THE RING O'BRODGAR: Andrew Ilachinski

Photograph (c) Andrew Ilachinski /All Rights Reserved

Photograph (c) Andrew Ilachinski /All Rights Reserved

Photograph (c) Andrew Ilachinski /All Rights Reserved

"I felt myself drift in and out of the time of the "here and now" into a more ancient, and ineffable, time; a time that lurks somewhere in the shadows, and is a part of the very fabric of the megaliths themselves. Mindful observers are seduced with glimpses of a parallel world that coexists with ours, but whose essence transcends the "normal" dimensions perceivable via our physical senses alone. The Ring o'Brodgar is a physical symbol of timelessness and transcendence. It is a place for serious contemplation and meditation. A boundary between all that has been forgotten and the just as mysterious unknown future history that is yet to be written."

ANDREW ILACHINSKI WEBSITE

The Ring o' Brodgar originally contained 60 stones, of which 27 still stand today. The stones range in height from 7' to 15', set within a circular ditch up to 10' deep, 30' wide and 1,200' in circumference carved out of the solid sandstone bedrock. Estimates place its origin between 2500 and 2000 BC.

WORLDS WITHIN WORLDS
Exhibit to April 16, 2010
The American Center for Physics, College Park, MD

RICHARD GERE: Pilgrim

Pilgrim, Zanskar, 1983 • Fahey/Klein Gallery
Photograph (c) Richard Gere /All Rights Reserved

Mongolian Warrior, Mongolia 1995 • Fahey/Klein Gallery
Photograph (c) Richard Gere /All Rights Reserved

The alchemy of photography is mysterious and unstable...it's component parts of grain shift like smoke in the wind and somehow emerge as an image with only an illusion of beingness – Richard Gere

FAHEY/KLEIN GALLERY
An Interview With Richard Gere

Richard Gere at Erdene Zuu, Karakorum, Mongolia, 1995
Photograph (c) Elizabeth Paul Avedon

The Gere Foundation

MAX PRICE: Tattoo Galleries Emerging Artists

Photograph by Chris Polinski, Tattoo Gallery Exhibition

Photograph by Carrie Crow, Tattoo Gallery Exhibition

Photograph by Max Price, Tattoo Gallery Exhibition

Max Price with his Black and White Photography

Group Exhibition at Empire State Tattoo Gallery

Photographer MAX PRICE exhibited his black and white prints along with other emerging artists in a group exhibition at Empire State Studio's Tattoo Gallery in Oceanside. Max, a self-taught photographer originally from Sag Harbor, NY, now living in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, has been steadily showing his photographs in small venues. We look forward to posting more of his work in the future. This exhibit will be up until the end of January. Thanks to Matthew Avedon for this post.

RUSSELL SIMMONS AND BROTHERS: Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation

Nicky Enright, It's Gon' Rain, 2008

Noelle Lorraine Williams, Hijacked, 2006

Hong Seon Jang, Zip City, 2009

Art allows people a way to dream their way out of their struggle.

–Russell Simmons

RUSH PHILANTHROPIC ARTS FOUNDATION was founded in 1995 by brothers Russell, Danny and Joseph "Rev.Run" Simmons. The Foundation is dedicated to providing disadvantaged urban youth with significant arts exposure, access and education as well as providing exhibition opportunities to early and mid-career artists and artists of color. "As art has been such a pivotal aspect in my life, I want the youth of today to realize that art can transform lives and bring people together by unleashing the imagination," said Russell Simmons, chairman and co-founder of Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation and entertainment mogul. Russell Simmons Global Grind

A core program of the Foundation is the Rush Arts Gallery which supports the diverse creative practices of the emerging artistic community and promotes experimental ventures in visual production, curatorial work, performance and community involvement. Rush Arts Gallery (RAG) current multimedia group exhibition Borderline includes artists Carla Aspenberg, Andrew Demirjian, Nicky Enright, Hong Seon Jang, Yeni Mao and Noelle Lorraine Williams.

