Full Frame

  "Cake Plate Red", Archival inkjet print, 26 x 38"

             Something spectacular is happening right now at the Schneider Gallery in River North! Currently on display until June 28, 2014 is the exhibition entitled Anonymous Women - Draped by photographer Patty Carroll. This body of work explores the relationship of the domestic space and individual identity. “The domestic interior of the home is a place of comfort but can also be camouflage for individual identity when decor becomes an obsession, idealization, or indication of position or status.”- Carroll. For more information please visit Schneider Gallery and Patty Carroll.

                                                                                    "Stripes",Archival inkjet print, 26 x 38"

                                                                                        "Kilim",Archival inkjet print,26 x 38"

By: Anthony Lotfi

                                                                      The Junk Collector (2014) Elizabeth Ernst 16½ x 19¼” 

       Currently on display the at Catherine Edelman Gallery is the exhibition entitled Mirror, Mirror by artist Elizabeth Ernst. The show features many unique one of a kind pieces of work. Each piece was sculpted, photographed, printed on canvas paper, and then painted on with acrylic. The backstory to this body of work references childhood and carries  imagination into adulthood. The show will close July 3, 2014. For more information please visit Edelman Gallery.

                                                                     75 Lathrop St apt 3E (2014) Elizabeth Ernst 11½ x 17¼"

                                                                     Gus In His Kitchen (2013) Elizabeth Ernst 13 x 19"

By: Anthony Lotfi

                                                                                         Adam Schreiber, Remains, 2012

     Looking for the unfamiliar? Interested in mysteries? Well then do not forget to check out the new and exciting exhibition entitled Phantoms in the Dirt, coming to the MOCP July 24-October 5, 2014."Searching for phantoms in the dirt, so to speak, their works reckon with the facts of matter, the nature of photographic imagery, and the forces (sometimes invisible) that leave their mark on our surroundings." -MOCP

                                                                               Matthew Brandt, Grays Lake, ID 7, 2013

This exhibition, curated by Karsten Lund, features sixteen different artists including:

Jeremy Bolen Matthew Brandt Shannon Ebner Assaf Evron Anya Gallaccio Jay Heikes Joachim Koester Harold Mendez Richard Mosse Eileen Mueller Arthur Ou Alison Rossiter Adam Schreiber Daniel Shea Greg Stimac Shane Ward

For more information please visit:http://www.mocp.org/exhibitions/2014/07/phantoms-in-the-dirt.php

By:Anthony Lotfi

Tierney Gearon, Untitled, C Print from The Mother Project

Just in time to celebrate Mother's Day, the Museum of Contemporary Photography (MoCP), located at Columbia College Chicago’s 600 S. Michigan building, houses the exhibition Home Truths: Photography and Motherhood. The exhibition features nine different photographers whose works reflect their notions of motherhood in various ways. These works challenge and address the identifications associated with mothers, and create remarkable conversation pieces that a wide range of viewers can relate to. According to the complete exhibition essay for this show, “what all of the artists in Home Truths …have in common is an exploration of the complex and demanding experience of motherhood and of the transitions that occur to a woman’s identity when she is becoming or being a mother” (2). The exhibition seeks to provide visitors with a look into the intimate lives of women who relate to motherhood in one way or another. The exhibition runs through all three levels of the MoCP and fills the space with vibrant, color-filled photos that walk visitors through the stories told through within each collection.

Janine Antoni, Inhabit, 2009, digital C-print, 116 1/2 X 72 inches, MoCP installation 2014

