Week Two: one two & three

ONE*
On Feathered Wings: Birds in Flight
June 21, 2008 - May 25, 2009
American Museum of Nature and History


"On Feathered Wings: Birds in Flight, an exhibition of over 30 striking photographs featuring dramatic images of birds in flight, opens Saturday, June 21, at the American Museum of Natural History. On view in the Akeley Gallery on the second floor through May 25, 2009, the exhibition brings together the work of renowned wildlife photographers whose artistry showcases the majesty of birds in flight: the controlled chaos, the acrobatic wizardry, the mysterious aerodynamics."

"The acrobatic Barn Swallow can catch flying insects while in midair. This female is feeding her young live insects. Unlike other birds that perch while feeding, Barn Swallows stay airborne while providing their chicks with food."

*This show features imagery that typically lies outside the scope of photography that interests me. Ironically, in this case, that's what interests me. Nature photography usually seems so cliche, but in Richard Ettlinger's photograph, Barn Swallow Feeding, I read a comment on aerodynamics and its relationship to time.

TWO**
The Dead Weight of a Quarrel Hangs:
Selections from the Atlas Group Archive
Through November 23, 2008
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston


"The Glassell School of Art´s Core Exhibition Program continues this fall with The Dead Weight of a Quarrel Hangs: Selections from The Atlas Group Archive, featuring work by the provocative Lebanese-American artist Walid Raad."

"'Always thought-provoking and relevant, Raad´s work inspires viewers to join him in considering the nature of historical documentation,' states the associate director of the Glassell Core Program, Mary Leclere, who also organized the exhibition. 'While official sources documenting violence turn viewers into distanced spectators, an imaginary archive forces viewers to actively evaluate what they are seeing, taking responsibility for their interpretations.'"

**I don't know how extensively "viewers join him in considering the nature of historical documentation," but I like the idea of creating an imaginary archive. It seems that photographers are constantly doing this sort of thing, consciously and unconsciously.

THREE***
Bruce Wrighton: Through an Open Window
September 11, 2008 - October 25, 2008
Laurence Miller Gallery
Modern & Contemporary Fine Art Photography

"Laurence Miller Gallery is pleased to present Bruce Wrighton: Through an Open Window, the first comprehensive overview of Wrighton’s important yet relatively unknown career as a documentary photographer. This exhibition features fifty color photographs selected from three projects made in the mid-1980’s with an 8 x 10” camera in the vicinity of his home in Binghamton, New York: Street Portraits, Dinosaurs and Dreamboats, and St. George and the Dragon."

"Street portraits is a powerful yet tender series that places Wrighton in the tradition of Eugene Atget, Lewis Hine, and August Sander. It focuses on individuals and couples who were very much part of the working class, many of whom lived outside the mainstream of society. Carnival workers, a parking lot attendant, a security guard, were among the over 75 people that willingly agreed to pose as he composed their portraits with his cumbersome 8 x 10” camera. Each of them gave something of him or herself to Wrighton, who recorded their often bruised faces and tattered clothing with affection and respect."

"Dinosaurs and Dreamboats celebrates the classic American cars of the 1950’s, juxtaposed with the older architecture of Binghamton. More than simply portraits of beautiful cars, these photographs transport the viewer back in time to an era when America was optimistic, upbeat, and full of swagger. We see a lushly painted red and white ’58 DeSoto Firedome and a blue ’59 Ford Skyliner, among others."

"St.George and the Dragon represents an investigation into the power of images and icons, both secular and sacred, that Wrighton discovered around Binghamton in taverns, churches, and homes. Whether it is a glowing Wurlitzer jukebox under a floating Christ figure from a church basement, or a bucolic lake scene with a fisherman in a boat, painted on an old barroom wall, Wrighton sought to better understand the power of icons and images and how they make us focus and transcend our everyday experiences"

***This exhibition is really cool. I like how it features images from three separate series of Wrighton's work. I go back and forth trying to decide which project I like the most. The portraits are so interesting and I like wondering about the lives of the people in the images, but the other two project contain such dramatic color and composition. If he were still alive, I'm curious as to what and who Wrighton would be photographing today.