ReGeneration: 50 Photographers of Tomorrow
Photo by Angela Stassheim
On Tuesday by chance I ran into Pieter Hugo the South African photographer I have mentioned on this blog. Being a fan I introduced myself and he invited me to a show he's a part of: reGeneration: 50 Photographers of Tomorrow. The opening took place tonight at the Aperture Gallery. Of the 50 the photographers, the ones whose images grabbed me most included Mieke Van de Voort who shoots the homes of people who died alone, Natalie Czech's interiors, Angela Strassheim's creepy playful portraits, Jaret Belliveau's intimate family record and of course Pieter's 'hit you in the solar plexus' images from Africa.
I met several of the photographers and all turned out to be interesting folk. I was particularly impressed with Ms. Van de Voort. In a very short conversation we covered topics including transformative power of death to confer meaning on objects and the loneliness of children. An email she wrote about her work can be found here. (I had a hard time finding her images online so you'll have to check out the show). Jaret Belliveau is a young soulful Canadian whose pieces in the show documented his family's struggle with cancer and it's aftermath. His current work (not in the show... he showed me his book) is equally unblinking and personal. He follows his little brother's friends through their chaotic high school years. And of course Pieter had interesting things to say about his work and his process. All in all a nice evening I enjoyed hanging out with everyone over beers. The show runs through June 22. 547 West 27th Street, 4th floor
8 Comments:
What did you think of the show in general? I find the title a bit much. It's amusing that a show that claims to encompass photography's next generation as curated by a Swiss museum would include so many Swiss photographers. Funny there are so few Swiss photographers on the radar otherwise.
Like all group shows it was a bit hit and miss. I agree the Swiss were over-represented... Asians, South Americans, and Africans were under-represented. Also there were a few photographers doing things that have become clichés or that other photographers have done better. For example there was a guy showing tilt shift photography which I am seeing all over the place and which Olivo Barbieri sort of owns. My main issue with the show was the lack of emotion in the images which has become a trend in art photography. Otherwise, fun show.
I was there last night and spotted you but was too embarrassed to say hello. If you noticed someone walk up and to you and then walk away three times, that was me. :) (you intimidate just a wee bit). Agree with most of your comments. I also though Josef Schulz and Bianca Brunner presented photographs that will keep me watching out for them. I'm curious did you buy the book? Also do the artists get any of the money from the book?
Me intimidating? The slightly disheveled guy in the chucks? Next time say hello. I don't bite.
It's your creativity and insightfulness that intimidates not your chucks.
Next time I'll say hey.
The Angela Strassheim image that really gets me is the woman in the nightgown sitting on the floor with her foot ever so subtley diseased and missing toes. I had to write a blurb for Flavorpill about her show opening at Marvelli and I remember going to see the work and really appreciating whatever the vibe it is that emanates from her photos and makes them seem novel.
I went to that exhibit... I watched people coming into the gallery and looking at that picture... They invariably started by looking at the face, maybe thinking it was a pretty glamourous image, and then invariably they would get to the toes and recoil. I remember watching people literally take a step back from the image.
I thought this show was wildly uneven. About half of the pieces were crap. The title of the show made it worse, because it creates a standard to live up to. A better title would have been, Best of the Art Schools or something like that.
< Lila >
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