LEE FRIEDLANDER – WESTERN LANDSCAPES

Posted on 2016-10-31

Lee Friedlander: Western Landscapes focuses on the photographs the artist made during a series of road trips through the 1990s and 2000s. Working with a large negative, a wide-angle lens, and photographing from unconventional vantage points, Friedlander’s square-format photographs draw the viewer into idiosyncratic qualities of the terrain while skewing expectations of beatific grandeur. Though Friedlander’s subjects include some of the west’s more dramatic landscapes, such as Yosemite, Death Valley, the Tetons, and Big Bend, his perspective is radically different from the idealized representations that have shaped the national conception of these oft-photographed treasures.

Friedlander’s black-and-white landscapes incorporate a panoply of natural forms: swooping mountain ridges, mirrored lakes, twisting trees, and tufted grasses. Even in daylight, Friedlander frequently employs flash to create densely layered compositions melding foreground and background.

Opposite – Sonoran Desert, Arizona, 1995

Exhibition runs through to November 19th, 2016

Fraenkel Gallery
49 Geary Street, 4th Floor
San Francisco
CA 94108

fraenkelgallery.com

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JOHN CHAKERES – THE GREY SERIES

Posted on 2016-10-31

Throughout his career Chakeres has been exploring new photographic techniques with the interest in breaking the traditional definitions of photography, and introducing imagery which explores the idea of formalism, the importance of process, and the beauty of found objects.

“I do not see myself as a traditional photographer, but as an image builder, trying to capture an essence” where found walls become the foundation he utilizes to highlight aesthetic qualities such as line, shape, form, color, surface, and light. His imagery seeks to emphasize the ability photography has to capture beauty in details, and celebrates the ways technology has influenced photography as an art form.

In hopes to extract his art from reliance on external contexts or meaning, Chakeres carries an interest in using his work to create an atmosphere and immerse the viewer in a zen-like experience. An experience that finds pleasure in the idea there is beauty is order, and everything a viewer needs to understand the work is contained within the image itself. The Grey Series is a continuation of this idea, and specifically is a detailed exploration of Chakeres’ interest in color in a collection of ten images which will be on display.

Opposite – Black Brick Wall, 2012

Exhibition runs through to November 26th, 2016

Catherine Couturier Gallery
2635 Colquitt Street
Houston
TX 77098

www.catherinecouturier.com

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GEOF KERN

Posted on 2016-10-31

Kern’s photographs are conceptual, often including surrealist references. Kern manipulated the medium (pre-photoshop) using multiple exposure, collage, photo sculpture and dioramas that soon catapulted his presence in the commercial photography world.

During this remarkable decade, his clients included important fashion houses and department stores: Bloomingdales, Selfridges in London, Takashimaya, Matsuda, Alexander Julian, and Neiman Marcus. Magazines he worked with included Esquire, Rolling Stone, Atlas, Discover, Eco Magazine, Spy (he was an editor one year), and Detour.

His work was highly sought after by some of the most acclaimed art directors of the era including John Jay, Fred Woodward, B.W. Honeycutt, D.J. Stout (Texas Monthly) and Rip Georges.

Opposite – Wall Street, 1996 for a story on anonymous practices of Wall Street for GQ Magazine

Exhibition runs through to November 12th, 2016

Photographs Do Not Bend Gallery
154 Glass St.
Ste. 104
Dallas
TX 75207

pdnbgallery.com

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