Entries from August 2009
August 27, 2009 | Details | Comments (0)
MoCP continues to loan 104 images from the permanent collection for the exhibition Andre Kertesz: On Reading, on view now through October 4, 2009 at The Photographer??s Gallery in London. This is the first time works from this series have been shown in the United Kingdom.
Pure and concise, Kertesz's images render emotionally-rooted everyday scenes and objects into striking geometric compositions.
A few images in the show:
Andre Kertesz. Esztergom, Hungary (three boys reading). 1915.
Andre Kertesz. New York (bug and book). 1969. MoCP permanent collection.
On Reading, a series of photographs taken by Kertesz in Romania, France, and the United States that spans his photographic career of over fifty years, illustrates the consistency and skill with which Kertesz has photographed in this style. In this collection, however, Kertesz's penchant for street photography figures more prominently. The carefully orchestrated images in the original book version of On Reading present views of humanity, architecture, and the absorptive power of reading as a universal pleasure. Through these poetic, and at times humorous, studies, Kertesz brings the solitary activity of reading to a new level, rife with humanistic touches.
Outside of On Reading, Kertesz's oeuvre includes a variety of images clearly, though not conspicuously, influenced by the surrealist and constructivist movements. Positioning his camera adjacent to curved mirrors like those found in carnival fun houses, he created a series of distorted nudes. Characteristic of his overall approach, these images subtly reflect classic studies of the human form as well as the more recent developments and ideas sustaining the avant-garde community.
-From the MoCP Collections site.
August 24, 2009 | Details | Comments (0)
John Opera, Caprice II, 2006.
Reviewers love MP3: II! Jessica Kronika applauds Mann, Opera, and Yeapanis, saying, ??these three artists push the limits of the [photographic] media into new realms? on Examiner.com. D.J. Seigel reports that the show ??will challenge and entertain art lovers and novices alike? in a review for HelloMetro. And Joerg Colberg says that MP3: II ??successfully expands the discourse of contemporary photography?. Don??t miss it: the show is on view until September 13.
August 19, 2009 | Details | Comments (0)
Chicago, IL, 2003, from the Copia series
Janet Babin??s podcast interview of former MoCP MPP artist Brian Ulrich for The Story aired August 5 on NPR. Ulrich discusses his role as a "photographer on the periphery" as he photographs somewhat surreptitiously in both bustling and abandoned shopping malls for his Copia series. The series began seven years ago, initially in response to the heated environment after 9/11. Ulrich recently received a Guggenheim Fellowship in order to continue the project.
In the interview, Ulrich shares stories of favorite images: a encounter with a child covered in cheesy Cheeto dust, his experience working in a thrift store, and some wildlife he ran into on-site during a shoot. Take a listen. Keep up the hard work, Brian!
Ulrich was a featured artist in the MoCP??s Midwest Photographer??s Project from 2005-2007. MPP is a rotating collection of portfolios by both prominent and emerging photographers from Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, and Wisconsin. He was also included in the MoCP exhibition Manufactured Self in 2005.
-- Sarah Miller
August 12, 2009 | Details | Comments (0)
Jan Saudek (Czech, b, 1935)
Pregnant Woman lying on Floor with Doll, 1977, Gelatin silver print. Gift of the Baruch Family Foundation
Vaclav Chochola (Czech, 1923-2005), Man Ray, Paris, 1968, Gelatin silver print. Gift of the Baruch Family Foundation
Josef Ehm (Czech, 1909-1989), Spartakiade,, n.d., Gelatin silver print. Gift of the Baruch Family Foundation
In July, the MoCP received a generous gift of 200 images from the Baruch Foundation. The Baruchs began collecting works by artists from countries behind the ??Iron Curtain? in the 1950s and 60s. The couple visited Prague during the Prague Spring in 1968, a period of reform in the country, and were, in the words of Anne Baruch, ??bewitched by the haunting beauty of the city and captivated by the art?by remarkably gifted but unknown artists.? By the fall of 1968, Prague??s Spring abruptly ended as the country was again occupied by the Soviets. As dealers of Czech artworks in the United States, the Baruch??s created a window and voice for these artists' works, despite the difficulties they had in transporting the photographs out of closed off Prague.
The MoCP acquisitions include works by artists Pavel Banka, Jindrich Brok, Vaclav Chochola, Frantisek Drtikol, Josef Ehm, Jaromir Funke, Stepan Grygar, Jiri Hanke, Viktor Kolar, Jan Lauschmann, Jiri Lehovec, Emila Medkova, Jaroslav Rossler, Dr. D.J. Ruzicka, Jan Saudek, Adolf Schneeberger, Jindrich Streit, and Josef Sudek.
The acquisition ??adds an important group of work from one of the most interesting regions of experimental modernist photography? to the museum??s collection, says MoCP curator Karen Irvine. The works are also a significant addition to the museum??s holdings of works by Czech artists.
Keep checking the collections web page for images and more information about these new additions. Until then, enjoy this sneak peek.
-- Sarah Miller
August 10, 2009 | Details | Comments (0)
Milton Rogovin, Verne Webster
The NYT reports that Rogovin ??turned to photography because his ??voice was essentially silenced,?? as he once said. What followed was more than 40 years of powerfully straightforward pictures of others without voices: the poor and working class of Buffalo??s East Side and Lower West Side, Appalachia, Mexico, Chile and other countries.?
View a few of Rogovin??s inspiring images on the MoCP collections page.
-- Sarah Miller
August 4, 2009 | Details | Comments (0)
Equipment in the Polaroid factory, Enschede, Netherlands. Courtesy of the Impossible Project
A co-worker recently informed us of the efforts in the Netherlands to revive and re-invent Polaroid film, dubbed ??The Impossible Project?. We thought we'd time-line a few points for those of you who had not yet heard or have not yet visited the Impossible Project??s website.
1948: Birth of instant photography
June 2008: Interest and investment in traditional photographic practice continues to wane and elements and chemicals used in the creation of the instant film are no longer readily available. Polaroid stops producing the film.
June/July 2008: Interested parties start a global campaign for the return of the film.
October 2008: With the help of Austrian artist and businessman Florian Kaps (creator of Polanoid.net, an online Polaroid collection and community of photogs who use the medium), Impossible Project begins. The group signs a ??10-year lease agreement on the factory building? and engages ??the most experienced team of Integral Film experts worldwide? (according to Impossible??s site) in order to develop a new film product that will work in these much loved devices.
2009/2010: If several expected challenges are overcome, new integral instant film is expected to hit shelves at the end of 2009 (just in time for the gift-giving season, I hope!). No word yet on how much it will cost.
Read the NYT feature and check out the Impossible Project site, complete with countdown (the diagram of the ??typical integral film pack?? was especially enlightening to me).
-- Sarah Miller