The largest single image in this installation is an eye-catching piece created by Janine Antoni from her series, Inhabit. The image is located on the main floor and in the entry room of the museum on the back wall. This image cannot go unnoticed, as it measures in at a massive 116 1/2 X 72 inches. The image depicts Antoni herself suspended in the middle of a child’s bedroom with white ropes extending from her body to various parts of the bedroom. Possibly the most intriguing aspect of this image is the doll house Antoni wears around her waist, as if it were a skirt. She holds the house open as if she is inviting audiences to take a look into her world. She completely puts herself on display and allows us to see her as a sort of spectacle. The image is vibrant, colorful and so large that Antoni appears to be a giant. The rest of Antoni’s collection features multiple cropped images of this larger one and gives a detailed look into her life in a way. The image was created by Antoni suspending herself in this manner while a spider created a web in the kitchen/ dining room of the dollhouse. This image speaks a lot to the multiple rolls a woman takes on when entering motherhood, as well as the expectations and drawn out routines that she can often get stuck in. There is a removal that occurs when preforming motherly duties, and this piece speaks to that in the ways in which the image was crafted by Antoni suspending herself for hours, as well as the outcome of the final piece and the expressed emotions that emanate from it.

All of the pieces included in Home Truths give audiences insight into the demanding and complicated roles mothers undertake. The pieces also reflect the intense relationships mothers, soon to be mothers, and anticipating mothers have to their bodies and children. From Elina Brotherus’ collection titled The Annonciation incredibly heart-wrenching journey of attempts and failures of pregnancy through in vitro fertilization, to Katie Murray’s Gazelle piece which features a video documentation of her struggle to get rid of the ‘baby weight’ while also having the obligations of being a mother distract from her exercise practices. This exhibition translates the various journeys these women have gone through with their relations to motherhood.

From Elina Brotherus’ The Annonciation

Screen capture from Katie Murray's, Gazelle

Home Truths: Photography and Motherhood will be up and running at the MoCP until July 13, 2014. The MoCP is free and open to the public, with a suggested $5 donation upon entry. For more information on this show and the featured artists, please visit the MoCP’s website here.

                                                As previously featured in What’s the Haps, the exhibition Home Truths is now up at the Museum of Contemporary Photography. Curated by Susan Bright, this exhibition features nine different artists and presents a look into their sentimental views and long-held stereotypes of motherhood. Collectively, the show addresses issues such as gender roles, domesticity, the body and the identity of individuals within the family unit. The work feature tends to be more autobiographical in focus and sits within the documentary genre. The MoCP is the perfect space to house such a bold and powerful series.

     All of the artists in Home Truths share a common theme in an exploration of the complex and demanding experiences of motherhood and the transitions that occur to a woman’s identity when she is becoming or being a mother. There is a personal and relative connection that each viewer has to this exhibition. Each of us has grown up with a mother or mother-like figure. These featured projects allow the viewers to step into a pair of shoes that aren’t so different from our own, a connection with our mother.

    One artist, Tierney Gearon, The Mother Project is an autobiographical series that documents the relationship with her mentally declining mother as well as her own young children. This generational documentation stands out among the other artists at the MoCP. It is an eloquent and idiosyncratic portrayal of her attempts to connect with her mother, which at times can be very challenging. Gearon’s images illustrate the relationship between her and her mother, allowing her to come to terms with her own troubled childhood, test out maternal boundaries, and understand her changing identity as a mother of four children.

    As physically and mentally straining as Gearon’s story is, it is Elina Brotherus that presents another very thought-provoking and powerful story. Brotherus’ Annonciation series exposes the tragedy within her own self. The work documents, methodically and precisely, her emotionally, physically and mentally shattering efforts to become pregnant with the aid of IVF (in vitro fertilization) treatment. The work is presented on a white shelf at eye-level, which stretches across an entire wall. This presentation takes the work out of a museum and places it in the familiar setting of home. Ironically to echo the mantle pieces where picture of children are traditionally propped. Her story represents a journey that shows that the state of being a ‘mother’ does not necessarily begin with conception or birth, but is something more complicated with roots deep within one’s intentions.

     The artists that are represented at the MoCP each bring a unique and at sometimes subjective look onto the representation and place of the mother figure. Each raising questions about identity and the display of photography in this highly saturated, image-based world, which we live in today. I would highly recommend visiting the MoCP while this exhibit is up. It has the ability to move, but also to question and disrupt assumptions about power, gender, domesticity and the body without being judgmental. Home Truths will be on display until July 13th, 2014. For more information please visit the MoCP website here.

