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The Buffalo News
TRADITIONAL APPEAL
PHOTOGRAPHY IN WESTERN NEW YORK WHEN: Through Aug. 10 |
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WHERE: Art Dialogue Gallery, Western New York Artists
Group, One Linwood Avenue ADMISSION: Free INFO: 885-2251
The expectations continue to rise with the name of the juror of the
exhibition. Anthony Bannon is director of the George Eastman House in
Rochester and the former head of the Burchfield-Penney Art Center. His
stature in photographic circles should have attracted artists working in
digitally manipulated images, large-format photographs and other advanced
photographic approaches. With Bannon selecting the work, one might reasonably
anticipate examples of fabricated photography or conceptualism, works that
reflect gender politics, or pieces that use any of the many postmodern
strategies that have emerged in the last 30 years or so. Instead, with a few exceptions, the exhibition delivers a largely
traditional display consisting of 25 works by 20 area artists. Occupying just
half of the gallery's available space, there is nothing daring or outrageous
here, nothing that could be called edgy. That's not to say this show is without appeal. Once expectations have been
suitably adjusted, viewers will find strong, individual works - even a few
witty takes on established styles - nestled among the many merely pleasant
landscapes and competent formalist compositions. For example, Erica A. Scherer's trio of prints from "Urban
Necessities Series" ironically documents the requisites of inner-city
existence as defined by "the canon" of African-American youth
culture. To make her point, Scherer employs tightly cropped compositions with
shallow depth of field in meticulously crafted studio photos that focus
attention on accessories worn by anonymous male subjects. One, simply called "Clothing," rudely displays a tongue ring in
a dual act of pride and defiance. In "Shelter," Scherer zeros in on
one side of a stereo headphone held close by the listener's hand, as though
this act provides protection from the outside world. Also intriguing is Linda
Gale Click Gellman's enigmatically titled "Dyslexia Doesn't Matter
IV," two apparently impromptu photos of a clown and his tractor-like
vehicle. The clown seems caught off guard and his bemused expression seems to
make him more "the fool" than he intends. The second shot shows the
inside of the vehicle in which juggling pins and toilet plungers - tools of
the trade - nestle against a warning label reading "Danger."
Gellman's odd angles complete this mildly disconcerting vision of clown
subculture. Richard H. Stamps' archly amusing "Nose Candy" is of a garishly
colored nighttime Las Vegas-style display of a huge plastic sun positioned
behind two equally plastic showgirls. Shot from a low perspective, the sun's
projecting nose appears to nearly poke the women's bikini-clad backsides. The
work straddles a line between low comedy and social commentary. More subdued is "Anemus" by Irene Haupt, a hauntingly esoteric
depiction of a ship at sea. Its monochromatic murkiness and dark boarders
create an ephemeral quality reminiscent of pinhole camera pictures. Among other worthy efforts are Donna Jordan Dusel's "Cable Car
Station," which adopts a snapshot aesthetic in portraying a smiling
woman alone on a bench, her crossed legs radiant in the dark setting. .
Alison E. Kurek's "Lucky Day #1 (Fortune Cookie Series)" lampoons
confectionary kismet with a sparse composition and droll wit. Sometimes in a mixed show like this, it is difficult to tell where
intention ends and technical problems begin. Joyce Cromwell's panoramic view
of Delaware Park's "Japanese Gardens" is pleasing in a vaguely
impressionistic way. But it's unclear whether the effect is intentional or
the product of her camera's limited resolution. |
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