The opening exhibition for the new space, Higher Pictures, “Photography Is” presents a reflection about contemporary photography as a complex procedure and independent discipline. Joshua Citarella’s work “Hourglass and Apples and Oranges” is on display, a picture representing his interrogations and the notion of intervention on a picture. He introduces formal elements into still life. A hanging sand-timer evokes time, a chromatic plate floats in front of a multicolored mosaic, two fruits imported from classical painting dialogue with a partially painted nude, geometrical forms defy gravity and perspective, and an upheaval of proportions redefines the traditional function of each object.
“I think the show at Higher Pictures is really challenging and a healthy addition to the photography community. Photography as fine art remains very insular and Higher Pictures is one of the few places that approaches the medium from an inter-disciplinary perspective without losing its real anchor point. I feel that very often I see shows which include partial-photography works and ultimately they turn into this all too familiar type of collage/multi-media conversation — They gloss over a real working knowledge of photography and I think that piece of the puzzle is important because it informs so many of our decisions along the way. I was glad to walk into a show where the walls don’t immediately look like a photography show where the conversation those works create has the acute and relevant criticality that comes from photography as practiced theory..“. Joshua Citarella
As a visual response to Joshua Citarella’s geometry, Jessica Eaton’s minimalist mosaic is hanging on the opposite wall. The artist, who just won the Jury Grand Prize at the International Fashion and Photography Festival of Hyères, also studies, without any digital transformations, the opportunities provided by the medium. In this series of technical abstractions, she deconsructs color theory to open a new field for analogical photography, generally associated with the real world. As such the dialogue is established in the exhibition. Avoiding the obvious conversations between the works, the staging and chronology of the pictures rely on a series of forms, matters, and patterns in an unsystematic choice that reflects the coherence of the works selected and the multitude questions they raise.
“Photography Is”
Until May, 26th, 2012
Oeuvres de Sam Falls, Lucas Blalock, K8 Hardy, Talia Chetrit, Jessica Eaton, Andrea Longacre White, Aspen Mays, Letha Wilson, Emily Roysdon, Adam Marnie, Matthew Brandt, Joshua Citarella, Matthew Stone, Sarah Anne Johnson, Katherine Hubbard, John Houck, Artie Vierkant, Iliana Ortega, Anouk Kruithof et MPA Megan Palaima
Higher Pictures
980 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10075
