The gallery Bosi Contemporary presents The Stadium, the first solo exhibition in New York City, featuring photographs of the original Yankee Stadium by Jon Plasse. The show’s emotionally charged images highlight Plasse’s frequent visits to Yankee Stadium in the last years of its existence, between 2004 – 2008, and include images of its demolition in 2009. Plasse returned to the site to photograph the current baseball diamonds that rest in the shadows of the new Yankee Stadium in 2013. The Stadium is a fitting tribute to one of baseball’s most storied icons, and the opening of the exhibition corresponds with the beginning of the 2014 baseball season.
The black and white photographs recall Plasse’s own childhood memories of going to Yankee games with his father and recreate these moments from a childlike perspective. The images are both human and relatable, and present the shared experience of going to a game. Plasse portrays intimate instants in which the Stadium often has a stillness to it; as noted by The New Yorker, Plasse’s “camera is focused less on the game itself and more on the atmosphere the game creates.”
The photographs recapture the more memorable times of Plasse’s youth, and the importance of the sport resonates throughout. These compositions include the perspective of a young fan looking up at the towering walls of the stadium, bathed in sunlight in anticipation of the team entering the ballpark; walking through the cavernous hallways and seeing the expansive green grass and smooth infield dirt; waiting expectantly for one of his stars to hit his 500th home run; and leaving the stadium, eyes groundward, after witnessing a loss by his team.
Jon Plasse is a longtime Yankee fan, as well as a fine arts photographer. His work focuses on the remembering or recapturing of a special time, place or experience. His books include, “The Stadium,” a series of images of the original Yankee Stadium, published by SUNY Press in 2011; and, “The Light Remains,” a series of images of his mother and her Long Island home. Mr. Plasse lives in New York City.
EXHIBITION
The Stadium
Until April 19 2014
Bosi Contemporary
48 Orchard Street
New York, NY 10002
