Alec Soth: Last Days of W. Opening

- Very excited for this show, the newspaper Alec printed was one of my favorite books from last year and I can't wait to see the prints in person. I'll be heading up to the opening when I get out of work on Tuesday, hope to see you there.

The Last Days of W.
January 20 - March 7, 2009
980 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10075

"Gagosian Gallery is pleased to present "The Last Days of W.," color photographs taken by Alec Soth between 2000 and 2008.

Although originally conceived without explicit political intent, in retrospect Soth considers this selected body of work, which spans both terms of George W. Bush's presidency, to represent "a panoramic look at a country exhausted by its catastrophic leadership." Soth's earlier series such as "Sleeping by the Mississippi," "NIAGARA," and "Dog Days, Bogotá" – all subjective narratives containing disenfranchised figures and decaying landscapes -- laid the conceptual groundwork for "The Last Days of W." It provides a wry commentary on the adverse effects of the national administration, perhaps best exemplified by an unwittingly ironic remark that Bush made in 2000: "I think we can agree, the past is over."

Following in the humanist tradition established by the great chroniclers of the American experience such as Walker Evans, Robert Frank, and Stephen Shore, Soth captures diverse images of a country disillusioned with, and deceived by, its own identity, from mothers of marines serving in Iraq to teenage mothers in the Louisiana Bayou; from religious propaganda in the American workplace to the mortgage crisis in Stockton, CA. His incisive depiction of contemporary American reality confronts the ideals romanticized in the American Dream with the hastening decline of the American Empire."



© Alec Soth

Thrilla in Manilla

- Jane Mount and Jason Polan have been competing in a no holds barred draw-a-thon at Jen Bekman Gallery since Wednesday, drawing from noon to 6pm every day till Saturday. The event is a benefit for 826, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting students with their creative and expository writing skills. On Monday December 8th, there will be a reception and benefit sale at the gallery where all the pieces done by the artists will be for sale. Keep up to date with the Thrilla in Manilla blog. View a full press release here.

Humble Arts Update

© Michael Bühler-Rose
- The Humble Arts Foundation updated their site today with a new solo and group show as well as the recipient of the Fall 2008 Grant. The second grant given out in 2008 by the foundation went to Michael Bühler-Rose and his project Constructing the Exotic. The series is wonderful and a good choice for the winner, congratulations Michael! This months solo show is from Marc McAndrews and his series Nevada Rose. In the series McAndrews points his lens at the thriving prostitution ranches in the desert towns of Nevada. I had never seen McAndrews work before this and really enjoy the series, I hope a book comes out sometime soon. The group show also has some really great work in it including Ryan Steele, Carter Rowley, Matthew Bessinger, Christina Kerns, and my good friend Sarah Kalagvano. Go take a look at all of the work at the Humble Arts site here.


© Marc McAndrews

© Sarah Kalagvano

Bare

- Jörg posted an announcement yesterday for a new show that he curated for Michael Mazzeo Gallery. The show is opening on December 11th with an artists reception from 6-8pm. Jörg did a really great job with his picks for the show, he got some great images from great artists and I can't wait to see the show in person. I might have to skip class for the opening next week, hope to see you there.


© Ethan Aaro Jones

© Alec Soth

Sander's Children

- James Danziger made a post on his blog The Year in Pictures on Wednesday about the new show going up at his gallery on December 3rd. The show is called Sander's Children: Figurative Photography in the Tradition of August Sander, and shows the influence that August Sander has had on the history of photography. The show looks like it is going to be fantastic, it includes the work of Seydou Keita, William Eggleston, Irving Penn, Hiroh Kikai, Albrecht Tubke, Milton Rogovin, Richard Avedon, Rineke Dijkstra, Lolo Veleko, The Sartorialist, Diane Arbus, as well as Sander himself. This will be a must see show this winter, hopefully I'll see you at the opening.


© Rineke Dijkstra

© Hiroh Kikai

Dina Kantor

- The newest show up on the Women in Photography website is from photographer Dina Kantor. Dina lives and works as a teacher in Brooklyn. Her project Finnish Jewish has some really beautiful portraits. From her statement; "In January 2006 I began photographing the members of the small Jewish community in Finland. In addition to being a visual record, the images function as a sociological document exploring how Finnish Jews live, work and practice their religious traditions. How does Judaism survive in a country where there are only two synagogues? In a nation of 5.3 million people, how do 1,500 Jews maintain their cultural identity; how do they have a voice?". See more of her work here.



