Changing States of Memory: Dinh Q. Lê Lecture at MoMA

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untitled image by dinh q le
On Thursday, April 2, 2009, at 6:30 pm, Dinh Q. Lê will be speaking at MoMA in the “Conversations with Contemporary Artists” series.

Dinh’s work has been exhibited worldwide in solo and group exhibitions and biennials including the 2008 Singapore Biennale and the 2006 Gwangju Biennial in South Korea. He is the co-founder of the Vietnam Art Foundation (VNFA), a Los Angeles–based organization that supports Vietnamese artists and promotes artistic exchange between cultural workers from Vietnam and around the world.

Dinh participated in Light Work’s artist-in-residence program in 2000.

The Museum of Modern Art
11 West 53 Street
New York, NY 10019
(212) 708-9400

Hot off the printer: Community Darkrooms

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Community Darkrooms has been busily printing exhibition prints for Admas Habteslasie. The images are now featured in our exhibition Limbo that opened March 16.

It’s a rarely mentioned secret that Light Work/Community Darkrooms regularly prints entire exhibitions under the watchful eye of our digital lab manager John Mannion. These images end up in world-class museums and collections, like Susan Opton’s prints and banners (shown here being sewn together at Community Darkrooms) that will be exhibited at Casino Luxembourg – Forum d’art contemporain in Great Expectations: Contemporary Photography Looks at Today’s Bitter Years from March 28-June 14, 2009.

When we print the work for our own exhibitions, we only have to move the prints across the hall for framing, yet more often than not these prints travel across the country and the world.

Admas Habteslasie: Limbo

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Admas Habteslasie—Limbo
March 16–June 12, 2009
Spoken-Word Poetry Performance and Gallery Reception: April 9, 2009, 5:30–8:00pm

Light Work is pleased to announce the exhibition Limbo, featuring the work of Admas Habteslasie. The images from this series depict a graceful yet unusually honest and insightful snapshot of Eritrea, an East African country suspended in an unsettled state between war and peace.

Eritrea warred with neighboring Ethiopia for thirty years before gaining independence in 1991. Then, in 1998, they entered another war with Ethiopia that lasted two years. Today the war-torn country is yet again at the brink of war with their neighbor. Years of unrest have left the people of Eritrea waiting for life to improve. According to Habteslasie, “Transitory states become permanent; empty villas, destroyed old buildings and unfinished new buildings dot the landscape, monuments to the suspension of history. The collision between Eritrea’s proud historical narrative and the bleak ennui of the present has produced an obsessive focus on the future. Reconstruction and infrastructure development are energetically driven forward whilst the economy remains essentially shut off from the outside world.” The images in the Limboexhibition capture both destruction and construction, both the unhealed wounds of war and a fierce optimism and hope for a brighter future.

Habteslasie was born in Kuwait and his parents are Eritrean. He received his MA from the London College of Communication in photojournalism and documentary photography. His photographic projects look at the ideas of identity and history, and reevaluation of our relationship with historical process. His work has been exhibited at venues such as Flowers East and 198 Gallery in London. His work has also been published inSource Magazine.

Habteslasie participated in Light Work’s Artist-in-Residence program in June 2008 through a collaboration with London-based charity Autograph ABP. Each year Light Work welcomes one Artist-in-Residence selected through Autograph ABP, which works internationally to educate the public about photography, with a particular emphasis on issues of cultural identity and human rights. Habteslasie was the tenth artist to participate in the Artist-in-Residence program through the collaboration. For more information about Autograph ABP visit www.autograph-abp.co.uk.

Light Work will feature an evening with the artist on April 9 from 5:30 to 8:00pm. The evening will begin with a spoken-word poetry performance by Verbal Blend, followed by a question and answer session with Habteslasie, and a gallery reception. Verbal Blend is a spoken-word poetry program sponsored by Syracuse University’s Office of Multicultural Affairs, designed to enhance participants’ confidence in writing and performing original poems. The program comprises of a five-week workshop series on poetry forms and formats, journal entry, and peer-reviews. Participants get the opportunity to showcase their work at public venues such as open mic nights. For this event, a group of SU students, high school students, and community members have prepared spoken-word performances in response to Habteslasie’s images.

