4.22.2012

Women Photographers with their Cameras

O'Keeffe with her Leica, Abiquiu, New Mexico, 1966
© Todd Webb Courtesy of Evans Gallery and
Estate of Todd & Lucille Webb, Portland, Maine

www.toddwebbphotographs.com

Dorothea Lange and the Zeiss Jewell Camera, 1937
Courtesy of the Scott Nichols Gallery
Copyright © Rondal Partridge
www.rondalpartridge.com

Dorothy Bohm at 18 years old, Manchester, 1942
Copyright
©Dorothy Bohm Archive
www.dorothybohm.com

“I get out my work and have a show for myself before I have it publicly. I make up my own mind about it - how good or bad or indifferent it is. After that the critics can write what they please. I have already settled it for myself so flattery and criticism go down the same drain and I am quite free.”
– Georgia O'Keefe


Women Photographers With Their Cameras
was entirely inspired by Alan Griffiths
Luminous Lint

4.19.2012

JAPAN | AFTER THE WATER RECEDED: Photographs by Magdalena Solé + Artist Portraits by Naoto Nakagawa

After the Water Receded: Images from Japan
Photograph (c) Magdalena
Solé

After the Water Receded: Images from Japan
Photograph (c) Magdalena Solé

After the Water Receded: Images from Japan
Photographs (c) Magdalena Solé

Hanging the show with
Gallery Director Sandra Kraskin and Photographer
Magdalena Solé

After the Water Receded: Images from Japan
"1,000 Portraits of Hope" by Naoto Nakagawa

JAPAN | AFTER THE WATER RECEDED
Photographs by Magdalena Solé and
Portraits by Naoto Nakagawa

Curators: Elizabeth Avedon and Sandra Kraskin

April 20 – May 18, 2012
Sidney Mishkin Gallery
135 East 22nd Street, New York
(646) 660-6652

"After the Water Receded documents and commemorates the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear meltdown which struck northern Japan March 11, 2011. Artist Naoto Nakagawa exhibits 1,000 Portraits of Hope; drawings of survivors, and Magdalena Solé exhibits color photographs taken after the disasters, some within the 12-mile radius around the nuclear power plant. Together, the work of these two artists forms a visual narrative that provides some of the untold stories of this disaster and the rebuilding of Fukushima prefecture."
+ + +

New Book by Magdalena So

New Delta Rising
(
University Press of Mississippi 2012)


4.18.2012

LOUISE BOURGEOIS: At Auction +Interview

Maman, by Artist Louise Bourgeois
Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, Spain

At Auction
Spider III, by Artist Louise Bourgeois
Christies Auction, New York, May 8, 2012
Expected $2-3 million

(Elizabeth Avedon Editions | Vintage Contemporary Artists)
Cover Photograph (c) Richard Avedon

The following excerpts are from AN INTERVIEW WITH LOUISE BOURGEOIS by American Art Critic Donald Kuspit (Elizabeth Avedon Editions|Vintage Contemporary Artists, Random House):

Donald Kuspit: You have spoken of (your art) as encompassing the whole history of art, but I wonder if you have any special consciousness of modern art. What do you think about modern art in general? How do you see yourself in the history of modern art?

Louise Bourgeois: I am not interested in art history, in the academies of styles, a succession of fads. Art is not about art. Art is about life, and that sums it up. This remark is made to the whole academy of artists who have attempted to derive the art of the late eighties, to try to relate it to the study of the history of art, which has nothing to do with art. It has to do with appropriation. It has to do with the attempt to prove that you can do better than the next one, and that a famous art history teacher is better than the common artist. If you are a historian, you have to have the dignity of a historian. You don't have to prove that you are better than the artist.

But I can say this. I studied in Paris in the thirties at a time when artists had the ateliers that were open to students. My favorite teachers among many were Fernand Léger, Othon Friesz, and Paul Colin. Michèle Leiris and André Breton were also part of my education. Also, I taught for a long time and was given many honorary doctorates. Flattering as it is, it has little to do with my ongoing self-expression. Also, I valued my friendships with Corbusier, Duchamp, and Miró, Arp, Brancusi and Franz Kline and Warhol. Today I value my friendships with Robert Mapplethorp and Gary Indiana.

