Barry Anderson: Intermissions
August 14–October 21, 2009
Reception with Syracuse Symposium Lecture Event: Tuesday, September 29
(Reception 5–6pm, Lecture 6–8pm)
Light Work is pleased to announce Intermissions, an innovative art exhibition and related programs featuring the video and photographic art of Kansas City artist Barry Anderson. In a time of economic uncertainty and other societal stresses, this project provides viewers a welcomed artistic interruption to daily life. Anderson’s work, and the entire project, is designed to bring art into the community, and focuses on reminding people of the importance of remembering to stop and enjoy the moment. This exhibition will reach the community as a whole, including people who may not normally visit a gallery—they may come across the project by walking by a video projected onto a building or by driving past a billboard whose function is as a piece of art instead of an advertisement.
Anderson’s colorful video pieces include abstract patterns, nature scenes, and semi-nostalgic images from decade-old advertising. Each piece creates a good-natured, introspective scene that contrasts the busy settings where the work is shown. Anderson’s work addresses our cultural need to escape the onslaught of media input through isolated fantasy worlds. By slowing or re-interpreting space and time, he strives to identify the existence of introspective spaces within the everyday, proposing that we don’t need to retreat, but to re-envision and re-think what is already around us. Light Work’s project places video art and photographs at multiple venues across Syracuse, making it accessible to the general community and creating many opportunities for meaningful interaction with the work.
The level of collaboration that is provided through this exhibition and programming is an exciting step for the arts in Syracuse, and will bring a common thread through all involved spaces during the exhibition period. Embracing the concept of art intervention, the exhibition will expand beyond Light Work’s main gallery to many venues in town, thereby creating dozens of points for interaction both indoors and outdoors. This represents a departure from Light Work’s usual photography exhibitions and allows the entire community to become engaged with the work. The following partners will participate in this unique collaboration with the Light Work gallery spaces: the Everson Museum of Art, multiple venues at Syracuse University, SUArt Galleries, Syracuse Symposium, The Warehouse, the Urban Video Project, Orange TV Network, Community Folk Art Center, the Red House Arts Center, and more. Exhibition sites also include public spaces such as billboards and multiple video projections onto buildings in downtown Syracuse.
Find out what work will be shown where and when by consulting the fold-out maps available at all participating venues and an animated map on Light Work’s flat-panel screen. Maps are also available for download from Light Work’s website at www.lightwork.org. Visit Light Work’s blog or Facebook page for the latest event updates, photos, and other exhibition-related news. Planned events include a gallery reception and lecture by the artist as part of the Syracuse Symposium programming, workshops, tours, among other exciting programs. This project is receiving support from Syracuse Symposium, the Division of Student Affairs Co-Curricular Fee, and the Central New York Community Foundation.
Anderson’s work has been shown in solo and group exhibitions throughout the country, as well as in Thailand, South America, Cuba, and the UK. Recent exhibition venues include the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art in Overland Park, KS; Packer Schopf Gallery in Chicago, IL; Salina Art Center in Salina, KS; Gallery 210 at the University of Missouri in St. Louis; Hotcakes Gallery in Milwaukee; and the Centre for Contemporary Photography in Toronto. He participated in Light Work’s Artist-in-Residence Program in 2006. Anderson was born in Greenville, TX. He holds an MFA from Indiana University. Anderson’s installations, single-channel work, and still photography can be seen on his website.
This project is receiving support from Syracuse Symposium, the Division of Student Affairs Co-Curricular Fee, the Central New York Community Foundation, and Lamar Outdoor Advertising. Syracuse Symposium is a semester-long intellectual and artistic festival celebrating interdisciplinary thinking, imagining, and creating, presented by The College of Arts and Sciences to the entire Syracuse community. The Central New York Community Foundation connects the generosity of donors with community needs by making grants to organizations working to enhance the quality of life of those who live and work in Central New York.
Gallery hours at Light Work are Sunday to Tuesday, 10am–10pm; Wednesday to Friday, 10am–6pm; and by appointment. The gallery is closed during Syracuse University holidays. 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.
