Online Gallery Visit
Practicing Golf Swinging
from Pictures from Home
By: Larry Sultan
I chose the image “Practicing Golf Swinging from Pictures from Home” taken by Photographer Larry Sultan. This is from the Yancey Richardson Gallery. Larry Sultan grew up in California in the San Fernando valley. He was a professor at California College of the Arts. “In the early 1980s, Larry Sultan photographed images of his parents in Southern California, capturing spontaneous and staged photographs that explore the complexities of family dynamics, played out in the suburban landscapes of Los Angeles and Palm Desert.” (https://www.yanceyrichardson.com/exhibitions/larry-sultan2?view=slider). I chose this picture because my first reaction was, I thought it was ridiculous that a man was playing golf in the house when people are supposed to play golf outdoors. I thought he would break the TV or the window. His wife would be mad about it. As I learned about the artists, I learned that he likes to capture spontaneous or staged photos of his parents. I wondered if this was a spontaneous or staged photo. Photographer Larry Sultan has artwork at the Museum of Modern Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art (MOMA), Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Art Institute of Chicago; Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA); San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMoMA); and others.
Joel-Peter Witkin On the
Beauty of the Grotesque
By: Joel-Peter Witkin
I chose the image “Joel-Peter Witkin on the Beauty of the Grotesque” taken by Photographer Joel-Peter Witkin. This is from the Bruce Silverstein Gallery. Joel-Peter Witkin is a Jewish American artist who was born in Brooklyn, New York. He was a triplet, sadly, his sister died before birth. Witkin witnessed a tragic accident when he was young that influenced his work. Witkin began taking pictures in the 1950’s. Witkin’s work was also influenced by the three years he spent as a combat photographer. He studied at Cooper Union School of Art and University of New Mexico. Witkin currently lives in New Mexico. “Witkin carefully builds scenes with cadavers, hermaphrodites, and dwarfs which introduce literary, religious, and art historical allusions.” (https://www.artnet.com/artists/joel-peter-witkin/). Witkin’s work can be viewed in galleries around the world. I chose this picture because the sheep’s head looks real to me. I had to read further about the picture to learn that it was taxidermy. It looked very real to me. The picture only showed the sheep’s head. I wondered how the sheep died. I also wondered why the sheep was positioned resting on a wood statue, did it need it to stay upright or did this have other significance.
Contrast Sequence Expanded
By: Loriel Beltran
I chose the image “Contrast Sequence Expanded” by Loriel Beltran. This is from the Lehmann Maupin Gallery. Loriel Beltran is a contemporary abstract artist who was born in Venezuela and now lives in Miami. Beltran studied in the New World School of the Arts in Miami and participated in an exchange program with the Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí, in Mexico. Beltran is “known for his layered and labor-intensive abstract canvases” (https://www.artnews.com/art-news/market/loriel-beltran-lehmann-maupin-representation-1234657377/). Beltran has a unique way of creating art. Beltran did not use paint brushes to create his masterpieces. Beltran uses molds and a process of layering paint on top of the canvas which is a process that takes him months and sometimes years. Then, he slices open the paint to create his masterpiece. Sometimes he cuts strips of different sizes and shapes and fixes them to a canvas. Beltran’s painting “Contrast Sequence Expanded” recently sold for $40,000.00. I chose this picture because it looks like a rainbow pattern. It has bright and vibrant colors on the left and right sides. It has a muted rainbow color in the middle. It reminds me of the rainbow cake that I used to eat when I was younger. The cake had squares when I was eating it.
Repair Image, 19 Christopher Street
By: Berenice Abbott
I chose the image “Repair Image, 19 Christopher Street" by Berenice Abbott. This is from the Marlborough New York exhibitions. This exhibition showcases "over fifty photographs from Marlborough’s collection, including several of the artist’s most iconic images of Greenwich Village alongside a selection of rare pictures never before published" (https://www.marlboroughnewyork.com/exhibitions/berenice-abbotts-greenwich-village#tab:slideshow;tab-1:slideshow). Photographer, Berenice Abbott was born in Ohio and moved to Greenwich Village New York when she was 19 years old, in the early 1900s. Abbott passed away in 1991 at 93 years old. Abbott studied in Paris, France and Berlin, Germany. She began studying sculpture, then her interest in photography emerged. When she came back to New York she was a photographer for Fortune magazine. After that, she began taking pictures of urban landscapes. Abbott also taught at the New School for Social Research. Her most famous work was Changing New York which contained almost 100 black and white pictures taken throughout the five boroughs of New York in the 1930s. Today, Abbot’s work can be seen in galleries in the United States, France, and England. One quote that Bernice Abbott said stuck with me, was “Photography can only represent the present.” (https://www.brainyquote.com/authors/berenice-abbott-quotes). I thought this was interesting because while it is true that at the time a picture is taken, it represents the present at that moment, it also can become an explanation for what the past once was. I chose this picture because the clock interests me. The picture is black and white, and the lines are clean. There are distinct circles in the picture such as the clock, wheels, and a circle on the door.
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