DK: Which artists do you like?

LB: I like Francis Bacon best, because Francis Bacon has terrific problems, and he knows that he is not going to solve them, but he knows also that he can escape from day to day and stay alive, and he does that because his work gives him a kick. And also, Bacon is not self-indulgent. Some people will say, "What do you mean by that? He always paints the same picture." That's true–he always paints the same picture, because he is driven. But he is not self-indulgent. Never.
+ + +

LB: I think I know why the Museum of Modern Art did not buy my work. The truth is very difficult to speak of. There was a certain style of collecting at the Modern which had to do with...I think I should watch my words.

DK: Why? Don't watch your words. You have lived long enough to tell the truth.

LB: Well, it had to do with the trustees, with pleasing the trustees. Alfred Barr was not a trustee; he was an employee, like all the rest. The trustees had real buying power. Alfred Barr had special skills, but he was not part of the Board of Trustees. He was on the other side. The artists who succeeded in selling at the time–Calder, Mark Rothko, Ben Shahn, they were the three–pleased the trustees. You had to entertain the Board, and these Three Stooges knew how to do that, knew how to socially entertain these important people, these trustees. I did not mind that, as a woman, but I could not do it.

Women had to work like slaves in the art world, but a lot of men got to the top through their charm. And it hurt them. To be young and pretty didn't help a woman in the art world, because the social scene, and the buying scene, was in the hands of women–women who had money. They wanted to be entertained–they were lazy and sometimes stupid, and they wanted to be entertained by men of a certain age. So these charmers were what was called in the eighteenth century a pique-assiette in French, somebody who picks at your plate, who will come entertain for dinner, like a buffoon–it is a kind of profession that interests me very much. And they are picked from among artists because there is a certain prestige to being an artist, but from a professional point of view they are more entertainers than artists. They relate to the storyteller, which was a profession. The storytellers of the Middle Ages were men who went from place to place, telling their tales, and sometimes reached the top because of their acting and verbal abilities.

Because of the profession of my husband, I lived among these people. It was interesting. And because I was French and kind of discreet, they tolerated me–with my accent I was a little strange, I was not competition–and I was cute, I guess. They took me seriously on a certain level, but they refused to help me professionally. The trustees of the Museum of Modern Art were not interested in a young woman coming from Paris. They were not flattered by her attention. They were not interested in her three children. I was definitely not socially needed then. They wanted male artists, and they wanted male artists who did not say they were married. They wanted male artists who would come alone and be their charming guests. Rothko could be charming. It was a court. And the artist buffoons came to court to entertain, to charm. Now it has changed, now the younger men are in–older women and younger men.
+ + +

DK: Why do you think the Museum of Modern Art finally gave you a retrospective exhibition?


LB: It had to do with one person, that wonderful, wonderful woman, Deborah Wye. She worked very, very hard. She convinced them, she got all the information...she convinced them that I was important.

+ + +

In 1982, The Museum of Modern Art, NY, exhibited a retrospective exhibition organized by Deborah Wye. Bourgeois was 70 years old. In 2008, The Tate Modern Museum, London, organized and exhibited a major retrospective of Bourgeois’s work which traveled to the Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York. In 2009, the retrospective traveled to the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington DC.

AN INTERVIEW WITH LOUISE BOURGEOIS by American Art Critic Donald Kuspit (Elizabeth Avedon Editions|Vintage Contemporary Artists, Random House) Vintage copies available on Amazon

4.16.2012

SPOT MAGAZINE: Dornith Doherty Interview

Alcantara, Korengal Valley, Kunar Province, Afghanistan, 2008
Photograph:
Tim Hetherington

