Known for his dreamlike and darkly psychological images, Rocky Schenck is exhibiting his latest work, entitled The Recurring Dream at Fahey/Klein Gallery, in Los Angeles. The exhibition coincides with the release of Schenck’s latest eponymous publication (University of Texas Press, 2016) and features his much anticipated color work.
The scenes here depicted in the photographs include landscapes and pictorial narratives that explore elements of beauty, humor, isolation, and death—often at the same time. Film director William Friedkin notes in the publication’s introduction : “Turn each page, and you will enter a new world, a magical journey filled with what seems like childhood’s buried memories surrounded by nature’s living ghosts.” Whether Schenck’s landscapes are real or imagined they become part of the mystery surrounding the artist’s work.
Schenck’s many artistic influences include Gregg Toland’s hyper-realistic cinematography in Citizen Kane, as well as, Karl Freund’s expressionistic visual language in such films as Metropolis and Dracula. In his afterword to The Recurring Dream, Rocky Schenck considers the role of the subconscious and cinema in his work: “My dreams play a very important part in my life and in the creation of my work. I can usually remember my dreams—or fragments from them—and I look forward to going to sleep each night so I can begin the most unpredictable part of my day. Occasionally I translate my dreams into photographs with the help of old friends or total strangers who wander into my life. Dreams are like movies to me, and films have always been one of my great obsessions. When I create my photographs, it’s almost like I am shooting a ‘still’ from one of my cinematic dreams.”
Rocky Schenck, The Recurring Dream
ThroughDecember 3, 2016
148 N La Brea Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90036
USA