© Dina Kantor

UnCritical Mass

© Christopher Barbour
- Liz Kuball made a post last week about her disapointment over not being picked for Photolucida's Critical Mass Competition. She had an huge response from other non-finalists and decided to make a group show on her blog of all the work she recieved. The work looks really great, I couldn't imagine being on the Critical Mass review board and having to pick between these and the winning photographers. Check it out here and see the list of the 108 finalists for Critical Mass here.


© Katherine Dexter

© Geoffrey Ellis

Bond Street Gallery Closes Its Doors

© Justin James Reed
"Dear Friends,
I regret to inform you that effective Saturday, November 1, 2008, 6PM, BOND STREET GALLERY will close its doors. Though short lived, I had a great time working with so many talented photographers and curators. With that said, I would like thank you for supporting the gallery and its vision to promote new art photography.
On to the next opportunity,
a."

- Just got that email from Humble Arts. What a bummer the gallery basically just opened and had some really great shows during its short time. Be sure to go see the Revisiting America show before Satuday, it features the work of Timothy Briner, Jon Feinstein, Matthew Gamber, Justin James Reed, Angie Smith, Brian Ulrich and Michael Vahrenwald, I'm going to try and make it down on Friday.

New Photography at MOMA

© Mikhael Subotzky
- I first heard of Mikhael Subotzky's work last summer in an issue of Aperature. His series Beaufort West is stunning. It is unbelievable that he was able to take such depravity and create such a beatiful body of work about it. Subotzky's series "portrays a small desert town in South Africa's Western Cape blighted by unemployment, rampant crime, domestic violence, poverty, and segregation."

The other artist that MOMA decided to put in this years fall exhibit is Josephine Meckseper. I had never seen Meckseper's work before I read about it in the New York Times this morning but it seems like it is also a quite interesting series, "In her photographs and signature vitrine displays, Meckseper explores the media's strategy of mixing political news and advertising content. Her installation includes a selection of life-size photographs of models dressed in vintage lingerie from the 1950s, from her 2006 Blow-Up series. Also included is Quelle International, a new group of pictures culled from a mail-order catalogue popular in Germany in the 1970s that have been printed on reflective Mylar." and judging by pictures on the internet from Saatchi Gallery, an even more interesting installation. I am quite excited to make a trip to MOMA to see this work in person after the exhibit opens on Wednesday. Find out more about the exhibition here.

See more of Mikhael Subotzky's work here, and more of Josephine Meckseper's work here.



© Josephine Meckseper

Asako Narahashi

- I forgot to write about one show I saw last week which was Asako Narahashi at Yossi Milo Gallery. I had been looking at the pictures on the internet for a while before finally seeing the show and I couldn't decide what I thought of them. Seeing them in person was obviously the way to make a true judgment, but I was left with the same feeling. There were a few really beautiful images (my favorites are posted here) but the others didn't really do it for me at all. Although Narahashi's process is kind of interesting because she only learned to swim five years ago it reminds me of something like what Jörg was talking about here. I didn't have a chance to look through the whole book but the series looked more impressive as a whole. I just can't wait for the Alessandra Sanguinetti show to open on September 4th, that is going to be one not to miss.



© Asako Narahashi

A Trip To Chelsea

© Stephen Wilkes
- I went into the city early today so I could check out a few shows before I had to pick up my film. It ended up being a really great day at the galleries. I had about an hour and a rough list so I made my way down to 25th street. I started at Clamp Art and saw the Stephen Wilkes show, which I loved. Although the subject of the series instantly reminded me of Sze Tsung Leong's History Images, Wilkes takes a very different take on similar territory. The shapes and colors in the photographs immediately drew me in and this is easily my favorite show I've seen at Clamp Art.

© Terri Garland
- After Clamp Art I headed up the street to Alan Klotz Gallery to see the Terri Garland show. Collecting photos from the last 20 years, Southern Discomforts takes on the subject of race in America. I loved her color work, but my favorite photos in the show were six black and white exteriors of buildings that were hung in a grid. The prints were beautiful and the show was a nice surprise from a photographer I didn't know before.

© Martin Parr
- I ended the day with two summer group shows. The first of which was my favorite show of the day, it was called When Color Was New: Vintage Photographs From Around The 1970's and was at Julie Saul Gallery. Featuring work from all of the early heavyweights in color photography, I was blown away. Finally being able to see Joel Sternfeld, William Eggleston, and Helen Levitt's work in person was quite inspiring. But it was the work of Martin Parr, Terry Wild, and Jan Groomer that really stuck out in this exhibit. A must see!

© Alex Prager
- The second group show was at Yancy Richardson Gallery and was called The Good Life. I didn't love this show that much. Although a lot of photography masters were featured in the show, there was some good work but a lot of it seemed to be filler. I did love Alex Prager, Larry Sultan, and David Hilliard's photos though, the show is worth seeing for them alone.