The Lover (2013) Robert and Shana ParkeHarrison 35 x 35"

Previously featured in our blog’s segments What’s the Haps?, Robert and Shana ParkeHarrison’s photo exhibition, Gautier’s Dream, proved to be quite the spectacle at the Catherine Edelman Gallery. The gallery space in which the exhibition was held in features an interesting layout that allows the works to speak to one another. Located in the center of the gallery space, is a section of walls that adds dimension to the space and gives a more interesting look to the pieces of work themselves. Instead of just placing the striking images in an open space of four walls with pictures hanging, this exhibition makes visitors walk through the gallery and have more of an interactive experience with the space.

  A Sound of Thunder (2013) Robert and Shana ParkeHarrison 35 x 35"

For this exhibition, the ParkeHarrison duo created works that are visually striking and carefully crafted. However, instead of sticking to their usual full-color photos, they decided to make a collection of black and white pictures. The photos were originally taken in color and later decided to be printed in black and white, which leaves onlookers guessing what vibrant colors are hidden underneath. The pieces give off a dreamy and ethereal feel due to the wash treatment they have given to each of their photos as well as the content of the images. The choice to not print these images in color also adds to the dream-like affect they give off, and makes one feel as if thy are taking a step into the mind of someone else. Each piece features some form of the human body taken over by nature in one way or another. For instance, a piece titled The Lover shows a man sitting in a studio-like environment posing for a picture. The man is literally covered by flowers in this headshot and speaks to some sort of element that nature is taking over. In another image titled A Sound of Thunder a man appears to be falling out of a chair and being completely taken over by gravity, while a swarm of butterflies are fluttering away from the scene. Once again, we see that the image of man overtaken by the forces of nature without any control over the situation.

  Robert and Shana ParkeHarrison' Gautier's Dream exhibition at Edelman Gallery (2014)

Each of these images are set up in a theatric-like environment and give off the feeling that there is a show being performed just for us as an audience. As mentioned previously, this also adds to the feeling of watching someone’s dream experience. All of the scenes are intricately crafted with props made by Robert himself and give an almost steam-punk vibe to the pictures. This exhibition ran from March 7 – April 26, 2014 at the Catherine Edelman Gallery, but the images are viewable online via the ParkeHarrison website as well as on the Edelman gallery’s website.

                                                                                   (Above) Josef Koudelka, photo: OvGuide 

       For all of you black and white fans out there in the world, if you don't know already there is something amazing coming up! The Art Institute Chicago has a few tricks up their sleeves when it comes to upcoming photography exhibits. Opening June 7, 2014 (June5-6 preview for members) is the first U.S. retrospect, since 1988, of the French photographer Josef Koudelka. The exhibit is entitled Josef Koudelka: Nationality Doubtful and is truly a sight for sore eyes. From subjects of war to landscapes, this unique exhibit captures Koudelka's passion for photographing. The exhibit will include pieces from Koudelka's famous bodies of works entitled Invasion and Gypsies. Also included in the exhibit are early experimental, theatre photographs, and photography books. There is something for the whole crew to enjoy! Can't make it that weekend? Well don't fret, you have until September 14, 2014 to get on down to the art institute for some French photo fun! For more information about the exhibit please visit The Art Institute of Chicago.

                                    "Czech-born French artist Josef Koudelka belongs in the firmament of classic photographers working today." -A.I.C 

                    (Above) Josef Koudelka. (Student on tank, eyes crossed out), from the series Invasion, August 21/27, 1968.

                                               (Above) Josef Koudelka. Romania, from the series Gypsies, 1968, printed 1980s. 

                                                       (Above) Josef Koudelka. Czechoslovakia (Kadaň), 1963, printed 1967.

