Current Exhibits in San Diego, California.

I am the editor of the blog [EV +/-] Exposure Compensation and I reside in San Diego, California. This my first entry here to introduce my role to report on the photo exhibits in San Diego, as a follow up from the kind invitation by  Dough.  At the moment there are some interesting shows in San Diego [see bellow] that I will try to visit and cover in the future. More soon.

Regards. Miguel.

Shadows and Light in the Niger Delta
Photographs by Ed Kashi
January 29 – March 3, 2009
Reception:  Thursday, February 12, 4:30 – 7:00 pm
Art Gallery, D101, and the Gallery Courtyard
Artist Lecture following reception at 7:00 pm in LRC 435
Gallery Talk:  Wednesday, February 11, 1:30 pm, Art Gallery

The Ordover Gallery at the San Diego Natural History Museum 
Buddhist Earth: Sacred Places / Sacred Work 
Tibet and Other Lands 
Imagery by Kenneth Parker
November 15, 2008 – March 8, 2009
San Diego Natural History Museum, 4th Floor
1788 El Prado, Balboa Park

The Ordover Gallery at Solana Beach
Icons of the 50’s and 60’s: Historic Black & White Photography of Leigh Wiener (1929 – 1993)
January 13 through April 12, 2009
410 S. Cedros, Solana Beach

The MoPA
Lou Stoumen: The Naked Truth: January 31, 2009- May 17, 2009
Lou Stoumen Award Winners: The Legacy: January 31, 2009- May 17, 2009
Edward Steichen: The Early Years: January 31, 2009 – May 17, 2009
Picturing the Process: Exploring the Art and Science of Photography: February 7, 2009 – July 25, 2009

Joseph Bellows Gallery
Beth Dow, In the garden: January 23 – March 7, 2009

Daido Moriyama: ‘Hokkaido’

Daido Moriyama’s exhibition ‘Hokkaido’ at the Rathole Gallery, Tokyo, is a visual delight. Seventy photographs based upon a three month stay on Japan’s northern most island do credit to one of Japan’s most famous shashinka (photographer). Moriyama’s work is difficult to access at times, however, ‘Hokkaido’ has been well thought out and laid out and introduces the casual viewer easily into his work. For the more experienced viewer you can spend time getting up close and personal with some rather large grain and wallow in the beauty of it all.

The photographs are presented in two rooms at the gallery. The first room, through which you enter the gallery, has the portraits (in orientation and not subject matter). The second, larger room, has the landscapes (again in orientation and not subject matter). Michael Kenna has spent a great deal of time in Hokkaido giving his version of the landscape. His is a much softer and gentler experience. Moriyama’s view is harsher and probably, for this reviewer at least, more representative of what Hokkaido is truly like. Moriyama’s trademark contrast adds rather than detracts. He mixes scenes of industrial output with bellowing smokestacks with gentler scenes of people practicing their trombones in the outside with equal aplomb. However, and given the time of these photographs exposure it is perhaps to be expected, there are plenty of sloping horizons. Plenty work a couple do not.

Though Moriyama decamped from Tokyo and spent three months on the ground in Hokkaido you do not get a sense of being part of the scenes presented. Like Moriyama, you do get the feeling of being the outsider looking in. This does leave you slightly detached from the photographs in a place sense but the technical aspects and unique scenes do hold your interest.

As mentioned earlier you do get the feeling that a lot of thought and planning has been taken with this exhibition. The split of portraits away from landscapes is a pleasing touch as are some of the groupings. The photographs themselves are minimally framed with little in the way of matting. The frames are touching each other giving the impression of a tapestry. The gallery is light and airy and on the cold day of viewing just warm enough to be comfortable. Though the main gallery room has a floor to ceiling window along one side allowing good light in to the room, artificial light is also used. This unfortunately reflects badly off some of the glass in front of the photographs – a minor quibble. The tapestry layout forces you to look at these photographs from a good distance, which given the ample room in the gallery you are able to do. Once you do this you could find yourself going in close and back out again with regularity.

Large grain, strong contrasts and plenty of thought make this exhibition well worth the effort to go along and see. A fine introduction to Daido Moriyama for those that have not seen much of his work. For those that have, a fascinating selection of previously unpublished work from the artist’s formative years.

Guy Yates

Japan Coverage

I have been in Asia since the end of 1997 – primarily based in Japan but I did have a couple of years in Singapore.Being the capital of Japan, Tokyo sees a good and broad selection of art exhibitions. Photographically, Tokyo is a hive of galleries. Most of them quite small and difficult to find. This does mean that if you make the effort to dig these out you do get to see the whole gamut of styles and presentations. Hopefully through my posts I can convey some of this and introduce you to some of the up-and-coming photographers and styles. However, my first review (up in a couple of days) will be of one of Japan’s more globally recognized photographers.

