PIPO NGUYEN-DUY
East of Eden

January 17–March 9, 2006
Reception: Thursday, February 16, 6-8pm

Light Work's upcoming exhibition, East of Eden, features the work of Vietnamese photographer Pipo Nguyen-duy. The images of this exhibition illustrate Nguyen-duy's ability to capture the interaction between nature and humanity in stunning large format color photographs.

Nguyen-duy's photography stems from the traditional style of landscape painting. According to Jennie Hirsh, his "reliance on the natural world as a theatrical apparatus uncovers collisions between nature and culture, past and present, in carefully crystallized visions that inscribe themselves onto classical Western visions of the (un)natural world." His photographs hold references to mythology and history, and capture a thought-provoking vision of the American landscape and people.

His photographic style has been greatly influenced by the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. Before the attacks, his work was more focused on the "back-story" of the landscapes he photographed, while the work is now focused more on reality and what is happening in the present. According to Stephen Borys, his work "shows us a landscape developing, changing, retreating and advancing--a land of multiple hues and conditions."

Pipo Nguyen-duy is a photography professor at Oberlin College. His work has been exhibited nationwide. He has lectured at universities and museums throughout the United States, and he participated in Light Work's Artist-in-Residence program in 2004. He has also completed residencies in Vermont and France.

Major exhibitions at Light Work are published in the award winning publication Contact Sheet, available by subscription or individual order.

A number of photographs by Pipo Nguyen-duy can be found in Light Work's Permanent Collection.