By: Anthony Lotfi

                     Currently being featured at the Chicago Public Library’s Special Collections Exhibit Hall is the photo collection; Vivian Maier, Out of the Shadows. Upon entering this space, the viewer is presented with fifty-one beautiful silver gelatin prints that captured everyday nuances during the 50’s and 60’s in Chicago. She spent most of her life as an in-house nanny and kept her passion for photography to herself. It wasn’t until 2007 where a huge collection of her undeveloped work was found in a storage locker and later bought by Jeffery Goldstein and John Maloof. Maier had a huge passion for street photography and self-portraits before those styles became a trend. Each print has a nostalgic narrative that engages the viewer and challenges them to begin to imagine Maier’s life journey.

            Vivian Maier’s story is so unique; she created all of this amazing work, but never showed it publicly. Having no heirs to her work, and no attempts to share these images, it raises an interesting question about whether or not she would approve of this exhibit. Vivian’s chosen images represent her appreciation for detail and composition in such an intriguing way. The square format of her Rolleiflex camera adds a relatable format that many of the viewers use in today’s digital world. Her mysterious story definitely adds a profound element to this gallery, but each framed image is able to hold water on their own. Within the middle of this space sits old envelopes, film wrappers, and other photo related memorabilia that Vivian used during her lifetime.  

            Typically, one may not think to go to the Chicago Public Library to see a photo exhibit, but Maier’s work features Chicago and its natives that make it so appropriate for this galley space. Her images feel right at home within the Special Collections Exhibit Hall. Many of the images that Maier created were of downtown Chicago; it allows the viewers to place themselves within that time period and see the city through her eyes.  Also featured in this space is a “selfie” digital Polaroid camera that encourages each viewer can become apart of the exhibit and further connect with Vivian and her style of work. The Chicago Public Library has opened this exhibit from these four walls by creating a Flickr group that consists of street style images as well as self-portraits that anyone is welcome to submit to. There is a live feed within the gallery that displays of all of the work that is submitted to the Flickr group.

             Vivian Maier: Out of the Shadows will be featured at the Harold Washington Library until September 28, 2014, where it will then travel to another gallery. I would highly suggest seeing this exhibition before it leaves. Her mysterious story has a strong influence on the viewers and will leave an impression that cannot be forgotten. Two books of Maier’s work have been published and available for purchase: Vivian Maier, Street Photographer and Vivian Maier, Out of the Shadows. There will also be a film presentation The Vivian Maier Mystery in the library’s Cindy Pritzker Auditorium at 6pm on April 24, 2014.

  For more information please visit the Harold Washington Library’s website here.

Vivian Maier, Vivian Maier: Out of the Shadows, Harold Washington Library Center, 2014

While a library may not be the first place one would consider an art exhibition to be held, the Special Collections Exhibit Hall located at the Harold Washington Library Center beautifully hosts the Vivian Maier: Out of the Shadows photo exhibition. Located in Chicago's South Loop, the exhibition feels at home in this space. Many of Maier’s photos were taken of downtown Chicago during the 1950s to the 1970s and show how much the scenery has changed through the years. Maier’s photography was found undeveloped in a storage unit and left to be forgotten until it was auctioned off after she no longer could afford the unit. This exhibition brings into question the intent of the artist and what it happens when that artist’s work has found a new life in the hands of someone else. Although there is a question into the ethics of displaying this work without the knowledge of the artist, the works does speak to something beyond the mystery of the photographer. Maier’s displayed work consist of a variety of images that are incredibly interesting and appealing to the eye. The Special Collections Exhibition Hall beautifully exhibits a wide variety of just a small portion of Meir's photos from the Jeffery Goldstein collection, and gives audiences a chance to take a glimpse into seeing what Maier saw and how honestly beautiful the world can be.

Upon entering the exhibition space, one is immediately greeted by a blown-up self-portrait of Maier taken in a mirror. This image appropriately sets up the rest of the photos within this exhibition and places the rest of the photos into context. Maier’s work is best described as street photography. Comparable to the photos taken by Robert Frank in his collection of 1950s street photography works entitled The Americans, Maier’s photos capture people, buildings and other fascinating objects that she found worth photographing in an everyday setting. The exhibition displays 51 of her works on silver gelatin prints that amazingly capture the details and complexities within each image. The images are each surrounded by a thick, white mating and a thin, black frame for a cohesive feel throughout the space. Also included in the exhibition is an interactive portion in which the library encourages visitors to take a “selfie” in the provided mirror with a digital polaroid camera. This activity mimics the multitude of self-portraits found within Maier’s film and gives visitors a chance to commemorate their experience that gives homage to the late Maier.