Roy DeCarava, 1919-2009
/in NewsRoy DeCarava died on October 27, 2009, at the age of 89. During his long career he photographed Billie Holiday, John Coltrane, and other jazz greats. He was, as well, a master at capturing beauty and grace in everyday life. The obituary in The New York Times said, “His books, like ‘The Sweet Flypaper of Life,’ a best-selling 1955 collaboration with Langston Hughes, and his most famous photographs were hugely influential, paving the way for younger photographers like Beuford Smith and Carrie Mae Weems.”
Deana Lawson: Corporeal
/in ExhibitionsLight Work is pleased to announce the exhibition Corporeal, featuring the work of Deana Lawson.
Lawson’s photographs examine how the body informs personal, political, and historical identities.
At first glance, Lawson’s images have a seemingly straightforward quality that dissolves into a complex set of questions about representation of the self, the construction of notions of beauty, and the nature of photographing, questions that will never have clear and finite answers, no matter how hard and long we look.
Added dynamic layers emerge from the photographs as many subjects appear nude. Sometimes this exposure seems to act as a passport direct to a hidden truth, but with other images, we must come to terms with an uncomfortable feeling of perhaps hitting an invisible barrier between what is and what is not meant to be seen. The beauty of Lawson’s images is that we can’t turn away, even in this uncertainty.
Lawson holds an MFA in Photography from Rhode Island School of Design and has received numerous awards, such as fellowships with the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) and The Photography Institute at Columbia University. Her work has received national recognition and is exhibited widely at venues like The Print Center in Philadelphia, PA, and the Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY.
Also on view at this time is the exhibition Artists at Work: Transmedia Photo Faculty. For many years Light Work has enjoyed a close affiliation with the Art Photography department in the College of Visual and Performing Arts. The faculty and students of Art Photo interact with Light Work’s roster of international artists through lectures, internships, and classroom visits. In addition, they utilize the Community Darkrooms facilities and take full advantage of the expertise of the Light Work staff. Together we share an energy, passion, and commitment to contemporary art and photography. The exhibition Artists At Work: Transmedia Photo Faculty highlights this relationship by featuring work by Doug Dubois, Laura Heyman, Yasser Aggour, John Mannion, and Aaron Hraba in the Light Work Hallway Gallery.
Light Work will host a gallery reception on Thursday, November 5, 2009 from 5–8pm to celebrate these exhibitions.
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.
Apply for a Light Work Residency
/in NewsResidents receive a $4,000 stipend, ample staff support, 24-hour access to our state-of-the-art facility, and a free apartment for the duration of the residency. We also offer a $500 printing credit in our digital lab to encourage experimentation. Yes, it’s that kind of place.
Applying for a residency is easy and straightforward. We have a rolling deadline, so please submit your application as soon as you feel you’re ready.
At right, Dean Kessmann, 2009 Light Work Artist-in-Residence.
Polaroid One-Step set for a comeback in 2010
/in NewsBut what’s a Polaroid camera without a bit of film to shake? The folks at The Impossible Project have been brought on to produce a limited edition of Polaroid branded instant films.
Both the camera and film have a projected release date of mid-2010, much to the delight of Polaroid shooters everywhere.
Irving Penn dies
/in NewsPhotographic legend Irving Penn died yesterday at the age of 92. He leaves behind a body of work that will be remembered for its elegant economy.
Whether he was photographing models wearing the newest line from Paris or artists such as Picasso and Duchamp or (more controversially) indigenous peoples, his approach was to keep the focus of attention on the subject by reducing the image to its bare essentials: subject, light, action. He applied a similar philosophy when photographing still lives, for which he is equally famous.
Click here to read an in-depth article about Penn’s art and life.
Grant winner begins installation
/in NewsIf you’re in the area, stop by and see the installation progress throughout the day. Brummund (at right) is assisted this morning by her husband Peter Brummund and by Light Work intern Gabi Lewton-Leopold. Below is a view of the installation from inside the building.
Pending sale of Polaroid Collection images
/in NewsIf you haven’t yet heard, 1,300 images from the famous Polaroid Collection, with a pre-sale value estimated at between 7 and 11 million, are slated for auction by Sotheby’s this spring. Although this story has been developing for a while now, many photographers who have work in the 16,000-piece collection remain unaware of the upcoming sale and the events that led up to it. Take a look here and here to read a couple good summaries of what’s going on and how the sale came about.