Borderline Dec 24-Jan 16, 2010
Rush Arts Gallery 526 West 26 St NYC
Russell Simmons Global Grind

MELANIE McWHORTER: Nuclear Family Reaction

fuzzy jacket, 2007
Photograph (c) Melanie McWhorter /All Rights Reserved

stressful morning, 2007
Photograph (c) Melanie McWhorter /All Rights Reserved

new nails
Photograph (c) Melanie McWhorter /All Rights Reserved

ty, 2008
Photograph (c) Melanie McWhorter /All Rights Reserved

MELANIE McWHORTER was "born and raised in a small mill town in upstate South Carolina. She received her BA in History from Lander University, a modest liberal arts collage in Greenwood, SC. After graduation, she found a job as a school photographer and later a brief stint as a dude ranch photographer in Jackson, WY. She is a regular contributor to the online magazines Fraction and photo-eye and maintains her own photo-related blog. She manages photo-eye’s Book Division, curates exhibitions of local photographers in photo-eye Bookstore and organizes the monthly First Wednesday Salon." Her photography was recently exhibited in Through the Lens: Creating Santa Fe. Melanie is co-founder of Flash Flood, a new media collective that investigates and promotes the intersection of photography and culture in the state of New Mexico. I love Melanie's series "Nuclear Family Reaction" and spoke with her about this work recently:

You know I'm a big fan of your Nuclear Family Reaction work. Can you tell me about these images?

MM: Most of the photos that I include in the portfolio are of my children, although I have a few of my husband Tom and some self-portraits. This project stemmed from an earlier project with my daughter in 35 mm and in black and white. These were more closely cropped and more of body studies than environmental portraiture. I started shooting color and medium format at some point and decided this was the way to go. It was an evolution in my aesthetic and my relationship with my family and internal struggles. It, like many of my projects, was a catharsis for me--a selfish projection of an internal struggle that I force others to absorb. It was also convenient. Like someone once told me, photograph what you know (or what is around you).

Who has been an influence on your work or you consider a mentor?

MM: My first photography book was of Imogen Cunningham’s work with Unmade Bed on the cover. I had the Masters of Photography calendar on the wall while shooting dude ranch photography in Jackson, WY. When I moved to Santa Fe, I was hired by Rixon Reed at photo-eye. This was both awe-inspiring and depressing at the same time. I thought, “if there are so many good photographers (and bad ones) out there producing work and photography books, how do I have a chance?” I got over that and I now think that there is room for almost all of us.

That said, I really love Dutch and Swedish photography. There is some great work coming out of these regions, especially in books. I really like Erik van der Weijde, Lars Tunbjork, Anna Clarén, Gerry Johansson, and many more and books from publishers like GUN Gallery, Journal and Episode. My portfolio Dealing with 35 is really influenced by Swedish portraiture. I would say that Stephen Gill is always stuck in my head when shooting projects like Highway 14 or the Railyard. I love to capture upturned ground and the transformation of the land. My husband can tell you how much I love to shoot mounds of dirt.

Two women that I would like to note who have inspired me are Debbie Fleming Caffery and Mary Virginia Swanson. Debbie’s images, I think, influenced some of the earlier black and whites from Nuclear Family Reaction. Both of these women are strong, full of personality and seem to give of themselves beyond what is required or necessary.

Would you tell me about FLASH FLOOD and how it originated? How long has it been in the works?

MM: I had an idea. I am an idea person, it is the actualization that is usually difficult for me. This idea was to start a cooperative that promoted the intersection of photography and New Mexico. I mentioned this idea to Jonathan Blaustein. Elizabeth, as you know about Jonathan, he gets excited easily and can be a real motivator. He followed up on this idea and it was born. Originally we had conceived of 7 members, but we invited David Ondrik, Jennifer Schlesinger, and Jesse Chehak on board and it just felt right. New Mexico is important photographically, both historically and contemporarily. We want to embrace both while incorporating other fields, like anthropology, history, economics and culture. I think it will be important to all in New Mexico as well as internationally.

We welcome submissions for Flash Flood from individuals who live in the state and those who do not, but who have photographed here. It is so exciting and we have some fantastic stories and features scheduled for the upcoming monthly issues and aspire to have a printed version in the next year. Anyone can email us at contact@flash-flood.org to join our email list or to submit work or find us on Facebook or Twitter, like everyone else.

You were a Reviewer at the recent Photolucida CRITICAL MASS Top 50 photography review. What was the overall tone of the work you reviewed?

MM: There are a lot of very good photographers out there working, but it is so difficult to be outstanding. The work that I found to be the most original or inspiring for me was Erica Allen, Tony Chirinos, Susan Worsham, Jenn Ackerman, Simone Lueck, Phillip Toledano, and Alejandro Cartagena.

Was there any work you were already familiar with through your reviews for the Photographers Showcase?

MM: I do not have a list, but I would guess about one-third of the work I had seen at some point whether it was photo-eye or other sources. Many of these photographers run the circuit of reviews. They are willing to invest the time and money in their work. Like Sally Mann and Charlie Rose agreed on his show, it is tenacity and not talent that make you successful.

You were also a Reviewer in Italy's Fotofestival di Roma. What did you do there?

