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The third artist that I want to talk about is Pedro Isztin,
"Transformation revisits the pain, joy, and suffering that our psyches are stamped with, no matter how little or large those experiences as a child. Some childhoods are so numb, they are a blur, but they always contain the few pieces of a puzzle. We are not alone. Memories prove that" -Expert from Artist Statement, Pedro Isztin (Contact Sheet)
His photographs are 8X10'' chromogenic prints, were he has a subject wearing a photograph of himself as a child. That photograph is taped onto their bodies with red tape which raises questions about that choice. Why red tape? Why in that specific area of their bodies? What is the connection between the past and the body part in which they are taped to? Picture within a picture is a widely explored idea, in which memory can be effectively evoked. Each subject is taken through time into their past, and childhood. I think that Isztin's work implies ideas of time, change, and culture which every individual goes through in life.
Again after going through the Contact Sheet featuring the Exhibition called Tracing Memory, the second artist I want to discuss is Angie Buckley.
"Our opinions are continuously shaped through associations with people in our immediate environment and our culture. Habits stories, and traditions from various groups are passed from one generation to the next and most of these things transform over time through a subtle metamorphosis" -Expert from Artist Statement, Angie Buckley (Contact Sheet)
He images are 20X24'', and are printed on traditional format as Silver Gelatin Prints.There are photographs of individuals placed on the actual place where the photograph was taken. She seems to be playing with stories that have taken place in a particular moment in time, One can make connections between the individuals in the photograph and the environments where the photographs are being placed. There is a clear sense of time when approaching the work as a whole which can be directly connected to our memories and how we remember. I think that she also makes clear connotations to ideas of displacement and belonging to particular cultures, time and place.
"It is not necessary that my memories be based solely on actual events, but rather, I afford myself the opportunity to tailor them to meet the feeling that recreates my encounters with those I have photographed. My photographs illustrate the liquid nature of memory through the combination of the familiar with the unfamiliar" -Expert from Artist Statement, Cyrus Karimipour (Contact Sheet)
When I was going through a contact sheet featuring an exhibition called Tracing Memory I thought it was rather interesting how the artist expressed their ideas about memory with the medium of photography. One of the artists featured was: Cyrus Karimipour.
His photographs are 16X16'' pigmented inject prints, that feature some sort of collages and manipulations. All of the images are unclear as to what the detail should be. One can depict faces, and figures making a strong appearance but nothing clear. There is a sense of movement, blurriness and distortion that in my opinion references to memories and their loss information as time transcends. It seems to me that the manipulation helps the artist to recreate, and rebuild memories past, or even memories that are completely invented.
Hiroyuki Masuyama in a Japanese artist that lives and works in Dusseldorf, Germany. He has been doing a wide variety of work since 1991 until now. His original training was oil painting, but the work I am going to focus on is on photographic media.
His new work is inspired on German landscape painter Caspar David Friedrich, who did not paint in a realistic manner. Masuyama located places similar to the landscapes painted by the German painter back in the 19th century, and took thousands of photographs. The idea (as Friedrich's idea) is to use several elements to compose an idealistic site. He composted the images digitally to make a tribute to the painter. He finally resented the final work at the size of the actual paintings.
His photographs have a very painterly feel to them, they are aimed to pay special attention to the pictorial atmosphere. The concept fantasizes the ideas of time and space, present and future. By using the medium of photography, and the precess of assembling photographing elements Masuyama is making a reference to the passing of time. I think the images itself have a beautiful calm, and soft quality that plays back and forth along the fine line between two medium. The images seem to have a very painterly quality that is difficult to strip away from the photograph.
Adrian Piper is a Conceptual artist that is best known for her politically loaded approach in her art. Her experience is unbelievably extensive, she studied Philosophy, and Fine Art at universities like School of Visual Arts in New York, Harvard, University of Heidelberg in Germany, California Institute of the Arts, and Massachusetts College of Art.
Piper focuses on issues of personal identity from the stand point of an African American. She investigates issues of racism, and sexism, and also class and stereotypes. Her approach is to directly confront the viewer or people unaware with her provoking and in-your face method. Her intentions is to make you aware of your stereotypical thoughts.
I am very much interested in manipulated images that convey a psychological meaning. In particular, Piper black and white photographs that are manipulated with oil crayon and accompanied by text. The photograph 'The Mythic Being: I Embody Everything You Must Hate and Fear' (1975) Focuses on attitudes of about race and gender stereotypes from the stand point of societies xenophobia. For this work, Piper dressed up as an androgynous racially determined black afro man. They are inspired by a private performance, and finally drawing onto the surface of the photograph. I believe this add a sense of emotional content. In my opinion, the manipulation is a way to expressed a frustrating feeling. It creates a mask for the subject, beyond knowing that the subject is purposely portrayed as androgynous, but it makes us think at what we are looking at. The addition of the text, explicitly complements the image and sends a message to the viewer to whom the artist is trying to awaken. Piper is particularly motivated by her deep knowledge in Moral Ethics, and society's psychological stereotypes. Her goal is to make people be aware of the internal stereotypes that in most cases are not talked about.
Last year Stephen Chalmers visited the University and I assisted the talk about his work. I thought it would be appropriate to look up a little bit more about him, to show his work during my presentation tonight.
Stephen has an M.F.A in Cinema and Photography, a B.A in Fine Art Photography, a B.S in Psychology and he is an Emergency Medical Technician. He is very active in the community, does workshops in digital photography, and is an active artist.
His work is very much Research oriented. I am going to focus on one body of work which is 'Dump Sites'. With little knowledge of the purpose and intentions of the artist, the images portray beautiful and very specific landscape. Upon reading the title, one realizes that there is more behind the surface of the photograph. Each images portrays the specific spot where a murder has taken place. He titles the image with the name of the victim and the date of the murder.
The artist interest is to create a memorial for the victim. He argues that in murders, people only remember the killer, as opposed to remembering the victim. So, what he wants to do is to create a memorial for the victim, and only focus on that.
He shoots with 4x5 camera and creates an area of focus where he believes, to the best of his knowledge, the place where the body of the victim was found.The images are beautiful, but they are juxtaposed by the disturbing title. He creates a play between life and dead, that juxtaposes a sad, true, disturbing event from the past with the present emptiness of the landscape that is left. He can play with the assumptions of the viewer upon first encountering the photographs, and the inevitable visual imagery that creates in each of them after learning more about them.
Check out his website: Askew-view
Images found on google: http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&source=hp&q=stephen%20chalmers%20dump%20sites&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi
Going from blog, after blog, after blog, I came across Akos Major. I couldn't find more information than him being from Budapest, Hungary. I did find hundreds of his images, and I highly recommend people to look at his photographs.
The images seem to portray very powerful natural beauty of the landscape. I am going to focus in a few images that seem to consistently inform each other. He photographs landscapes that include snow or water, with a city scape, or natural formations.
The images are stunning! I admire his use of the square format and the placement of the horizon line. In many of his images, one can appreciate a clear consistency of the frame awareness by the photographer.
The calming presence of the images convey a level of aesthetics that in many cases is very difficult to achieve by photographing landscape. In my opinion, what the photographer achieves is that viewer can have a sensory experience when looking at it...where one can feel the coldness of the snow, or water... One can smell the cold ice, and fog... and finally, one can feel the loneliness, and isolation of some of the subjects on that landscape.
I am personally moved and inspired by these images. In particular by the choice of subject matter and the technical decisions that make the simplest things in nature become so hugely noticeable, and beautiful. Simple or (as Chris would say:) 'Minimal' is beautiful.
Check him out on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/absolutelynothing/