Although a Minnesota judge has approved the sale, artists who have work in the collection may have some recourse, as explained on A.D. Coleman’s blog, Photocritic International. Coleman posts helpful information for photographers who may wish to establish standing in the case.
It’s safe to assume that the artists who gave or loaned work to the collection never thought the images would be put on the auction block to potentially compete with other work in the market. Beyond those who are personally impacted by the piecemeal sale of collection, the auction poses many important questions about the ownership and intellectual property rights of artists and the responsibilities, both legal and moral, of institutions to maintain collections and notify artists when the status of the collections changes.
Community Darkrooms reopens
/in Lab, NewsAlso in Community Darkrooms, our new Tech Heads are on duty Sunday through Thursday, from 1-6pm, to help you with your image-making. The Tech Heads can get you started with scanning, working in Photoshop, and using our Epson 4880 printers. They can also help you out in the black-and-white lab. Just come in during Tech Head hours and get the answers to the questions you need help on most.
Registration for Fall workshops is also open now. Visit our website to see our current offerings and to register.
Light Work and P.E.A.C.E. Inc.: Photography at the Little White House of Hope
/in ExhibitionsIn August 2009, artist Stephen Mahan worked with Light Work and P.E.A.C.E. Incorporated Westside Family Resource Center (WFRC), also known as the Little White House of Hope, to conduct a workshop for teens about photography, identity and community. When he arrived with 20 digital cameras, he found a unique and vibrant community center run by Mary Alice Smothers and her colleagues. The WFRC is located on Wyoming Street and offers a variety of services and programs to families that live in and around the Near Westside, including employment support, youth activities, advocacy and resource development and education life skills. Their mission is to help people in the community realize their potential for becoming self-sufficient.
Smothers and Mahan made a great team with their combined passion and belief in the strength of the human spirit, as well as their understanding of how creating images of community and identity can foster self esteem, and build awareness and pride in the southwest side’s unique and richly diverse community. At the end of the workshop, large-scale digital photographs were installed across the street from the Little White House of Hope on West Street by local business Media Finishings. The exhibition will be up indefinitely, and the hope is that it will continue to grow over time.
The partnership between Mahan and WFRC is also deeply in line with the goals and efforts of the Near Westside Initiative (NWSI), a nonprofit corporation housed at Syracuse University and partnering with the greater Near Westside community. The NWSI, owners of the Case Supply Warehouse, were thrilled to showcase the artwork as public art on the side of the building. “This project has been great on so many levels. It has educated youth, it has encouraged and fostered the arts, and it has beautified a widely visible building in Syracuse, bringing great attention to the Near Westside community, and the residents that live there” says Maarten Jacobs, director of the Near Westside Initiative.
Mahan is an artist, photographer, educator and community activist. He has worked with Light Work/Community Darkrooms on numerous occasions. His innovative curriculum was inspired by a national movement to promote literacy through the arts and is proving to be a great success in promoting communication skills and self esteem.
Light Work is a nonprofit, artist-run, photo and imaging center in Syracuse, N.Y. Our mission is to support emerging and under-recognized artists working in photo and photo-based media. We do this through exhibitions, publications and an internationally renowned Artist-in-Residence Program. We also seek to foster an appreciation and understanding of contemporary photography in Central New York through classes, workshops, lectures and community programming.
For more information contact, Mary Lee Hodgens, program manager, 315-443-5785.
Barry Anderson: Intermissions
/in ExhibitionsLight Work is pleased to announce Intermissions, an innovative art exhibition and related programs featuring the video and photographic art of Kansas City artist Barry Anderson. In a time of economic uncertainty and other societal stresses, this project provides viewers a welcomed artistic interruption to daily life. Anderson’s work, and the entire project, is designed to bring art into the community, and focuses on reminding people of the importance of remembering to stop and enjoy the moment. This exhibition will reach the community as a whole, including people who may not normally visit a gallery—they may come across the project by walking by a video projected onto a building or by driving past a billboard whose function is as a piece of art instead of an advertisement.