Vivian Maier: Out of the Shadows is currently a traveling exhibition and therefore will not be at the Harold Washington Library Center for long. The exhibition will be up at this location until September 28, 2014 and open free to the public. Harold Washington Library Center is also hosting a showing of The Vivian Maier Mystery, which is a short documentary that looks into Maier’s quiet life.

  For more information on Vivian Maier’s work please visit http://vivianmaierprints.com/.

For more information about Harold Washington’s event, please visit here.

Jesse Malmed and Jonathan Loïc Rogers, This Is Where It Felt Like, 2014. 

        Coming up is the 5th show in the UIC MFA Thesis Exhibition Series at Gallery 400! This upcoming exhibition is going to be a great round of MFA students. Artists include: Elena Feijoo, Jesse Malmed, Jonathan Loïc Rogers, and Julie Potratz. Each artist brings a unique characteristic of their own to this show. This exhibition series is definitely something you shouldn't pass up! April 15 - April 19. For more information please visit Gallery 400

"Through idiosyncratic siting and citing, we offer an articulation of the spaces between spaces. Using video, photography, sculpture, installation and performance, liminalities in language, home, identity, and humor are traced. Unnaming the nameable, we think through the way these ideas, images and objects feel and feel through the way they make us think." - Gallery 400

By:Anthony Lotfi 

Photos: Gallery 400

  Julie Potratz, Being Angela Merkel, 2014.

        Coming to the MOCP is an exhibit entitled Home Truths: Photography and Motherhood by 9 various artists. This exhibition takes a look at stereotypes and sentimental views of motherhood. It addresses issues such as gender roles, domesticity, the body, and the identity of individuals within the family. Home Truths is curated by Susan Bright and opens April 18, 2014. The exhibition will end July 13, 2014. For more information please visit MOCP. 

By:Anthony Lotfi

      Are you a person who enjoys photographic processes and explorations? Do you love the experimental side of the photography? If so, then the Explosions and Nocturnes Exhibit that is currently at the Schneider Galley should catch your eye! Christian Weber's Explosions and S. Gayle Stevens's Nocturnes come together to form an exhibit that explores photographic processes and subject matter. Weber's photographs of explosions explore movement so fast that the human eye cannot see. Using photography, Weber is able to freeze and capture that explosive moment which happens so fast it is hard to see with the untrained eye. Steven's uses 19th century processes to create abstract images of the landscape and coast dwelling creatures. A painting method is used to put chemicals onto a metal plates to create the images. There is an essence of time in both of these photographers work. Weber focuses on freezing time, while Steven's chooses to elongate time. This Exhibition is currently on exhibit at the Schneider Gallery from March 7 – April 26, 2014. For more information please visit Schneider Gallery. 

By: Anthony Lotfi

RISK- Empathy, Art and Social Practice

  In many gallery settings it is common that the viewer only has a one-way connection to the art that is being exhibited. We are able to make a connection in one-way or another but we don’t usually encounter a connection made back. Currently on exhibit at the Glass Curtain Gallery is RISK- Empathy, Art and Social Practice. The participating twelve local Chicago artists each created a unique interactive piece that challenges social practice. Each artist created entirely different instillations from one another, which really made for a fresh and innovative exhibition.

            Risks: opportunities that are often seen as scary or exhilarating. We take risks everyday whether it is scratching a lottery ticket, apply for a job, or even speaking up in class.  Going out on these limbs makes us venerable and exposed for failure. Most walk away with gaining new experiences and better understanding of making connections through meaningful actions. These connections are so positively represented in this exhibition, from the Industry of the Ordinary to Alberto Aguilar, experiencing each one leaves a different impression on you. Keeping the viewers in mind, these twelve artists created situations for the public to interact with their work. These are acts of inclusion into the art world instead of only passive observers of it, which we are typically exposed to.

