Homework #7 – Chelsea Photography Exhibits

Stan Douglas: Scenes from the Blackout

This exhibit was viewed at the David Zwirner Gallery found on 525 West 19th Street.  In this sporadic darkness, or disruption of routine, the photography captures the essence of the time in which possibilities are found.  In the work staged on the building stairs, elements like symmetry are found in the enormous columns and cascading staircase. There is also a subdued chaos, with only one light source in the frame, you see citizens seated conversing with one another, or the extreme a gentleman making use of his bag to lay on in lieu of a pillow. People have slowed down, which is a rarity in New York, the land of the hustle. Worth mentioning the street scene also makes use of one lighting source, a burning trash can, with the perspective of a bird’s eye view, and randomly placed things such as a horse near the crosswalk of an apparently looted block and a van parked on a curb directly in front of a store front. The dark reoccurring tone is no coincidence, after all, what happens in the dark soon comes to light.

Coherent because… CHOAS

Boomoon: Falling Water

This exhibit can viewed at the Flowers Gallery found on 529 West 20th Street.  The subject matter is that of an Icelandic waterfall.  Leading lines come to mind, but I say this very loosely because it the eye is lead by the well articulated gravitational pull in conjunction with water molecules. I cannot say these works are symmetrical as the motions have intact been “frozen” yet the kinetic energy captured can still be felt by the eye with no two exact intricacies present.  The rule of thirds is apparent at the point where the ferocious falls meet the calm of the flattened water bed which occupies the bottom of the frame, and the resulting impact mists fill the middle third of the frame, as the first portion documents the aquatic descend. Monochrome was the weapon of choice here.

Coherent because… SUBJECT (WATER)

Bruce Writon: St. George and the Dragon

This exhibit can be found at the Laurence Miller Gallery found on 521 West 26th Street, Floor 5.  Set in the town New York  town of Binghampton circa the 1980’s and shot with a 8 x 10” camera, Bruce had a knack for framing things together unexpectedly, yet, they worked so well for many of the arrangements found in this body of work. “Union Hotel” grabs my eye because of the intricate patterns initially. One is an ornate floral patterned continuous wall paper, and the other is a bedding, a sheet, who also bears a pattern of an enclosed flower. The wallpaper is busy without a doubt, and this causes the eye to focus on the calamity of the Jesus painting staged in the center of the frame. The placement of a pesto colored chair at the bed rest, and a terra-cotta pillowcase on the far right of the frame form a triangle with the painting mentioned above.  Let us not forget the polka dot floor whose turquoise base flows right to the edge of the frame and soothes the eye from the convolution throughout the top portion of the frame. Prayer would be needed to live in that room.

Coherent because… PATTERN