You can see my personal work on my ‘almost’ daily photoblog and my less frequently updated homepage.

Guy

Central Texas Coverage

I moved to Texas about 10 years ago. I was surprised to find that it isn’t a dusty world of tumbleweeds and cowboy boots. Austin is home to the world’s first photograph, in the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas. There is also quite a lot going on photographically in this area.

The Austin Center for Photography is just starting to find its feet and the Austin Museum of Art often has inspired photographic exhibits, certainly including the current display of Sebastiao Salgado’s series, Workers. I hope to cover shows in the Central Texas area, including Austin and San Antonio, with occasional trips to the other metro areas, such as Dallas and Houston. In the next couple of weeks I’m going to be doing a whirlwind trip to London and expect to take in a couple of galleries then, that I’ll review.

I have a photographic blog and also a slowly evolving website.

- Gordon

Bergamont Station – Santa Monica

Building A, Bergamont Station, Santa Monica, CA  photograph by Douglas Stockdale

Recently I was asked, if I had to just spend a short amount of time in LA and I wanted to see some photographic exhibits, where and what would I recommend?

At the moment, that would be easy, Bergamont Station, an eight acre art complex located in Santa Monica, LA’s West side and a relatively short drive from Los Angeles International Airport. With ample free parking in Santa Monica no less and it is even listed in Wikipedia.

It immediately reminded me of the M50 district in Shanghai, the conversion of a light industrial complex into a series of bungalows that has been subdivided into galleries, cafes and other artist resources. I do not have any experience with the Bergamont Cafe, so if anyone wants to chime in with any recommendations, please do.

At Bergamont Station, there are a wide variety of galleries, and photographically, they range from those almost exclusively dedicated to black & while gelatin silver prints to the really contemporary, including mixed media. Some of the galleries will exhibit photography intermittently, some exclusively. The Santa Monica Museum of Art  (SMMoA) is also located at the Station.

The nice thing is that if you have a day or less, all of the galleries are within easy walking distance from each other. And you have an opportunity to visit some non-photographic galleries as well, which I recommend.

So her follows a listing of galleries in Bergamont Station that have exhibited photography, in no specific order. I always recommend you check ahead, you may be able to include an exhibition opening or two with your visit.

Gallery Luisotti

Frank Pictures Gallery

Peter Fetterman Gallery

Sarah Lee Artworks

Craig Krull

Shoshana Wayne Gallery

Rose Gallery

Robert Berman Gallery

Sculpture Placement

Best regards, Douglas Stockdale

John Divola at Gallery Luisotti

Currently on exhibit through March 7, 2009 at Gallery Luisotti is a current photographic series by John Divola, titled Dark Star. This series is an evolution of his ongoing larger series of work at abandoned homes and facilities, at which he paints, then photographs his on-site installations. This new work is also exhibited with some of Divola’s vintage black & white photographs of his earliest work, Vandalism.

This series of photographs could start with a overview photograph of an installation piece (bottom image), then Divola progressivly photographs closer and closer to his painting, which in turn, continues to increase the abstraction. He paints with a dense black, creating soft edges, but leaves a high glossy surface, which picks up the ambient light to illuminate the surface textures of the found surfaces that he favors. The photographed black circle then has a full spectrum of colors and highlights.

As the most abstract of his painting/photographs, they take on a minimalist appearance, such as the color field paintings of Mark Rothko, and the lines, spaces and shapes of Robert Motherwell and those of that school in the 1960’s. Where Divola’s painting/photographs differ is with his use of a combination of soft and hard edges, and the inclusion of reality on the edges of his photographs.

As the least abstract of his recent work, it  seems to be documenting his painting installation, such as you might of Christo’s Running Fence. For it is obvious, the paintings are insito, they are not going anywhere, but left to the elements in the abandon buildings. Thus the remaining artifact of the installation artwork is the documentary photographs and the act of photographing them. In this case, Divola, takes it a step towards an interpretative document to add another creative dimension to his paintings.

But then, what do we make of these dark circles and the surrounding color field? A dark flat circle does seem ominous, with no features, unless you look closely. There are traces of highlights and a slight tonality, perhaps pointing to Hope in the dismal morass of life. Those paintings which are photographed with more ambient light have also a wider spectrum of blacks and white highlights, so perhaps things, such as the issues of life, are not all just black and white, positive and negative, yin and yang. There is something in between, even in the potential ugliness of an abandon building, perhaps soon to be totally condemned and obviated.

These are painting/photographs that are very interesting to observe and reflect on (yes, the pun is intended) and worthy of a second longer and contemplative look. Recommended.

