For Immediate Release
July 19, 2004
Contact: Brent Sverdloff 781/259-3628, bsverdloff@decordova.org
Sarah Smith 781/259-3663, ssmith@decordova.org
Luminous Forms: Abstractions in Color Photography
James and Audrey Foster Galleries, Fourth Floor Hallway Gallery, Arcade Gallery
September 18, 2004 – January 2, 2005
Opening Reception: Friday, September 17, 2004, 7 – 9 pm
Whether created for the camera by the artist, or abstracted from objects or places in the natural world, these photographs emphasize color, form, and light as subjects unto themselves. Director of Curatorial Affairs Rachel Rosenfield Lafo has selected six photographers for this exhibition. Each explores a different form of abstraction, from pulsing mandala shapes to images of pure color created by gels.
David Akiba-Akiba's two series, "Light Struck" and "Light Swept," explore light as it resonates between the photographed object and the camera. Using colored gels and plastic that is folded to create texture, the camera captures the sunlight reflecting off the object. The intense colors and active surface is a record of the interaction between the object and light, resulting in vibrant images that imply movement.
William Armstrong-In "The Infinity Series," we see bright colors mingling and melting into each other to create out-of-focus figurative forms. With the camera's focusing ring set on "infinity," Armstrong photographs small paper collages, allowing the subject of his work to be at once color and perception. What we are left with is rich color and a mysterious, suggestive image that requires the abandonment of the rational desire to fully understand the subject matter in favor of a more emotional connection to color and shape.
Sandi Haber Fifield-This artist creates abstractions in multi-panel format, linking rotated images across a slight gap that yield patterns of line, shape, and light. The images are produced with a digital camera, and the color is altered to heighten the abstracted nature of each piece.
Olivia Parker-In her series "Luminous Places," Olivia Parker blurs the photographic image in an attempt to capture the color that light allows us to see, rather than physical objects. Her photographs show us something about a space that the eye alone would not necessarily understand. A highly personalized interior is rendered as areas of fluid light, where color grabs your attention and becomes a reliquary holding jewel-like orbs of colored light.
Bonnie Porter-Porter's images reduce photography to its most basic elements, the interaction of light with a negative, and later with light-sensitive paper. These methods have traditionally been used to record "reality," visually freezing events in a documentary fashion. The subject matter in Porter's work becomes reduced to its core elements: light, color, depth, and shadow.
Laura Wulf-Images that combine flat areas of color, geometric form, and incised line are created without the camera. Color photographic paper is exposed to filters in an enlarger, and is worked further in the darkroom. Areas of color are achieved through masking and being exposed to different filters. Though considered photographs, Wulf's images thwart the basic tenets of photography in a number of ways. They are created without the aid of a camera, truly recording light only as the result of a chemical process.
Abstract Photography in the Permanent Collection
Arcade Gallery
September 18, 2004 – January 2, 2005
Opening Reception: Friday, September 17, 2004, 7 – 9 pm
This exhibition of abstract photographs from DeCordova's Permanent Collection accompanies Luminous Forms. This show includes works by David Akiba, Len Gittleman, Gyorgy Kepes, Calvin Kowal, Aaron Siskind, Bradford Washburn, and others, and is organized by Director of Curatorial Affairs Rachel Rosenfield Lafo.
General Information
DeCordova Museum is open Tuesday through Sunday, 11 am to 5 pm and on selected Monday holidays. Admission is $6 per person, $4 for senior citizens, students, and youth ages 6-12. Children age 5 and under, Lincoln residents, and Active Duty Military Personnel and their dependents are admitted free. The Sculpture Park is open year round during daylight hours. The Store @ DeCordova and the School Gallery are open Monday through Thursday, 9:30 am to 7:30 pm, Friday through Saturday, 9:30 am to 5:30 pm, and Sunday 11:30 am to 5:30 pm. The Café @ DeCordova is open Wednesday through Sunday from 11 am to 3 pm. Free guided public tours of the Museum's main galleries take place every Thursday at 1 and Sunday at 2 pm. Free tours of the Sculpture Park are given on Saturday and Sunday at 1 pm from May to October. Visit www.decordova.org or call 781/259-8355 for further information.
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