ATOMIC PLAYGROUND – CLAY LIPSKY & GREG MAC GREGOR
2018-09-03Clay Lipsky’s Atomic Overlook re-contextualizes a legacy of atomic bomb tests. In an attempt to keep a nuclear threat feeling contemporary and omnipresent, Lipsky introduces archival images of atomic explosions among casual scenes of vacationers. The surreal images speak to a voyeuristic culture where catastrophe is viewed as entertainment by increasingly desensitized masses. The iconic mushroom cloud in each image serves as metaphor for larger societal issues such as: global warming, nuclear power, industrialization, and pollution.
Greg Mac Gregor’s artwork incorporates official, declassified photographs from the Los Alamos National Laboratory Photographic Archives produced in the early 1950s at the Nevada Test Site during the atmospheric testing era. Mac Gregor skillfully colorizes these scenes using a style and palette similar to hand painted postcards popular at the time. The color is realistic but flat, injecting emotional content into the image, and resulting in a series of haunting, nostalgic, and dystopian tableaux.
Opposite – Mannequin with Tea Cups
Exhibition runs through to September 15th, 2018
Photo-eye Gallery
Bookstore/Project Space location
1300 Rufina Circle, Suite A3
Santa Fe
NM 87507