Also on view at this time is As it Happens: Artists-in-Residence at Light Work. This exhibition, curated by Syracuse University Museum Studies graduate student Josh Brilliant, features work by participants in Light Work’s Artist-in-Residence program. The exhibition celebrates Light Work’s commitment to supporting emerging and under-recognized artists by featuring work that has been donated to the Light Work Collection by participants in the program. Artists included in this exhibition include Kelli Connell, Cristina Fraire, Tony Gleaton, Suzanne Mejean, Peggy Nolan, Christine Osinski, and Amy Stein.

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.

For more information about any of these exhibitions, please contact Jessica Heckman at Light Work, 315-443-1300 or jhheckma@syr.edu.

**Digital press images and image information from both exhibitions are available upon request.

Artist Showcase: Images by Jane Walker

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Artist Showcase: Images by Jane Walker
March 16–April 16, 2009
Spoken-Word Poetry Performance and Gallery Reception: April 9, 2009, 5:30–8:00pm

Light Work is pleased to announce the exhibition Artist Showcase: Images by Jane Walker on view in the Community Darkrooms Gallery. The images in this exhibition capture portraits of people with their animals. Walker grew up in Corning and has lived in the Finger Lakes region of New York most of her life. Her deep connection with the people and the land inform her environmental portraits of people and their pets.

According to Walker, there are three elements central to each of the images in this exhibition—the place, the person, and the animal. She states, “The most enjoyable aspect of this portrait process has been the time spent with the people. I slow down, think about who they are and see them. All my human subjects have been open and cooperative, patiently waiting as I attempt to get the image I want. Animals are not quite as accommodating, but they do help the person relax by sharing the spotlight. When I see my subject in a print, a persona I had not seen before will often emerge. It is that essence of the person I try to capture.”

Jane Walker lives in Freeville, NY with her husband, two daughters, five dogs, six canaries, toad, flock of chickens, herd of goats, a cat and, during the summer, turkeys, pigs, and a vegetable garden, all of which contribute to her passion for photographing people with their animals.

Light Work will feature an evening with the artists on April 9 from 5:30 to 8:00pm. The evening will begin with a spoken-word poetry performance by Verbal Blend, followed by a question and answer session with Admas Habteslasie, whose Limbo series is on view in Light Work’s main gallery. This event will be followed by a gallery reception. Verbal Blend is a spoken-word poetry program sponsored by Syracuse University’s Office of Multicultural Affairs, designed to enhance participants’ confidence in writing and performing original poems. For this event, a group of SU students, high school students, and community members have prepared spoken-word performances in response to Habteslasie’s images.

Also on view at this time is As it Happens: Artists-in-Residence at Light Work. This exhibition, curated by Syracuse University Museum Studies graduate student Josh Brilliant, features work by participants in Light Work’s Artist-in-Residence program. The exhibition celebrates Light Work’s commitment to supporting emerging and under-recognized artists by featuring work that has been donated to the Light Work Collection by participants in the program. Artists included in this exhibition include Kelli Connell, Cristina Fraire, Tony Gleaton, Suzanne Mejean, Peggy Nolan, Christine Osinski, and Amy Stein.

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.

For more information about any of these exhibitions, please contact Jessica Heckman at Light Work, 315-443-1300 or jhheckma@syr.edu.

**Digital press images and image information from both exhibitions are available upon request.

Sonya A. Lawyer returns to Syracuse

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Photographs by Sonya A. Lawyer will be featured in the exhibition Three Sisters: The Art of Robin Holder, Sonya A. Lawyer and Tamara Natalie Madden at the Community Folk Art Center (CFAC) in Syracuse. The exhibition includes paintings, collages, photographs, and prints that “explore issues of ethnicity, identity, history and culture.” Sonya completed a residency at Light Work in 2007, during which she worked on some of the series that will be featured at the CFAC exhibition. The exhibition runs from March 28 to May 2, 2009 and will open with the Swing into Spring Annual Fundraising Gala.

Community Folk Art Center
805 E. Genesee Street
Syracuse, NY 13210
(315) 443-2230

Pitch Blackness at Jack Shainman Gallery

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Pitch Blackness, featuring the work of Hank Willis Thomas, runs at Jack Shainman Gallery in New York City through March 14. In addition to large-scale sculpture and hand-painted, stenciled works on wood, the show contains images such as Day of Discovery, seen here. The print of Day of Discovery was made for the exhibition by our digital lab manager, John Mannion.