MM: I was officially the lead juror for the photography book competition and I delivered a lecture on Photo Book publishing. I also got to see Nan Goldin, Rinko Kawauchi and Juliana Beasley speak while there.

What are you working on now?

MM: My most recent project is Dealing with 35, mind you, I am now almost 37 so it has been a while. It is simply another project trying to work out some changes in my life. Coming to middle age and how wonderful and scary that is.

My photographs from Nuclear Family Reaction will be in a group exhibition with Kay Denton, Juanita Hong, Debbie Miracolo, and Andrea Land titled The Sweet Escape Jan 15 – Mar 13, 2010 at the Morean Arts Center, St. Petersburg, FL.

Melanie McWhorter WEBSITE

Melanie Photo BLOG

PAOLO VENTURA: Winter Stories

Photograph (c) Paolo Ventura /All Rights Reserved

Photograph (c) Paolo Ventura /All Rights Reserved

Photograph (c) Paolo Ventura /All Rights Reserved

Photograph (c) Paolo Ventura /All Rights Reserved

PAOLO VENTURA was born in Milan in 1968. After studying at the Academy of Fine Arts of Brera (Milan) in the early 90s, he embarked on a successful 10 year career as a fashion photographer, before deciding to radically change his life by moving to New York to devote himself to his personal creations.

"In Winter Stories, Ventura takes us into a world of winter light, poetic and nostalgic. An old circus performer remembers his life. His memories are not important events, rather featureless moments, buried and forgotten. Ventura carries us through an evocative world that is both naive, childish, and extremely serious, as if the memories of a man at the end of his life were replayed, directed by child, displaying his toys on the floor of his room."

Winter Stories
GALERIE CAMERA OBSCURA, Paris
Exhibition Dec 5, 2009 to Jan 30, 2010

Paolo Ventura WEBSITE

STEPHEN MALLON: Brace For Impact: The Aftermath of Flight 1549

Photograph (c) Stephen Mallon /All Rights Reserved

Photograph (c) Stephen Mallon /All Rights Reserved

Photograph (c) Stephen Mallon /All Rights Reserved

Photograph (c) Stephen Mallon /All Rights Reserved

Photograph (c) Stephen Mallon /All Rights Reserved

On Jan. 15, 2009, a few Canadian geese with bad timing became snarge, a steely pilot became a hero, and the world became fascinated with images of a jet splashing into the Hudson River and then floating calmly as passengers crowded its wings. But until now, few people have seen the equally surprising pictures of the second half of this story: when a salvage team used the biggest floating crane on the East Coast to pluck the ill-fated Airbus A320 from the frigid water.

–Matthew Shechmeister, Wired Magazine

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STEPHEN MALLON is the current President of New York's American Society of Media Photographers. Mallon is also the photographer called to document the work of Weeks Marine, the crane company hired for the salvage of US Airways Flight 1549. That was the flight piloted by "Sully" Sullenberger III, who successfully carried out the plane's emergency ditching onto the Hudson River last January, saving all 155 people aboard.

Mallon's recent exhibition of large scale photographs, Brace for Impact, the Salvage of Flight 1549, were shown at Williamsburg Brooklyn's Front Room Gallery. "Mallon's photos present us with the aftermath of this disaster and remind us how it was averted despite nearly unbeatable odds through the mastery and bravery of the pilot and crew...As the fuselage and engine of the aircraft were later brought up intact by a gigantic crane and a team of divers in heated wetsuits, Stephen Mallon captured the moment standing on the deck of the crane-barge. In Mallon's uncanny photographs the plane sometimes appears to be a metaphorical wounded animal, like a whale lifted completely out of the water. It is damaged, beat up and missing one of its engines, but it nevertheless survives." –Front Room Gallery

Brace for Impact, the Salvage of Flight 1549 Dec 3 - 6: VERGE artfair Miami

A Must-See: the entire Flight 1549 Gallery

A Must-Have: Exhibition Catalog

OLAF OTTO BECKER: Above Zero

ILULISSAT ICEFJORD 5, 07/2003
Photograph (c) Olaf Otto Becker /All Rights Reserved

RIVER 1, POSITION 13, 07/2007
Photograph (c) Olaf Otto Becker /All Rights Reserved

INLANDEIS 5, 08/2008
Photograph (c) Olaf Otto Becker /All Rights Reserved

OLAF OTTO BECKER
ABOVE ZERO • NOV 10- JAN 9
AMADOR GALLERY
41 E 57 St, NYC

A Conversation With Olaf Otto Becker

GALLERY UPDATES: Just For Fun

Publisher Jack Woody (hat) and Josh Binder (plaid)
arrived from New Mexico for Luke Smalley's CLAMPART exhibition