Houston Center of Photography
SPOT MAGAZINE, Spring 2012

An Interview with Dornith Doherty by Elizabeth Avedon

Doherty was recently Awarded 2012 Guggenheim Fellowship


+ + +

Tim Hetherington Photographs at
Yossi Milo Gallery
April 12 - May 19, 2012

4.12.2012

NUEVA LUZ: Ippie Award Nomination

5058A-19617 (Native Americans) Camp Home series
Photograph © Kevin J. Miyazaki

153C–19617 (Quilt), Camp Home series
Photograph © Kevin J. Miyazaki

Isabel resting on the way home after helping her grandfather gathering pasture (quelite) for their goats during drought time. Isabel and her Grandfather, Close to Earth series, 2007. Photograph © Elizabeth Moreno

Ranch house at the Kakiwi Valleys, home of four goat-keeper families. After a good rainy season they fill up with water offering good pasture, but at times they have gone up to six years without rain, pushing the rancheros to migrate to other areas of the sierra. Los Llanos de Kakiwi, Close to Earth series, 2010. Photograph © Elizabeth Moreno

Dinner for 3, Domestic Observations and Occurrences series, 2005
Photograph © Cecil McDonald, Jr.

Frances Before Dinner, Domestic Observations and Occurrences series, 2006
Photograph © Cecil McDonald, Jr.

Nueva Luz Photographic Journal

Nueva Luz is a unique tri-annual photographic journal, featuring work by contemporary fine art and documentary photographers of African, Asian, Latino, and Native American heritage. It was awarded two 2011 and 2009 Ippie Awards for Best Photographic Essay, and nominated for another in 2012. Nueva Luz includes beautifully reproduced portfolios by remarkable photographers, with essays by leading photography curators, critics and authors from around the world.

The above photographers are featured in the new issue:
Nueva Luz, Spring 2012 16#2

Purchase a 1-year subscription here
Purchase Single Issue here


DORNITH DOHERTY: Awarded John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship

Dornith Doherty and her View Camera, Svalbard
In 2010, Doherty traveled to the North Pole to photograph the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, also known as the Doomsday Vault

Pea
Photograph © Dornith Doherty/ All rights reserved


Houston Center of Photography
SPOT MAGAZINE, Spring 2012
Tim Hetherington Cover Photo

Read: An Interview with Dornith Doherty by Elizabeth Avedon

The importance of Doherty’s work is both timely and spiritual. In case of world disaster, seed conservation is of global importance to everyonefrom An Interview with Dornith Doherty, Spot Magazine

Houston Center of Photography | SPOT MAGAZINE, Spring 2012

Dornith Doherty has been awarded a 2012 John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship. The Foundation has awarded Fellowships to a diverse group of scholars, artists, and scientists in its eighty-eighth annual competition for the United States and Canada. Appointed on the basis of prior achievement and exceptional promise, the successful candidates were chosen from a group of almost 3,000 applicants...read more about the Guggenheim Award here

TIM HETHERINGTON: Yossi Milo Gallery

Untitled, Liberia, 2005
Photograph by Tim Hetherington (American and British, 1970 - 2011)

Yossi Milo at AIPAD
+ + +

Tim Hetherington Photographs
Liberia and Afghanistan

Yossi Milo Gallery

April 12 - May 19 2012

4.09.2012

IMAGE 12 | ASMP-NY | Photography Contest

First Prize, Image 06
Stranded: Peri, Route 64, Kentucky
Photograph (c) Amy Stein /All Rights Reserved

IMAGE 12
| ASMP-NY | PHOTO CONTEST
American Society of Media Photographers Competition
Open to Professional and Student Photographers residing in the U.S.
Submit one or more images created after January 1, 2011.
Entry Deadline: May 1, 2012

IMAGE 12 Judges
Elizabeth Avedon, Independent Curator and Correspondent, La Lettre
Holly Stuart Hughes, Editor, Photo District News and PDNonline
Jody Quon. Photography Director, New York Magazine
Marc Sobier, Global Creative Director, Y&R NY
Hosanna Marshall, Art Buyer/ Creative Producer, Sastchi & Saatchi

How to submit an image
View the previous years winning images

4.06.2012

ASHOK SINHA: Exacting Proportions

Cabo Polonio, Uruguay
Photograph © Ashok Sinha
(click images to enlarge)

Ft. Collins, USA
Photograph © Ashok Sinha

I met Ashok Sinha at the 2012 ASMP-NY Fine Art Portfolio Review. I was impressed with his entire body of work , as well as his humanitarian work as Co-Founder of the cARTwheel Initiative, which brings the power of art to children living in the aftermath of war and disaster, including their Hands-On Photography Workshops.

