Postcommodity: With Each Incentive at The Art Institute of Chicago

August 18, 2019

With Each Incentive is an installation at The Art Institute of Chicago on view now through April 26th, 2020. It is located on the Bluhm Family Terrace near the cafe and I saw it on my last visit. I definitely found it visually interesting, especially in contrast to the Chicago skyline. The architecture in Chicago is amazing so I could see this artwork in contrast to the beauty of the skyline just based on the simplicity of the concrete blocks and rebar compared to the skyscrapers. Then I read the artist statement about the work…

I didn’t see all that meaning which is attributed to the work in the statement when I was there and after reading, then contemplating, the description on line after, I still don’t see it. The statement makes some impressive claims how these artists are “aggressively tackling some of the most pressing issues of the day” and that this installation “contemplates how Chicago might be transformed by the current wave of Indigenous American refugees from Mexico and Central and South America.” I’m sorry but I don’t see it, and if anything interpreting the statement and applying it to the installation for me it feels like a negative statement against lower construction standards in Mexico and countries in Central and South America.

But here is the good thing about art, everyone can have their own opinion about things. If someone else were to feel every claim of the statement while experiencing this installation great. Also just because I don’t see the installation living up to everything billed in the statement, I still thought the contrast with the skyline was interesting. Everyone brings something different with them when they go to the museum and all experiences can not, or should, be equal.

The Frist Art Museum opened in April 2001, The 1933 Building was originally Nashville’s main post office.

Frist Art Museum - Nashville, Tennessee

August 18, 2019

The first thing which impressed me about the Frist is the building. I love Art Deco architecture and style. This building is beautiful and the people who designed the change over from a large functioning post office to a museum did a fantastic job. From retaining the original wood floors of the mail sorting rooms (2x4’s placed on their ends up for I assume durability and maybe cushion for the workers - photo below) in the galleries to making all modern improvements match the original building.

The location is great too. As it was we stayed next door at the Station Hotel which was originally the Louisville and Nashville Railroad’s passenger station. The station is also beautiful and the buildings compliment each other nicely. This might sound weird but I could almost feel the activity that went on here during the height of the rail passenger era in the 1940’s and 1950’s.

The featured current exhibition at the Frist was Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, and Mexican Modernism from the Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection. Like most people I always appreciate seeing Kahlo’s work and respect how important Mexican Modernism is to history of art. Others can speak to it better than I can so I will refer you to their statement about the exhibition, but I would like to say the curators at the Frisk did a wonderful job with their curation and presentation. I loved that they painted a room blue to highlight the work related to Frida’s “Blue House”. I also enjoyed all the photographs documenting their lives. I had no idea their were so many photographs of her ill and of her death. The exhibition closes September 2, if you are in the Nashville area it is worth taking the time to see it.

The exhibition “Monsters & Myths: Surrealism and War in the 1930s and 1940s” is ongoing until Spetember 29th. I really liked this exhibition and thought the connection between the works and what was going on in the world when these works were being created was fascinating. Makes total sense, just with my focus its something I had never thought deeply about it. Always good to learn and expand one’s mind. Another very well curated exhibition. I especially liked the timelines they added to the gallery wall, it really made the concepts easy to grasp.

I want to end by talking more about the Frist Museum itself. Here is their Vision and Mission statements:

VISION
The vision of the Frist Art Museum is to inspire people through art to look at their world in new ways.

MISSION
The mission of the Frist Art Museum is to present and originate high-quality exhibitions with related educational programs and community outreach activities.

Simple and concise, and something they definitely achieve. I have come across too many artist and art related statements in my time that are either too grandiose or overstate the obvious. These statements nail it. The people who work, or volunteer, at the Frith are friendly and proud of their museum. The children’s interactive art area may very be the best I have seen in any Museum. I also love the fact they dedicated a downstairs hallway to be a community gallery. Local residents can share their creations and the space appears to also allow dialogue on current issues related to the city and the region.

I was impressed by the Frith and as well Nashville. I will get back there again and would love to get my work in the Frist one day.

