Gallery report

Pace Gallery: Irving Penn, On Assignment

When I just walked into the gallery, and saw some Vogue old magazines, I said to myself that this guy has to be a special artist, and there is no doubt about that since he’s been working with Vogue for a long time. Almost all photographs are portraits of people. I think fashion world is his favorite. His main artwork consists of black and white shoots. A lot of his work is centered, focused on one object shallow depth of field and shot at eye level. I was astonished about his work especially the composition ones and my favorite was the “bee on the lips”.

Hasted Kraeutler: Nick Brandt, Across the Ravaged land

This exhibit brought me into the wilderness of Africa. Mainly shot in black and white, and on shallow depth of field, Nick’s wild animals photographs were taken at a low angle and at eye level with focus on the subject. The sepia tone gives the photos a dry feeling of the African desert. The amazing sharpness of those pictures allows us to see the details of the lion’s fur and the dry wrinkles of the elephant. Some pictures give me an idea about the rough life in the wilderness and the fight between animals and man. I think this photographer spends his life in Africa.

Mary Boone: Robert Polidori, Versailles

This one is unique. After I started to get bored of this tour, Versailles Robert’s pictures amazed me and showed me what’s really piece of art means. I love it. He really cares about details. From broken parts of doors, to scratched spots on golden picture frames, and over used handling windows and tables; Versailles Palace close ups and medium shots all are shot with extensive depth of field. With vivid and sharp colors, the photos look like they are paintings, but also the details in the texture is what stood out the most. I also liked the strong perspective, present on a lot of his photos, especially when it takes you through many doors textured and colored in different marvelous ways. It was a short trip to Versailles in a shot period of time, for free, without being physically there; but really knowledgeable.

Danziger Projects: Susan Derges, New work 

It took me a while to understand what was that actually. It’s really unique, and it’s an interesting photography process that I get the opportunity to know it closely. But I think the use of artificial light, shadows and water called out my interest to try to do something alike. I liked the artificial colors since the shadows look quite similar to me. I think this kind of artwork creates a mood of calm and serenity.

Yancey Richardson: Olivo Barbieri, Alps- Geographies and people

This one was my absolute favorite of the 6 exhibits we’ve been to in our field trip. I was amazed not only because I easily realized that this set of photos were seriously manipulated, but how they were manipulated in an artistic way. This is what they call digital artist. The dominant Bright white on his gigantic pieces gives the feeling of freshness and joy. He shot them in bird eye or high angle. In a moment I felt like I wanted to be climbing the snowy mountains and breathe the fresh clean air from that altitude. At the end, these pictures don’t look like they have been manipulated after all; it’s really successfully manipulated. Incredible!

David Zwirner: Phillip Lorca DiCorsia, Hustlers

I didn’t like it from its title, but by walking in and having an idea about it; I discovered interesting things about his work. If I didn’t know in advance that his project deals with men prostitutes, I would never think they were prostitutes. Lorca’s photos generate emotions from faces. The amazing use of light creates a mood of sadness that reflects the prostitute’s men lives. More important, the created contrast between the subject and the background showcased the subject prostitute. I wonder why choosing this kind of subject? Is it in purpose to attract viewers?