Ashok is a first generation immigrant from Kolkata, India, currently based in New York City. He is a self-taught photographer and has worked in more than thirty countries on various freelance assignments. He earned a Masters degree in Science from Columbia University and a MBA from New York University and spent a decade as an entrepreneur followed by a career in corporate America before moving in to photography. His work has appeared in National Geographic, Cosmopolitan Magazine, Financial Times, LIFE.com, etc... He has won awards from Photo District News, Lucie Foundation, Association of Photographers UK, World Photographic Arts, and the BBC. He has exhibited at the Mixed Greens Gallery (NYC), Umbrella Arts Gallery (NYC), Art for Change Gallery (NYC), Association of Photographers Gallery (London) and New Orleans Photo Alliance Gallery (New Orleans). His work is owned privately around the world and in the permanent collection at the Center for Fine Art Photography in Ft. Collins, Colorado. His commercial works are licensed worldwide by Getty Images.

Ashok Sinha Website
The cARTwheel Initiative
Bring Art to Children : Hands-On Photography Workshops

4.03.2012

SUZANNE PAUL: A Moment in Houston

Dick Wray Abstract Expressionist Artist
Photograph © Estate of Suzanne Paul

Edward Albee, 1999 Playwright
Photograph © Estate of Suzanne Paul

Angelbert Metoyer Contemporary Artist
Photograph © Estate of Suzanne Paul

A Moment in Houston / Photographs by Suzanne Paul
Installation photograph by Theresa Escobedo, Deborah Colton Gallery

Walter Hopps Director, Menil Collection
Photograph © Estate of Suzanne Paul

The late Walter Hopps [legendary Founding Director of the Menil Collection, Houston, Texas] stated, "Suzanne Paul should be recognized as one of the finest photographers to come out of Houston. Her essential medium is black and white photography, and her most important subject matter is portraiture. Not all photographers are skilled printers of their work. Paul is a superb printer achieving areas of deep black in line with her instinct for the chiaroscuro lighting of the subject. Having been the subject of one of Paul's portraits, I have experienced the directness and honesty of her work. She has caught an unidealized view of who I am."


There is a belief in many cultures that the camera is capable of stealing the human soul or spirit. Suzanne Paul's camera may not steal the soul, but it certainly captures it and the spirit within.Clint Willour, Collector and Director of the Galveston Arts Center

The late Suzanne deYoung Paul (b. 1945 - d. 2005), a pioneer female photographer in Houston, was best known for her intuitive portraits of the art world. Being the first female photographer to have a solo exhibition at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, and many other prestigious exhibitions including The Fort Worth Art Museum, Galveston Arts Center, private galleries and museums, Paul became known for her portraits of such well known artists as Julian Schnabel, Mel Chin, Andy Warhol and playwright Edward Albee. In addition she photographed Houston curators and patrons such as Walter Hopps, Anne Wilkes Tucker, Jim Harithas, Alison De Lima Greene, Alfred Glassell and Edward Mayo. Several of her photographs are in the Collection of the Museum of Fine Arts Houston.

FotoFest and the Deborah Colton Gallery present an exhibition of portraits by Suzanne Paul “A Moment in Houston” that include twelve gelatin silver prints. "Suzanne Paul left us with a compelling visual documentation of our City’s art history and in doing so, of humanity itself."– Deborah Colton

FotoFest 2012 Exhibitions
Deborah Colton Gallery, Houston


Suzanne Paul: A Moment in Houston
Focus on Russia I, Olga Tobreluts; Focus on Russia II, Oleg Dou
Jonas Mekas, Contemporary Photographers from China
and Jay Rusovich to April 28, 2012


Special thanks to