            Artist Alberto Aguilar designed the project that captured my attention the most. He challenges the viewer to step outside their comfort zone by sharing a meal with a complete stranger. Standing out as one of the bigger pieces within the gallery, Aguilar created a secluded lunch table that was surround by window shades. This common act of eating a meal starts as a perfect platform to form a bond and experience with someone new. Though many come as strangers, they leave with gained experiences and shared connections with people from the community. This art piece will host a real-life wedding in the coming weeks for a couple that answered a call on Craigslist. Anyone is welcome as long as you RSVP. Unknown invitees and passersby alike are changing what is usually a personal private event into a public celebration. Talk about engaging!

            Contrasting Aguilar’s piece across the gallery sits a few very quant and simple fames hung on the wall. Industry of the Ordinary, a project by Adam Brooks and Mathew Wilson partnered with Hemlock of Illinois in a “death with dignity” organization. We often hold more sentimental value on images of our loved ones who have passed on. Industry of the Ordinary reflects an interesting concept in that there is mortality through photography. In the exhibition, the artists offer a contract in which they promise to create a unique portrait of the participant upon his or her death. This project raises a lot of interesting questions like “how do I know that they’re going to show me in my best light?” Or “what happens if the artist dies before I do”, both valid and thought provoking questions. Brooks and Wilson have back-up artists that are willing to step in if need be. But what is most interesting about this project is it challenges the viewer to consider death/mortality and how they would want to be remembered.

RISK- Empathy, Art, and Social Practice will be on exhibition until April 26, 2014

For more information please check out: http://www.colum.edu/Student_Life/DEPS/glass-curtain-gallery/

The Glass Curtain Gallery housed in the 1104 S. Wabash building of Columbia College Chicago is currently running an exhibition titled RISK: Empathy, Art, and Social Practice. This exhibition focuses around artists who, as written in the exhibition’s handout, “extend themselves to others, risking the personal and political.” The exhibition chooses to show how the featured  Chicago based artists engage with Chicago’s communities through their work. In fact, these instillations are unique in that that do not necessarily fit within the spaces of a gallery, traditionally, because the pieces are more interested in working and interacting with people outside of a confined area. The exhibition is filled with several constructed pieces, such as Faheem Majeed’s Shacks and Shanties building structure, as well as showcase pieces that explain the work that these artists take part in do on a day-to-day basis. All of the installations are interactive and yearn for the visitors’ touch, engagement and/or responses. 

Anxiety Garden: Financial Crisis Mycoremediation - Fereshteh Toosi

Installation located at Glass Curtain Gallery, Columbia College Chicago

Upon entering the gallery, one may walk in with wonder and excitement due to the variety of installations within this gallery space. There is a glass case to the left filled with books that have living mushrooms cultivating on them, a picnic-like area with a wall filled with mirrors directly in front of them and even a photo stand-in to the right that seems to beg visitors to stick their head in the hole and take a picture. However, one installation engages exhibition visitors in a different way by offering a set of headphones and a video to watch. Cecil McDonald, Jr’s installation, Nice People Dancing to Good House Music,is interested in documenting individuals who seem to lose themselves through the transcendental act of dance. He is able to depict this through portraiture he engaged in during a dance party that took place at Columbia College Chicago. Students of the college as well as friends and family in which McDonald has worked with from Chicago’s South Side all participated in this event in which Chicago Hose music played and flickering lights and shadows were projected in the event area. With the consent of the event goers, McDonald was able to photograph attendees as they danced through the event in this setting that allowed them to release their inhibitions.

Nice People Dancing to Good House Music - Cecil McDonald, Jr.

