Prosthesis Exhibition Opens

Ellen Garvens - Prosthesis

Exhibition Dates: January 14 - March 5, 2009
Artist: Ellen Garvens
Gallery Reception: Thursday, January 29, 5-7pm


Light Work is pleased to announce the opening of its exhibition, Prosthesis, featuring the work of Ellen Garvens. We invite you to schedule tours and gallery talks, attend our gallery reception, and visit any time to see the exhibition. In Prosthesis, Ellen Garvens' photographs and sculptures intersect and magnify each other as they reference the ever-present, formidable, and magnificent frailty of the human body. This exhibition unites photographs from Garvens' Ambivalence series with photo-based sculptures from her Constructions series.

Garvens began creating the images from the Ambivalence series, which documents the manufacture of prosthetics, at around the same time the war in Iraq started. The prosthetics depicted in these straightforward and elegant photographs serve as reminders of the consequence of conflict and the ephemeral nature of the humans who carry out that conflict. According to Mary Goodwin, assistant director at Light Work, "The Ambivalence photographs draw the contour of an exquisite interior armature, a system of support for the body that becomes visible, in this case, through the act of its replacement. Like a photograph, a prosthesis echoes the shape of what once was; its shape derives from an antecedent no longer present, signifying not only the passage of time but also the ephemeral nature and delicacy of the human form."

The photo-based sculptures from Garvens' body of work titled Constructions combine images of the body within delicate metal framings. In this series, hand tools, some from everyday life, such as scissors and pliers, and some, including probes and tooth extractors, more directly related to the maintenance of the body, integrate with images of hands and other overtly organic forms. Much as prosthetic devices contain the memory of the body, the hand-tools and metal framings of this series give form to the photographs within them. The Constructions bring the themes of the body and the revelation of its armature into three dimensions.

Garvens received a BS in Art from the University of Wisconsin, and both an MA and MFA from the University of New Mexico. Her work has been exhibited nationwide, including at such venues as Solomon Fine Art in Seattle, WA; Jayne H. Baum Gallery in New York, NY; Cleveland Center for Contemporary Art in Cleveland, OH; Fotofest International in Houston, TX; and Dolby Chadwick Gallery in San Francisco, CA, among others. She has received numerous grants, awards, and fellowships, including a Royalty Research Fund Grant and an Artist Trust Fellowship from the Washington State Arts Commission, among others. Her work is included in permanent collections at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, NY; Houston Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, TX; Allen Memorial Art Museum in Oberlin, OH; and Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT.

Also on view at this time is the Transmedia Photography Annual featuring the work of students in Syracuse University's College of Visual and Performing Arts. Gallery hours for these exhibitions are Sunday to Friday, 10am-6pm, and by appointment. To schedule an appointment, please call 315-443-1300. Both the exhibition and reception are free and open to the public. Paid parking is available in the Marion Parking Lot and Booth Garage.

Light Work invites groups and individuals to schedule tours and gallery talks of the exhibition and facility. Light Work is a non-profit, artist-run organization dedicated to the support of artists working in photography and electronic media. Light Work is a member of CMAC, the Coalition of Museum and Art Centers at Syracuse University.

[All work by Ellen Garvens, Top to Bottom: Ribcage, Knot, and Pregnant]

Light Work is pleased to announce the 35th Annual Light Work Grants in Photography competition. Light Work began offering grants to CNY artists in 1975 to encourage the production of new photographic work in the region.

Three $2,000 grants will be awarded to photographers, critics, or photo-historians that reside within an approximate 50-mile radius of Syracuse, NY. The recipients of these grants are invited to display their work in a special exhibition at the Light Work Gallery, and their work will also be reproduced in Light Work's award-winning publication, Contact Sheet.

In its thirty-five year history, the grant program has supported 110 artists, some multiple times. With the help of the regional grant, they were able to continue long term projects, purchase equipment, frame photographs for exhibitions, promote their work, collaborate with others, or otherwise continue their goals as artists.

Light Work is a non-profit, artist-run photography organization and imaging center located in Syracuse, NY. The organization is dedicated to helping artists who work in photography and related media, and supports artists from all over the world through its exhibitions, publications, and Artist-in-Residence program.

All applications must be postmarked or delivered to Light Work by March 31, 2008. All applicants must reside in of one of the following Central New York counties: Broome, Cayuga, Chemung, Chenango, Cortland, Herkimer, Jefferson, Lewis, Madison, Oneida, Onondaga, Oswego, Schuyler, Seneca, St. Lawrence, Tioga, or Tompkins.

Three judges, from outside the grant region, will review the applications. Their decisions are based solely on the strength of the candidate's portfolio and completed application. Individuals who received this award prior to 2005 are eligible to reapply. Full-time students are not eligible for this competition. Grantees will be notified of the results by May 15, 2009.

Application forms are available at Light Work or online at www.lightwork.org/grants.
To request an application or to obtain further information, please don't hesitate to contact Light Work at 315-443-1300, or write to:
Light Work, 316 Waverly Avenue, Syracuse, NY 13244

[Image: David Moore, 2007 Light Work Grant recipient]

Light Work Quick Links
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Light Work News
Online Store
Artist-in-Residence program
Permanent Collection
About Light Work

Contact Information
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Light Work News | 316 Waverly Avenue | Syracuse NY 13244
(315) 443-1300 phone | (315) 443-9516 fax | info@lightwork.org
www.lightwork.org