Tim Lee, “Untitled (James Osterberg, 1970),” C-print, 2004
GLOOMY SKIES MAKE GREAT SOFTBOXES
NORTHWEST PHOTOGRAPHY NOW
A Presentation by Chas BowiePNCA • 1241 NW Johnson, Portland OR
Wednesday, March 18, 2009 • 12:30 pmIn Gloomy Skies Make Great Softboxes, Portland art critic Chas Bowie surveys the state of contemporary Northwest photography, assessing the work of regional artists who are actively cultivating new photographic idioms and avenues of exploration.
The Pacific Northwest has a longstanding and multi-faceted engagement with photography, as evidenced in part by the legacy of Portland’s Blue Sky Gallery; Seattle’s acclaimed Monsen Collection; and Vancouver BC’s concentration of noted “photoconceptualists.” These disparate traditions are not only well-documented, but markedly at odds with one another, rendering any Northwest photography “scene” more compartmentalized than unified.
As the demographic makeup of the Northwest shifts, however, so too does the application of photography in the fine arts. Gloomy Skies Make Great Softboxes demonstrates how emerging artists such as Isaac Layman (Seattle), Andrew O’Brien (Eugene), and Holly Andres (Portland) are transcending regional aesthetic trends and moving toward an increasingly progressive and critical mode of image-making.
2 Comments
12:30pm? that’s too bad. i would have been very interested to hear more on this subject. 12:30 is hardly a time that many working people, like myself, would be able to make however. good luck with your talk though.
I attended your presentation today. Loved it. Portland could benefit from more information and dialogue of this nature. Thanks again.