Anderson’s colorful video pieces include abstract patterns, nature scenes, and semi-nostalgic images from decade-old advertising. Each piece creates a good-natured, introspective scene that contrasts the busy settings where the work is shown. Anderson’s work addresses our cultural need to escape the onslaught of media input through isolated fantasy worlds. By slowing or re-interpreting space and time, he strives to identify the existence of introspective spaces within the everyday, proposing that we don’t need to retreat, but to re-envision and re-think what is already around us. Light Work’s project places video art and photographs at multiple venues across Syracuse, making it accessible to the general community and creating many opportunities for meaningful interaction with the work.
The level of collaboration that is provided through this exhibition and programming is an exciting step for the arts in Syracuse, and will bring a common thread through all involved spaces during the exhibition period. Embracing the concept of art intervention, the exhibition will expand beyond Light Work’s main gallery to many venues in town, thereby creating dozens of points for interaction both indoors and outdoors. This represents a departure from Light Work’s usual photography exhibitions and allows the entire community to become engaged with the work. The following partners will participate in this unique collaboration with the Light Work gallery spaces: the Everson Museum of Art, multiple venues at Syracuse University, SUArt Galleries, Syracuse Symposium, The Warehouse, the Urban Video Project, Orange TV Network, Community Folk Art Center, the Red House Arts Center, and more. Exhibition sites also include public spaces such as billboards and multiple video projections onto buildings in downtown Syracuse.
Find out what work will be shown where and when by consulting the fold-out maps available at all participating venues and an animated map on Light Work’s flat-panel screen. Maps are also available for download from Light Work’s website at www.lightwork.org. Visit Light Work’s blog or Facebook page for the latest event updates, photos, and other exhibition-related news. Planned events include a gallery reception and lecture by the artist as part of the Syracuse Symposium programming, workshops, tours, among other exciting programs. This project is receiving support from Syracuse Symposium, the Division of Student Affairs Co-Curricular Fee, and the Central New York Community Foundation.
Anderson’s work has been shown in solo and group exhibitions throughout the country, as well as in Thailand, South America, Cuba, and the UK. Recent exhibition venues include the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art in Overland Park, KS; Packer Schopf Gallery in Chicago, IL; Salina Art Center in Salina, KS; Gallery 210 at the University of Missouri in St. Louis; Hotcakes Gallery in Milwaukee; and the Centre for Contemporary Photography in Toronto. He participated in Light Work’s Artist-in-Residence Program in 2006. Anderson was born in Greenville, TX. He holds an MFA from Indiana University. Anderson’s installations, single-channel work, and still photography can be seen on his website.
This project is receiving support from Syracuse Symposium, the Division of Student Affairs Co-Curricular Fee, the Central New York Community Foundation, and Lamar Outdoor Advertising. Syracuse Symposium is a semester-long intellectual and artistic festival celebrating interdisciplinary thinking, imagining, and creating, presented by The College of Arts and Sciences to the entire Syracuse community. The Central New York Community Foundation connects the generosity of donors with community needs by making grants to organizations working to enhance the quality of life of those who live and work in Central New York.
Gallery hours at Light Work are Sunday to Tuesday, 10am–10pm; Wednesday to Friday, 10am–6pm; and by appointment. The gallery is closed during Syracuse University holidays. 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.
Chad States, interviewed and blogged
/in NewsLater the same day, Jezebel ran an item on the interview and States’s work that has generated over 13,000 hits so far and a lively discussion on the definitions of masculinity and femininity in the comments section.
Read both sites for some interesting perspectives and commentary on this intriguing and beautiful series.
Intermissions gets under way
/in NewsThe first of Anderson’s installations, including a screening of his video Pigeon at the Everson Museum of Art and three billboards in various locations around Syracuse, are up. The exhibition is already making its presence known, with a long front-page article in today’s CNY section of The Post-Standard. Also posted online today is videographer Ellen Blalock’s interview with Barry Anderson – you can watch the in-depth discussion with the artist on Syracuse.com. Finally, open at the Menschel Gallery in SU’s Schine Student Center is Suspension, an exhibition of Anderson’s moving and eloquent aerial photographs.
Click here to see a list of all the venues for Intermissions, and keep your eyes open for Anderson’s work as you drive around town.