Twin Palms publisher Jack Woody arrived from New Mexico with Josh Binder, for his posthumous exhibition and book launch of photographs by their late friend LUKE SMALLEY at Chelsea's CLAMPART Gallery. It was sooo crowded I wasn't able to take a snapshot of the gracious Brian Clamp. CLAMPART 521 West 25 Street NYC

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Radius Books publisher Darius Himes in front of
Photographs by Alex Webb & Rebecca Norris Webb

RICO MARESCA GALLERY

Photographer Rebecca Norris Webb (left), and Darius Himes,
with Photographer Gay Block

Photographer Alex Webb (left) with guest

Radius Books publishers Darius Himes and David Chickey's book launch for Photographers Alex Webb & Rebecca Norris Webb was a great success. Look for photographs of their beautifully designed Limited Edition of VIOLET ISLE: A PORTRAIT OF CUBA on Radius Books website next week. RICO MARESCA GALLERY 529 WEST 20TH ST NYC

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Check out the Opening party for Deborah Turbeville's exhibition Silent Film posted below

PHOTOGRAPHY AUCTION: Paul Kopeikin

#3513, 2003 / Photograph (c) Todd Hido /All Rights Reserved

Kristie, 2007 / Photograph (c) Siri Kaur /All Rights Reserved

Embrace, 2006 / Photograph (c) Matthew Welch /All Rights Reserved

Downward, 2004
Photograph (c) Jill Greenberg /All Rights Reserved

I nominate Gallery owner Paul Kopeikin "Father of The Year". He's assembled an amazing group of AUCTION photographs to benefit his daughter's Charter School! Several Nick Brandt's, Jill Greenberg's, Mark Citret's, Tom Baril's, Chris Jordan, a scattering of Todd Hido, Kate Breaky, Hiroshi Watanabe and many more great images too numerous to list so look at the GALLERY.

View the Nov 13th Invite details: Kopeikin Gallery

LUKE SMALLEY: CLAMPART Nov 5th

1st Anniversary, 2008

Photograph (c) Estate of Luke Smalley /All Rights Reserved

Visiting Day, 2008

Photograph (c) Estate of Luke Smalley /All Rights Reserved

from Sunday Drive / Twin Palms Publishers
Photograph (c) Estate of Luke Smalley /All Rights Reserved

Untitled (Arm Wrestle), 2008
Photograph (c) Estate of Luke Smalley /All Rights Reserved

SUNDAY DRIVE
Photographs by Luke Smalley
TWIN PALM PUBLISHERS

SUNDAY DRIVE, Jack Woody's posthumous book of photographs by the late LUKE SMALLEY, continues Smalley's journey for truth inside the lives of small town youth. "This poignant photo novella tells the story of consequence when innocence takes a wrong turn. As in his past volumes, humor pervades: the boys' sobering plight as inmates in the state prison juxtaposed at Smalley's bemusement of the girls' preoccupation of what to wear." Classically Smalley.

CLAMPART

EXHIBITION AND BOOK LAUNCH. NOV 5. 6-8 PM
521 West 25 Street NYC

WEBB + WEBB: Radius Book Launch Nov 5th

Havana (Rooster), 2008 / Radius Books
Photograph (c) Rebecca Norris Webb /All Rights Reserved

Santi Spiritus (Boys and Dusk), 1993 / Radius Books
Photograph (c) Alex Webb /All Rights Reserved

Havana (Colorful Wing), 2008 / Radius Books
Photograph (c) Rebecca Norris Webb /All Rights Reserved

VIOLET ISLE: A PORTRAIT OF CUBA
Photographs by Alex Webb & Rebecca Norris Webb
With an Essay by Pico Iyer
RADIUS BOOKS

BOOK LAUNCH PARTY AND RECEPTION. NOV 5. 6-8 PM
GALLERY TALK AND BOOK SIGNING. NOV 7. 4-6 PM
RICO MARESCA GALLERY
529 WEST 20TH ST NYC

Alex Webb & Rebecca Norris Webb
WEBSITE

DUMBO GALLERY WALK: Gallery List

Sara & Justin, 2009 / Randall Scott Gallery
Photograph (c) Nadine Rovner /All Rights Reserved
www.nadinerover.com

Dreamboats Collective at Umbrage Gallery
Photograph (c) Adam Golfer /All Rights Reserved
www.adamgolfer.com