Installation located at Glass Curtain Gallery, Columbia College Chicago

The project turned out showing how ‘fluid’ these dancers came with one another during the event, and it indeed shows in the installation. As mentioned, the installation consists of a television screen mounted on the wall, displaying a looped video from the dance party connected to a set of headphones that allows visitors to hear the Chicago House music and connect with the video in front of them. However, the installation also consists of four portraits of individuals that truly translate as dream-like. The portraits are each filtered with a softening texture that allows viewers to literally see the sublime feeling in which McDonald attempts to capture with this project. All of the photos give off the drama of dance in motion captured in a moment. The individuals within the photos appear to be in an ‘in the moment’ state of mind, which translates as care-free. Feelings of serenity and tranquility, oddly enough, arise from the images and somewhat resemble a religious, outer body experience.

Nice People Dancing to Good House Music - Cecil McDonald, Jr.

McDonald’s works, as well as the rest of the RISK exhibition will be on display and open to the public for free until April 26, 2014. There will also be an exhibition closing reception and catalogue release on Saturday, April 25 from 4-6 pm at the Glass Curtain Gallery, along with various other events in association with this exhibition throughout the rest of March and through the start of May.

  For more information on RISK, please visit the Glass Curtain Gallery’s website.

Archive State

            Could you imagine if all of the photos that you have ever thrown away, ripped up, deleted or even burned were featured in a gallery? If you had known in the moment of the image being captured, would have smiled differently? Or put on a mask so that whomever would see it could start to image the person that you are, hopefully positively? Currently on exhibition at the MoCP is Archive State, featuring found photographic materials from polaroids to YouTube videos to investigate significant political and economic transitions. These five artists; Arianna Arcara and Luca Santese, Simno Menner, David Oresick, Thomas Sauvin, and Akram Zaatari all contribute particular portals into individual stories, both positive and negative.

            A large graphic image of a woman standing next to two giant sea creatures covers the entire far wall of the MoCP. The other walls are painted brightly orange to compliment the emotions and people within the images hanging up. Artist Thomas Sauvin’s project Beijing Silvermine purchased old discarded 35mm filmstrips and created this stunning and lighthearted exhibit. The images contain Kodak moments like birthdays, weddings, celebrating holidays, and even tourist pictures. Sitting on the floor against the opposite wall sat a pile of crumpled images with three TVs dispersed inside. All playing very fast snapshot sized animations of these found images in collaboration with Chinese artist Leiliel and American artist Cari Vander Yacht.

Photo: INTERVIEW

            Two rooms fell off of this main entrance that both featured recycling videos found via the Internet by Akram Zaatari and David Oresick. While both of them contain stories based in the East, their content contrasts quite well. Oresick’s presentation exhibits one screen playing personal experiences of American soldiers in Iraq while Zaarai’s project lines a wall with five screens, each playing different cultural and political conditions in Arab countries. The large screens and intriguing videos made for an awesome visual experience that most viewers wouldn’t expect to see with this content. Following the stairs to the second floor you’ll find artist Simon Menner has reproduced catalogs and archives from the former German Democratic Republic’s State Security Service (STASI). Only after the fall of the Berlin wall and with limitations, this archive became public. This controversial imagery is haunting yet intriguing. One may question if this content is ethical, it contains surveillance images and provokes a feeling of privacy invasion.

            In my eyes, the most captivating project in the exhibition hung upon the walls on the top floor. Artists Luca Santese and Arianna Arcara showcase Found Photos in Detroit. Being a Michigan native this project hit closet to home, not only in content but in presentation as well. Santese and Arcara created a portrait of Detroit by using found images, police reports, letters, and even mug shots that metaphorically and literally depict a fallen city.

  The torn, faded, and burned images are so striking but are almost forgotten when I discovered the images from a crime scene, blood splattered. This set was very chilling, yet surreal.  I found it very important to the project and exhibition that all of their images and letters were found after being abandoned. The powerful imagery and metaphors within this project made the gallery visit very worthwhile. Archive State will be on exhibition until April 6th, 2014.