Hank was a Light Work Artist-in-Residence in October 2005. His work explores the historical as well as current implications of race in America. You can read more about Hank Willis Thomas and purchase a signed copy of the book Pitch Blackness in our online store.

Jack Shainman Gallery
513 West 20th Street
New York, NY 10011
(212) 645-1701

Blake Fitch at Clamp Art

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Blake Fitch photo of two adolescent girls
Former Light Work Artist in Residence (December 2006) and exhibiting artist (2008) Blake Fitch will open Expectations of Adolescence on March 19 at Clamp Art in New York City.

Expectations of Adolescence is a ten-year project documenting the lives of Fitch’s cousin and half-sister, as they’ve grown from adolescent girls into young women.

In Contact Sheet 146, Light Work Director Hannah Frieser said about Expectations of Adolescence:

While the photographs capture the intense friendship between the two girls, who are cousins, the images also suggest a high level of trust toward the photographer, who is Katie’s older sister. When the girls look up in the picture, they see someone very close to them, not the mechanics of the camera.

Clamp Art
521-531 West 25th Street
New York, NY 10001
(646) 230-0020

Light Work Revisited: Scott Conarroe

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2008 Artist-in-Residence Scott Conarroe has been working in the labs for the past week scanning and proofing images for two upcoming exhibitions in 2009. Dates have yet to be finalized (we’ll keep you posted on those), but we do know that By Rail will open at the Art Gallery of Windsor in Ontario this summer with a pared-down version of the show to open at Stephen Bulger Gallery in Toronto the same week.

By Rail explores the cultural and physical impression that the railroad creates in the landscape it inhabits. Above is the view Along Bow River, Southern Alberta, 2008, one of the images that Scott has been working on this week.

Xaviera Simmons in Derry with We the People

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Xaviera Simmons, who was a Light Work Artist-in-Residence in March 2008, will soon board a jet plane to head off to Derry. There she will attend the opening at Context Gallery of We the People, which features her work as well as images by fellow emerging artists Carolyn Monastra and Jose Ruiz.

Curator Gregory McCartney brought these three artists together to investigate the nuances of what it means to be an American as well as an American artist. About the exhibition, the third in a series, he explains, “We tend to only hear a monolithic pro-or-anti position in regard to the contemporary USA. This project allows for a more considered approach.”

The show opens on March 7th and runs through the 25th at Context Gallery.

Lucas Foglia moves "Way Off the Grid"

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Photographs by Lucas Foglia (AIR 2007) are featured in the article “Way Off the Grid” (Utne Reader, March/April 2009) with an article by Joseph Hart. Lucas has made waves with his photographs of communities that live away from the common comforts of urban life. These communities practice a sustainable lifestyle without the benefit of electricity. They grow their own food and build their own houses.  “I don’t want to make the lifestyle seem easy. But I do want to make it seem accessible.” Lucas is quoted in the article. “At exhibits, people respond with a real desire or nostalgia for wilderness.”

During his residency at Light Work, Lucas edited a number of the images that are featured in the article. Photographs from the series Re-Wilding are featured in the Light Work Annual (CS147) with an article by Ariel Shanberg. Additional images are available for viewing in the Light Work Collection.

PRC exhibition includes Light Work artists

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The exhibition Syntax at the Photographic Resource Center in Boston includes Light Work artists Matthew Swarts (LW AIR 2004), Patti Ambrogi (LW AIR 1979, 1991), and Meggan Gould (LW AIR 2009). The exhibition, which is scheduled to open March 27, examines the meaning and aesthetics of work by artists who have made the new possibilities of digital information a central theme in their work. The exhibition is described at length in the newest issue of PRC’s journal “In the Loupe” (vol. 33, no. 2). An image by Matthew Swarts is featured on the cover.

Swarts and Ambrogi participated in Light Work’s Artist-in-Residence program in previous years. Meggan Gould is scheduled to come to Syracuse in May 2009.

Syntax
March 27 – May 10, 2009

Photographic Resource Center at Boston University
832 Commonwealth Avenue
Boston, MA 02215