DUMBO 1st THURSDAY GALLERY WALK
Thursday Nov 5th Participating Galleries:

A.I.R. GALLERY 111 Front St.
AMOS ENO GALLERY 11 Front St.
BOSE PACIA 163 Plymouth St.
BROOKLYN ART PROJECT 5 Front St.
BROOKLYN ARTS COUNCIL 111 Front St.
CAPTION GALLERY 55 Washington St.
CENTRAL BOOKING 111 Front St.
DUMBO ARTS CENTER 30 Washington St.
FARMANI GALLERY 111 Front St.
GIACOBETTI-PAUL GALLERY 111Front St.
HENRY GREGG GALLERY 111 Front St.
KLOMPCHING GALLERY 111 Front St.
KRIS GRAVES PROJECTS 111 Front St.
MAGASIN TOTALE 10 Jay St.
POWERHOUSE ARENA 37 Main St.
RANDALL SCOTT GALLERY 111 Front St.
SMACK MELLON 92 Plymouth St.
SPRING 126A Front St.
UMBRAGE GALLERY 111 Front St.
VII PHOTO 28 Jay St.
WATERMILL BROOKLYN GALLERY 111 Front St.

VIEW FROM DUMBO
DUMBO 411

ERIC FISCHL: An Interview

Fred, 1998. Oil On Linen. 72" x 68"
(Portrait of Fischl's friend novelist/art critic Frederick Tuten)
Painting (c) Eric Fischl /All Rights Reserved

Joan and John, 2002. Oil On Linen. 70" x 75"
(Portrait of writer's Joan Didion and the late John Dunne)
Painting (c) Eric Fischl /All Rights Reserved

Untitled (Brice In Pink Shirt), 2006. Oil On Linen. 50" x 60"
Painting (c) Eric Fischl /All Rights Reserved

ERIC FISCHL, born in New York City, grew up in the suburbs of Long Island and Phoenix, Arizona. He received a BFA from the California Institute for the Arts in 1972. His work has been the subject of numerous important exhibitions including: the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston; the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; the Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee; and the Museum of Contemparary Art, Chicago. Fischl lives and works in New York City and Sag Harbor with artist April Gornik. Read his full bio here

An Interview With Eric Fischl by Donald Kuspit

Front Cover right: Photograph by Richard Avedon. Back Cover left: Painting "Portrait of the Artist As An Old Man" by Eric Fischl

The following is an excert from An Interview With Eric Fischl by Donald Kuspit, Elizabeth Avedon Editions / Vintage Contemporary Artists / Random House (Buy a vintage copy here):

DK: I see you want to live dangerously: you've critically introduced your contemporaries. Let's pursue your gambit. Within the context of the understanding you've set up, who are the artists you find interesting? Why do they make a difference to us?

EF: In the mid-seventies, when sincerity and/or meaning became important again, after pop art and minimalism and conceptual art, some artists found it either in direct expression of meaningfulness, or they found meaningfulness in the direct expression of meaninglessness, and that's how the lines were drawn. When I came to New York in the late seventies, the greatest risk was sincerity. The German artists–Keifer, Baselitz, Polke, Lupertz, Immendorff, Penck–became noteworthy because they were working with a historical event that was guaranteed to be meaningful. It was the worst thing that had happened, they were the descendants of its perpetrators, and they were trying to figure out who they were in relation to it. The whole struggle for meaning since the 1970's has been a struggle for identity. It's pervasive, but most of us can't identify what happened except in personal terms. By what happened, I mean what went wrong, what gave us this sense of collapse or disappointment. The Germans were hurt not just personally but culturally as well. It's very hard for us in America to complain or to feel that our complaint is justified, because, after all, what are we complaining about? That objects we surround ourselves with are disappointing? I mean, it's a joke, we're more embarrassed about having believed in the superficial qualities of America, and it's hard to see yourself in that light. But because the Germans were so devastated culturally, you can identify with their struggle for renewal. Baselitz made a formal decision to turn his images upside down. Before that he had been making traditional realist pictures, often genre and figure scenes. So he decided to turn history upside down. He distanced himself from history, almost as a kind of penitence, a kind of self-ostracism.

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Fischl's latest paintings are of the Corrida Goyesca held each September in the Andalusian town of Ronda. The toreros, or bullfighters, dress in 18th century attire as in the era of the Spanish painter Goya, who designed their distinctive costume. The bull fight has captivated artists from Goya to Hemingway and Picasso.

Corrida in Ronda / ERIC FISCHL / EXHIBITION
Mary Boone Gallery • Oct 21-Dec 2009 • 541 West 24 Street, NYC