Photo: Arianna Arcara & Luca Santese

For more information please visit: http://www.mocp.org/exhibitions/2014/01/archive-state.php

Luminous Flux Softcover, Todd Diederich, 2014

           Look familiar? Photographer Todd Diederich was just recently apart of the past show at the David Weinberg gallery entitled Chicago Style. Diederich has been working very hard on his new book entitled Luminous Flux, which will be launching at LATITUDE in Chicago! The book was 100% independantly made in Illinois and printed at LATITUDE. The book was completed with help of LATITUDE co-founder Matt Austin and his publishing project entitled The Perch. The book launch party will be Saturday, March 22, 2014 from 5:00pm – 6:00pm. Diederich will be there celebrating the launch of his new book as well as the success of his artist in residency at Latitude. 

"Luminous Flux, in scientific terms is the measurement of visible light. In book terms it's 70 pages documenting the circuitry of life, the energy, the collective action, will power and the costumes that adorn our adventure." -Todd Diederich

For more information on the book launch please visit: http://www.latitudechicago.org/calendar/2014/3/22/book-launch?view=calendar.

RSVP on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1405676763026746/

Also check out Todd Diedrich's blog Be (T)ODD DIE(DE)RICH: http://www.beodddierich.com/

By:Anthony Lotfi

Thomas Sauvin/ Beijing Silvermine

The Museum of Contemporary Photography (MoCP) housed at Columbia College Chicago is currently running an exhibition titled Archive State. The exhibition hosts five different artists who are interested in re-appropriating the use of photographs and videos and using them in these artistic manners to tell the stories of the people within these mediums in relation to one another. Therefore, these works are taking the photos and videos and using them for new purposes that were not the original intent upon their capture.

Archive State Exhibition, Museum of Contemporary Photography, 2014

One of the artist’s instillations that visitors may find initially striking comes from artist Thomas Sauvin and his collection titled Beijing Silvermine. Upon entering the MoCP one can immediately see Sauvin’s work the front room. The space is covered in documentary style photographs of people of varying ages hanging from bright orange walls to the left and right, and one giant wall covered mural of a woman in a green dress posing in front of a scene with a larger than life shark and octopus grapple. The images all appear as amateur, family photos taken with a film camera from over a span of years. The photos are assembled in a way that make the pictures speak to one another, such as a section that consists of baby and toddler photos and a section that consists of water related activities. Also located in this front room is a sculpture that consists of a pile of crumpled photographs that resemble the ones hanging on the walls, plus a couple of scattered digital photo albums located within this pile displaying animated images. Sauvin’s work cannot go unnoticed in this exhibition due to the brightly colored walls, images and some of the bizarre content found within the pictures. His installation consists of photographs of varying sizes hanging on orange walls with thin, black frames that allow the pictures to look clean and cohesive. One can also notice digital photo albums hanging from the walls, similar to the ones in the photo pile. The animations within these digital frames are quite strange to the viewer, but are also quite comedic. For instance, one of the images on the left-hand wall consists of a young girl on horseback with and older gentleman (presumably her father) assisting her on the horse. The image looks innocent enough until the animation shows the young girl raise her arm and smack the older gentleman out of the frame. The animations are indeed random, but are entertaining for viewers to see.

Thomas Sauvin/ Beijing Silvermine

When first looking through Sauvin’s photos, it is easy to assume that the people pictured are all related to each other in one way or another, or at least look like the same photographer took the photos. However, it turns out that Sauvin was interested in archiving color negatives he purchased from a recycling center in Beijing he continuously visited for three years. The recycling center had plans to melt down these filmstrips in order to extract the silver nitrate they contained within them, but allowed Sauvin to purchase them for the amount of silver they were worth. Over that time of collection, Sauvin collected over half a million of these color negatives that he decided to digitize in order to create a monstrous archive of photographs from unknown Chinese photographers who captured their own “Kodak Moments” that are seen replicated through the lenses of various photographers. Sauvin’s installation comments on the rise of China’s global economy (pictured with people standing next to their new refrigerators and TV sets) as well as everyday life during the time when 35 mm film was popularized in the early 80’s through the 2000’s.  

Sauvin’s collection as well as the other artist’s installations featured in the MoCP’s Archive State will continue showing until April 6, 2014.

  By: Raven Feagins

  For more information on this show, please visit: http://www.mocp.org/exhibitions/2014/01/archive-state.php