 

 

 

 Best regards, Douglas Stockdale

Malone Mills at Frank Pictures

Photography copyright of Malone Mills, courtesy Frank Pictures

The photographic exhibit of Malone Mills, Orbgasm, is currently ongoing at Frank Pictures, Santa Monica, is both a visual and sensory experience. The exhibition ends on Febuary 10th, 2009, with the opening reception last Saturday.

This is her second exhibition at Frank Pictures and a continuation of her fasination with the presence of Orbs, whose presence  she can detect with camera and film. Which is not an issue that I need to address.

The current exhibit does reflect a more cohesive series of photographs with a delightful use of color, which seems to attempt to explode off the edges of the photograhs. This effect is made even stronger  as the photographs themselves are floating on the walls of the gallery.

Your eyes want to investigate the contents, but you are visually pulled in every direction by the massess of lights and colors that are intertwined within the photographs. Is is far easier to allow your self to take the whole experience in rather than try to make sense of the parts. For Mills, the answer seems to be easy, to look &  see and there they are, and aren’t they just wonderful.

For the rest of us, it is much like experiencing an abstract expresionist paintings, to enjoy the plastic elements of the line, color, mass and visual movement contained within these photographs made in the dark. 

Some of the photographs do contain some comprehensiable content, such as the photograph, above. And trying to understand the Orbs, you are struck by the presence of the Starbucks on the wall of the building and perhaps another clue, the inclusion of the Camera Obscura. As Mills states, you decide.

 Best regards, Douglas Stockdale

 

London Coverage

I’ve been living in London for almost 3 years now having found myself here (and as a photographer) via quite a long and circuitous route…

Stints at university in Edinburgh and Bournemouth (studying Fine Art and Photography respectively) were broken up by almost two years travelling around the world. Since finishing my photographic studies in 2006, I’ve been based in London and earning a crust as a photographer/photographers assistant/guest lecturer.

I’ve got a photography website here and a blog here.

In the coming year, look out for reviews of London shows; I often go to opening nights of exhibitions at the Host Gallery, the Printspace, The Michael Hoppen Gallery and other independent spaces. I’ll also keep an eye on upcoming shows at some of the bigger, public galleries: The Barbican, The National Portrait Gallery, The Hayward, The ICA and the Tate Modern.

While London may not have the volume of photography shows seen in New York, the quality is high and amongst the “big name” shows, there are some real gems from lesser known and emerging photographers.

So – I look forward to reporting back from the UK – but even more, I’m excited to have the incentive to get out there and see more photography!

Ben

San Francisco coverage

In the past year I have become serious about photography as a career, but when I tried to keep abreast of local events, the number of mailing lists, news publications and web alerts I needed to read in order to stay informed surprised, and frankly, dismayed me. So I’m delighted to contribute what I can to a blog geared specifically toward photography exhibitions. You can also read my blog, Shooting Wide Open, for regular doses of contemporary art and documentary photography from all over.

As the San Francisco correspondent, it will be my pleasure to cover the Haines, Stephen Wirtz and other exclusively photographic galleries in the dense cluster of art spaces at 49 Geary, as well as special exhibitions in Bay Area museums and small scale shows hosted at community photographic facilities like SF Camerawork and Rayko Photo Center, which recently hosted Curse of the Black Gold, photojournalist Ed Kashi’s work on oil in the Niger delta.

In the next week, look for my reviews of roadside photos at the San Jose Museum of Art (Road Trip, though Jan. 25th) and Michael Wolf’s dramatic high rises at the Robert Koch Gallery (Transparent City, through Jan. 31st).

Later this month, I have been looking forward to the openings of two amazing shows – the landscapes of Richard Misrach at the Fraenkel Gallery (Jan. 8 – Feb. 28) and black and whites by Kiichi Asano at the Scott Nichols Gallery (Jan. 15 – Feb. 28).

You’ll be hearing from me soon. Until then, happy new year!

Posted by Jin Zhu

Yiorgos Kordakis at M+B Gallery

Global Summer, photograph copyright of Yiorgos Kordakis, courtesy of M+B Gallery

The exibition Global Summer by Yiorgos Kordakis will be opening December 13, 2008 at the M+B Gallery, located in LA, CA. The opening reception will be from 7pm- 9pm on December 13th. The exhibition extends through January 29, 2009.

Kordakis photographs have an almost surrealistic feeling to them and and dream like quality.  There is a sense of mystery and oddness about them, with his narrow focus and exposure capturing a small slice of reality. The photographs are not like your traditional beach photographs.

“I am not a reporter,” he says. “I don’t want to make a statement or claim that I was present. I prefer to be a distant observer of our natural tendency as human beings to be attracted by the water.”

 

 

 

 

Best regards, Douglas Stockdale