SPEECH

Posted on 2017-04-17

Speech is an ensemble of photographs by Diane Arbus, Richard Avedon, Hal Fischer, Robert Frank, Lee Friedlander, Jim Goldberg, David Goldblatt, Hai Bo, Gregory Halpern, Peter Hujar, Josef Koudelka, Danny Lyon, Duane Michals, Irvin Penn, Lucas Samaras, Larry Sultan, JoAnn Verburg, Garry Winogrand, Zhang Huan, and others. To speak freely is a creative act. Without our bodies or instruments, we have only our voices to express invention. The protection of free speech, written into the DNA of our country, enshrines perhaps the most basic and cherished creative outlet we have. In celebration of a long, proud history of making our voices heard, Speech explores the photographic tradition of documenting our oratory and expressive moments. Just as a whisper may resonate with equal or greater power as words spoken through a megaphone, a photograph taken candidly in passing may capture a higher truth or poetry than a magazine cover. All represent a right too often forgotten and too seldom exercised. Not lost on each of the artists shown here, photographs have a unique ability to convey, both quickly and with replicability, ideas and beauty that might otherwise get lost. Speech reminds us of the beauty of one of civilization’s best ideas.

Opposite – JoAnn Verburg, Terrorized, 2006

Exhibition runs through to April 29th, 2017

Pace/MacGill Gallery
32 East 57th St
New York
NY 10022

www.pacemacgill.com

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GREER MULDOWNEY – URBAN TURBINES

Posted on 2017-04-17

For the past several years I have been photographing the emergence of wind turbines throughout the New England landscape. The resulting series of photographs, titled Urban Turbines, depict cliché images of the built landscape and architecture of this region with these new, abrupt structures. From public schools integrating turbines into their campuses and their science curriculum to coal-burning energy plants erecting a structure from the most visible point on their property, turbines have become a complex new symbol of a progressive future.

The New England region of the United States is historically progressive, energy-poor and densely populated along its coast. The region has recently experienced a building boom in green energy, specifically turbines placed very close to inhabited areas. The policies that surround this boom are fortified in tax breaks and federal and state grant incentives. This is bolstering public works to upgrade infrastructure and create educational facilities in green energy, but also encouraging developers to capitalize on the financial opportunities. These incentives are taking priority over land use concerns and urban planning. Ultimately, the turbine industry that has popped up in New England is not entirely based on the traditional model of sustainable wind farms found in the West, but instead individual and small clusters of turbines cropping up where opportunity of market, as well as good PR occur – opportunities that may pay off more in tax incentives to developers than useable energy in the grid. Urban Turbines illustrates how these structures have encroached on the landscape of coastal New England.

Exhibition runs through to May 20th, 2017

The Half King Photography Series
505 West 23rd Street
New York
NY 10011

www.halfkingphoto.com

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ZACK SECKLER – SOUTH AFRICA

Posted on 2017-04-10

In his latest mission to capture stunning aerial views of land, sea, and wildlife, Zack Seckler took to the skies above South Africa for seven days from dawn until dusk in a tiny, single-propeller, light-sport aircraft. His abstract, minimalist photographs offer an extraordinary perspective of some of the planet’s most remote locations. Seckler used the maneuverability of the small plane to his greatest advantage, instructing the pilot to fly precisely to locations which caught his interest.

Describing the experience and the photographs produced: “I liken it to being over a giant canvas and being able to create brushstrokes. . .” He continues: “From elevations between 50 and 500 feet, the landscape hovers on the line between things looking very real and recognizable and being more abstract. That’s what really draws me in—the line between reality and abstraction.” Deliberately avoiding the horizon and often shooting from the plane window at an angle perpendicular to the ground adds to the disorientation of the curious, two-dimensional images. Other completed bodies of work include aerial landscapes of Iceland and Botswana.

Opposite – Wild Coast Wave, 2016

Exhibition runs through to May 26th, 2017

ClampArt521
531 West 25th Street
New York
NY 10001

clampart.com

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CECIL BEATON

Posted on 2017-04-10

The 70 photographs have been held in an American private collection for over 60 years and this April they will finally be brought back to London, where this unique group will go on display for the first time.

Originally purchased in the early 1950s, the works form a complete survey of Beaton’s early photography ranging from portraits of the “Bright Young People” in the 1920s, innovative fashion pictures for Vogue, portraits from Hollywood in the 1930s, to his lesser-known wartime documentary photographs commissioned by the British Ministry of Information.

Portraits included in the exhibition include figures such as Queen Elizabeth (subsequently the Queen Mother), The Duke and Duchess of Windsor on their wedding day, Salvador Dali, Vivien Leigh, Augustus John, Charles de Gaulle, Orson Welles, H G Wells and Aldous Huxley.

Opposite – Lady Milbanke, 1929

Exhibition runs through to May 20th, 2017

Beetles+Huxley
3-5 Swallow Street
London
W1B 4DE

www.beetlesandhuxley.com

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BARRY UNDERWOOD – THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND

Posted on 2017-04-03

Inspired by the famous folk tune, “This Land is Your Land” written by Woody Guthrie, Barry Underwood’s series affirms his standing as an environmentalist photographer and ecological advocate. Written in 1940, the song’s original lyrics introduced a critical perspective to the idealistic view of America as Underwood’s images challenge the common bucolic perception of the landscape.

Underwood marks the landscape with LED lights, luminescent substances and other physical processes, utilizing lustrous color and working with shapes, lines and light to point to the immutable traces that human interventions leave behind. By staging a visual disruption in an otherwise familiar setting, Underwood seeks to reveal the unseen potential instilled in the landscape. As a result of the interplay of the natural and unnatural, he creates strikingly beautiful, otherworldly visuals enhancing awareness of environmental issues.

Opposite – Blue Drill, 2015

Exhibition runs through to April 15th, 2017

Sous Les Etoiles Gallery
560 Broadway Suite 603
New York
NY 10012

www.souslesetoilesgallery.net

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