drkrm moves and reopens with a smash show
On the one hand there is the gallery, all beautiful and gleaming. Prints hang on the walls under perfect light and people move from image to image like Stations of the Cross. Then there is the darkroom, the place where fine art analog prints are made. Usually black, confined and smelling of chemicals, darkrooms are places most collectors will never see. drkrm bridges these worlds in a most interesting way. Founded by master printer John Matkowsky, drkrm is both a fine art printer and a gallery, working with photographers to make their images beautiful and tangible and then showing them in their space on Chung King Rd in Chinatown.
Saturday night drkrm opened in their new location with a major retrospective of legendary photographer Art Shay. Shay, 91 years old has been shooting for seventy years, covering politics, crime, Hollywood beauty and the streets of Chicago with a singular wit. His pictures have been seen in magazines around the world and gathered here in one place they demonstrate why he remained at the top of the game for such a long time.
The opening was a big success with hundreds of people crowding the rooms to see the work. Photographers and collectors were everywhere paying homage and crowding in for a moments chat or a book signing. There was never a moment without cameras pointed in every direction. At a table outside, John Matkowsky sat with a changing cast of Los Angeles based artists sharing conversation before charging back in for another tour or a meeting with a collector. At its peak the crowd spilled out into Chung King Rd., laughing talking and drinking. Los Angeles knows a legend when it sees one and tonight it came to celebrate the real thing.
Story and photos by Andy Romanoff
Art Shay: A Retrospective
March 2 – April 6, 2013
DRKM
933 Chung King Road
Los Angeles, CA 90012
USA
[email protected]
T. +1 213.928.0973
