Trophy Pictures

ORDINARY THINGS

When artists make their private life public

Opening reception: Saturday, November 13, 6-8PM

Carrie Haddad Photographs
318 Warren Street
Hudson, NY. 12534
Tel. 518.828.7655

November 11, 2010 through December 12, 2010

What is it like living with a photographer? Family members, children, spouses, partners, and friends – all those closest to an artist - often see every move or moment of their daily life turned into subject matter. Sometimes these subjects are willing participants, sometimes not. Some open up and give access to intimate situations; others withdraw, lose patience or remain altogether apathetic. The recorded moments can range from heroic life and death struggles to lighter, more quotidian passages of time; morning rituals, the gradual aging of a wife and child, sharing meals, birthday celebrations, arriving home from an afternoon at school.

Together these ordinary images demonstrate ‘sudden lightning flashes of significance’ - a phrase borrowed from writer Virgina Woolf’s 1919 essay, Modern Fiction. In this critical essay on modern novels, Woolf suggests, “Let us not take it for granted that life exists more fully in what is commonly thought big than in what is commonly thought small.” The title of the exhibition is a nod to this line in Woolf’s essay, to the small, familiar moments that fill a day. The corresponding show aims to celebrate the nobility in examining everyday life, and illuminate the complexity and richness of human relationships.

The idea of photographing one’s family is not new, and there is a long history of photographers concerned with the private world of familial relationships and individuality, including Edward Steichen, Sally Mann, Emmet Gowin, Larry Sultan, Nan Goldin and Nicholas Nixon. The work by David Lebe, Harry Wilks, Thatcher Keats, Sabine Delafon and Allyson Levy on exhibit in Ordinary Things, continues in this tradition. It is exciting to make these discoveries and be able to show and make them available to our clients.

In many of the works on exhibit, there exists a pattern of sequential experiences; when viewed as a complete series, these works become fascinating studies of both portraiture and the passage of time. Each image in a series may capture something part ritual, part performance, part obsession, but their overall meaning is discovered only when considered in relation to one another. These photographs connect with us, the viewer/reader, almost instantly, causing us to reflect on our own changes and maturity. In the end, they serve to remind us of the common human experience of joy and suffering, loss and gain. To borrow once more from Ms. Woolf’s essay, “If we want life itself, here surely we have it.”

The exhibition will be accompanied by an illustrated catalog, available for purchase for $30.00. For more information, please contact the gallery at 518.828.7655 or email hello@carriehaddadphotographs.com.

Dan Wasser: Planet Rock @ As If

AS IF Gallery is pleased to announce as the inaugural exhibition of its new gallery in Harlem, the first one-person show in NYC by artist Daniel Amazu Wasser. In "Planet Rock", a series of over 40 vibrant collage works, Wasser pays homage to both the Grand Masters of Hip Hop who were the cultural heroes of his youth, as well as to his ancestral and artistic forebearers in the traditional African arts. In so doing he narrates some of the giant societal steps along the way – a journey of survival, uprising and ongoing struggle.

Wasser explains: "Racism, its practices and history, needs to be recalled despite how much progress we have made. We need to keep the dialogue going, keep talking until all the chains are gone!" When Hip Hop surfaced in New York, it gave us something that our generation was craving, and we couldn't get enough of it. It was a combination of rhyme and reason. It gave us a voice, gave us a purpose to be imaginative rather than submit to the mindless meanderings in life. It enabled us to master our own destinies, our crafts, whether making graffiti, rhyming, DJing or breaking. That was a time that awakened me!"

Identity and advocacy are crucial elements of early Rap and Hip Hop. We see the same basic promotional principles at work in Wasser's lyrical imagery. Like collagist Kurt Schwitters, whose prototypical vocal performances were strangely connected to the hypothesis of Rap, Wasser remixes musical and art histories with the fluidity and speed of the DJ or trickster. Pop principles of repetition and multiplication are at play in his "Planet Rock" collages. We witness the evolution from "I AM A MAN" to the individualistic calligraphies of the masters of the New York graffiti underground. Are Wasser's characters, awash in 'bling', any different from the ostentation of the Ziegfield Follies or the films of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers? They take on the guise of the urban ghetto to effect both a panacea and an escape from institutionalized racism. The emergence of Hip Hop and graffiti was more likely to have reduced crime in New York in the 80s and 90s than Rudolph Giulliani's addition of police to our city's streets. The viral cultures of graffiti and Hip Hop created identity and brought power to the powerless. It became cooler to rap about gangsterism than to do it.

Daniel Amazu Wasser was born in 1971 in Maine and grew up in Norwalk, CT, before moving to New Haven to teach elementary school in the inner city. He has taken part in a number of exhibitions in his home city.

AS IF Gallery is a collaboration between Nicole Rauscher, fabric designer, Seth Tillett, scenographer and artist, and Diego Cortez curator. The gallery is dedicated to their friend Sylvère Lotringer, Editor of Semiotext(e) and the Semiotext(e) Foreign Agents Series.

For further information please contact Nicole Rauscher +1 646 338 2140 or asif@asifgallery.com Gallery Hours by appointment only: Wednesday - Saturday, 12 noon to 6 pm

The Empathetic Photographer Class

The Photography Class will begin Wednesday, January 27th, 2010.

The class will run for 8 weeks.

Your Host and professor is Thatcher Keats















This class could be called "A Life With Photography"

Issues of technical competence, aesthetic concerns, differing lives in photography, artistic deficiencies, as well as the issue of exploitation and empathy will be addressed through discourse, presentation, and critique sessions.
There will be visiting artists who will present their work to the class.
Much of what will be accomplished is a more active and comfortable relationship with photography. If one shoots landscapes, they will get better taking pictures of people. If you are a a people person, you will work on shooting things or places. We will also consider the issue of fairness in intimate photographs. Think of the class as personal training for your visual sense.



















The class is open to anyone with a film or digital camera. Basic knowledge of the operation of one's camera is essential, as this class will cover some technical issues slightly above the Photo 1 level. The ability to make small and rough prints, at home, online, at a lab or in a darkroom will be necessary for aesthetic discussions within the class. The issue of electronic versus analogue imaging will be considered.
Students will also post images online for class perusal, in the form of an electronic diary.

The Classes will be held on Wednesdays starting at 7pm at
The Christopher Henry Gallery,
which is located at 127 Elizabeth just below Broome.

The cost for the 8 sessions in $500.00 (or about $20 an hour).

Thatcher Keats has exhibited at ClampArt, The Christopher Henry Gallery, The National Arts Club, and Fashion Moda, among others. Tinyvices.com hosts a portfolio of his work. Keats has been a guest of Yaddo, and has published a book, Confidence Games, in 2006. Keats has taught publicly and privately in New York for four years, including at the International Center of Photography in 2010.

Please call @ 347-728-1141, or send an email to thatcher.keats@gmail.com to reserve a spot.


thatcherkeats.com
thatcherkeats.blogspot.com

NOTHING HUMAN DISGUSTS ME ...

... unless it's unkind or violent.

Wed. - Sat.  noon-6pm

Thru May 9

The Lugubrious Cafe: Monday Nov. 24, 2008