Photographer: Robert Polidori
Exhibit: Fra Angelico/Opus Operantis
Gallery: Paul Kasmin, 297 Tenth Avenue
The subject matter in this gallery is religion; Christianity and Catholicism. Everything is portrayed through a frame within a frame. It has architectural elements such as arches, doors and windows. The paintings show the crucifixion of Jesus which is presented in many frames. It appears as one whole painting that is cropped in many different ways through each photograph. There are many halos and open doors that are displayed throughout each frame which seem to intend the message could be to open the doors to Christ. In one of the photographs there is a light that shines through the window of the crucifixion of Jesus which shows holiness. There is a good contrast with light and dark. You also get a good of where the sun or light is at in the paintings. The rule of thirds is presented in every single frame from the door or the crucifixion of Jesus.
Photographer: Stan Douglas
Exhibit: Scenes from the Blackout
Gallery: David Zwirner, 525 W. 19th St
The subject matter in this gallery is people in a staged New York City blackout. The contrast between light and dark is intriguing. It has areas that are dark and the light source is coming from a phone light, candles or natural lighting. The contrast makes it seem dramatic as well. In one of the photographs the photographer uses framing where you look through a broken window as if someone is stealing from a jewelry store. He also uses bird’s eye view in the photograph where the person is stuck in the elevator. The exhibit consists of scenarios of what people would do during a blackout such as people sitting in front of a museum, a robbery or getting stuck in an elevator. You can tell these photographs are staged because of how surreal they are. The message is that if there was a blackout, there would be chaos.
Photographer: Taysir Batniji
Exhibit: Home Away From Home
Gallery: Aperture, 547 W 27th St
The subject matter in this gallery is about the current lives of family and their homes. The subject is about how there was a war in their country, Gaza which caused each cousin to split. Some went to Europe while others went to America. The ones who studied in Europe then came to America to settle. They each have better lives then what they would have compared to living in Gaza where they were in poverty. Each cousin says that Gaza is their true home, but America has become their home as well. However, there was one cousin that regretted coming to America. The intended message in this exhibit was that no matter where you are at, nothing is like your “true” home. The tone in these photographs is calm. Everyone in each photo seems to be going on with their lives living in America. A lot of the cousins have good degrees such as doctoral. The focus of each image is of his cousins and there sense of living. There is a use of depth of field where his cousins are in focus through the things they do in their daily lives. There is also nice contrast of light to dark in some of the photographs. The photographs are coherent due to them all sharing a story of the daily lives of each cousin.
Well stated. While the subject matter of Robert Polidori’s photographs includes murals with Christian imagery, his subject is not religion or Christianity. This may be hard to know if you just see this one show of his work. He photographs all kinds of built environments-versailles, New Orleans after Katrina, Chernobyl. And oh, my were these photos lovely!
The photos of Taysir Batniji were interesting in that as you state they show people going about their daily lives. The drama was not in the images themselves but in the idea of the larger diaspora of the people of Gaza.