imagine what they might be seeing (and thinking), and thought about what I was seeing too as I looked out at the same landscapes. My conclusion was that I didn’t “see” the landscape at all, but what I did see was solely an interpretation and a projection of that interpretation. The possibilities seemed infinite. If the way we see and understand the world is shaped by our individual experience then it is impossible to truly see the landscape without the filter of culture and history.”

When it comes to his influences, King cites Ingmar Bergman’s Persona as one of his earliest connections with film as a relative of photography. The film, he tells us, made him “simultaneously aware of both the limitations and the possibilities in a frame of film. Scenes where the director allowed the image to get completely out of focus and abstract—just light and shadow—are still very memorable.”

Another driving force behind his work is controversial Australian photographer Bill Henson, who selected King’s work for an exhibition called ‘Capture the Fade’ at Sydney’s Paper Mill Gallery in late 2010.

“I was honored when Bill Henson selected my work for the ‘Capture The Fade’ show. He’s someone whose work consciously uses space to allow for possibilities. It’s those possibilities that make some viewers uncomfortable with his work, because whatever they decide to see and project about themselves and the world influences their interpretation. I wouldn’t say he’s a direct influence, but his ability to allow for self-projection and a sense of mystery is something I hope to have in my own work.”

Justin James King: from And Still We Gather with Infinite Momentum

Justin James King: from And Still We Gather with Infinite Momentum

Justin James King: from And Still We Gather with Infinite Momentum

You can see more images and the original post by clicking here.

Tags: Justin James King

Brea Souders is our 2011 WIP-LTI/Lightside $1000.00 Kodak Materials Grant recipient. The following interview with her is re-posted from the Uprise Art blog. Uprise Art essentially seems to be an art share and/or art ownership club that’s kind of hard to describe … but I’ll give it a shot:

First, you become a member by paying a fee of $50.00. Now, with that fee, you get to request a piece of art (presumably, one you’d like to eventually own) be delivered and installed in your home. And for as long you decide to keep it there and continue to pay the $50.00 per month fee, the accumulated total spent all goes towards its initial sale price. So it’s like getting lay-away that you get to take home anyway … or something like that. Crazy, right?

I’m sure there’s probably more to it … but for that, I give you the link:

https://www.upriseart.com/

February 9, 2012

Brea Souders: Untitled 7, 2010

A Q&A with Uprise artist Brea Souders:

Where are you from and where do you currently reside?
I grew up in Frederick, Maryland, lived in Baltimore for some time, and now live in New York City.

You recently won the 2011 Women in Photography LTI-Lightside Grant; what project will that grant support?
I’m working with various objects in my parents’ home that I grew up with and that have significant meaning in my life – A terrarium full of African violets, giant fossil and shell collections, plaster casts, art and physics books, microscopic slides, and family pictures. The project incorporates collage elements and paint also.

Which of your works include you in the image?
Many of my works include bits and pieces of me – such as Sunburn in Naples, Shell, Frame, Falling Seeds, Under My Thumb and Seine With Fingers.

Do you consider these works self-portraits?
I don’t consider them portraits so much as one element within a larger scene.

Your photographs are very beautifully composed, can you tell us a little about your process?
I am interested in the idea of one thing activating another. There is often a fragility and sense of time passing in my images – seeds are blowing, a snail slithers through a constructed environment, a sunburn eventually fades, picked flowers begin to dry under the hot sun, etc. Or sometimes my own fingers, body or shadow moves into the picture plane, temporarily, like a flutter (as in Seine With Fingers, Under My Thumb and Shell). In French Bed and Moon I was trying to fix two separate moments in time together forever. Butter Plate and Moth was created by coating a piece of glass with butter and placing it in my studio to see what it would attract (there were all sorts of moths, spiders, gnats, and dragonflies in my studio in France). At its heart, my work is based in exploration and discovery. I make sure to allow plenty of time for experimentation and accept that there will be failure along the pathway to success.

What was your inspiration behind the work Untitled 7?
It was inspired by a tender and surprising dream of the Marquis de Sade. The woman in the photograph represents his mother.

Who are some of your favorite artists?
Looking over at my bookshelf, I see monographs by Youssef Nabil, Francesca Woodman, Philip Guston, Jan Saudek, Paul Outerbridge and Yves Klein. Just a few artists that I admire. I’m also inspired by many Medieval paintings and carvings.

You can access the the original post by clicking here

Tags: Brea Souders

Heavy Duty Landscapes
Jan Staller
ISE Cultural Foundation
January 12 – March 2, 2012

Jan Staller: Pilings, Flushing Queens, 2007
50 x 60 conventional c-print

ISE Cultural Foundation is showing recent works by Jan Staller. The exhibition titled Heavy Duty Landscapes showcases sixteen large format c prints spanning the past seven years. Staller describes his work as follows:

For more than 30 years I have been making surprisingly interesting photographs of subject matter thought by most to have little interest. Included in the ISE exhibit are sixteen large-scale color photographs, virtually all made at local construction sites and scrap yards.
 
Like many photographers, I do my work on road trips. Where most photographers’ trips are long journeys in search of the unusual, my road trips are more local- hours and miles spent canvassing the same general territory year after year in search of the familiar. From the highways and service roads within a 20 mile radius of Manhattan I have found imagery in ordinary and ignored sites. With my assistant at the wheel of a late model police car laden with camera equipment, I would scan the landscape for potential subjects. Should a subject be found, we stop the car, put up highway cones and set up the camera and tripod. As I often photograph without authorization, I try to make the work look like official business. As unprepossessing as these subjects may sound, the resulting  photographs are transformative.

Construction Barricade in Snow, New York, 2010
30 x 60 digital c-print

LTI/Lightside worked with Jan to produce a number of conventional and digital c-prints for this exhibition

Tags: Conventional C-Printing, Digital-C Printing, Exhibitions, Jan Staller, Mounting