21c Museum Hotel - Nashville, Tennessee

August 18, 2019

Last month I went with my 19 year old son to Nashville so he could meet with a mentor I had arranged. We had never been to Nashville before, nor Tennessee, but I had heard it was a great place to visit so I looked forward to going. I always photograph when I travel, I photograph every day pretty much as it is, and I thought the Country Music aspect of the city would be interesting and that I could find things to photograph. We landed somewhat late and my son Yelped us to a Mexican restaurant down named Bakersfield. Here I found my first surprise about Nashville, they had a place to get good tacos.

I had done some research before the trip and knew about the Frist Museum , which I am going to cover in a separate blog post, but I had no idea what the rest of the art scene was like there. I was more than impressed by what I found there. There were a number of small galleries with interesting work, but I ddin’t see a whole lot of photography. While in one gallery I asked the owner about photography galleries and which galleries we should check out. She told us about 21c Museum Hotel and how close it was. We were so glad she did because it was one of the coolest and most unique spaces I have seen.

The 21c Museum Hotel Nashville is located in the historic Gray & Dudley Building and is exactly as it is billed, a hotel as well as a museum. The bottom two floors of the hotel are the gallery spaces, even tying in the bar to the gallery space, while the rooms are on the higher floors. Glass floors in the second floor hallway that reflect the skylights and the space below are interesting in their own right but the exhibition we saw was also fantastic.

The current exhibition Super Natural , was curated by Alice Gray Stites who is the Museum Director & Chief Curator, and runs until September. In the simplest of terms the exhibition basically addresses numerous environmental and technology issues of today. Various artists are included and I was told all work is part of the hotel owners’ private collection (Laura Lee Brown and Steve Wilson). The exhibition includes Chris Doyle’s “Waste Generation” video, photographs, mixed media, sculpture, and paintings which all work so well together. The most concise way to describe this exhibition here is to direct you to 21c’s own exhibition statement. The gallery below showcases the works I found most interesting:

From the 2nd floor looking down in to the gallery on the first floor while seeing the reflection of the skylights.

Other takes on Nashville:

We saw a show at the Grand ole Opry and it was great. I found the history of a seeing a live radio show being performed to be very interesting and the music was good. I was surprised to find out how far away from downtown the Opry was and that it is connected to the The Opryland resort and shopping mall.

The history inside the Ernest Tubb record shop on Broadway is awesome. I had no idea about the history of the Midnite Jamboree and was incredible to think of all the icons of American music who have played in this small space over the last 72 years. It’s not that I am Country Music fan, I appreciate it, but I just love American History. If you visit Nashville you have to at least spend ten minutes walking around in here.

People there are very nice there and I mean all over town. Its not cheap to stay downtown. People party on Broadway every night of the week and I was impressed by a couple of folks I saw and how hard they went after it on a Tuesday night.

One final thing I learned is there are 8 other 21c Museum Hotels with three more coming which is fantastic if they are anything like the one in Nashville.

Ron Church - Surf Photographs 1963

August 16, 2019

We went over to eat at the Bear Flag restaurant in the Pacific City mall in Huntington Beach early this month and I came across Ron Church’s surf photographs in the Pacific City Gallery space. I know I have seen his work before but never in an exhibition format. Ron was a pioneer in photographing surfing and underwater, but unfortunately he passed away from a brain tumor at only 39 years old in 1973. His images are fantastic documents of the iconic “Endless Days of Summer” era of the Southern California beach scene. I don’t know how long this work will be up but if you are in HB at Pacific City make a point to see it. There are also several catalogs of his work out which look very interesting, worth getting to his work.

Fraenkel Gallery - Friedlander "Signs" Book & Exhibition

July 16, 2019

I caught the Live Stream from Fraenkel Gallery for the opening of Lee Friedlander’s “Signs” Exhibition which is now showing until August 17th. Without a doubt one of the better Live Stream video’s I have seen lately. Whomever was filming it did a great job showing the entire exhibition as well as details of the prints. Almost felt like being there and walking through the gallery. Good to see Lee was there signing too. Probably will ad this book to my library as well, hopefully I can get up north to see the show before it comes down, looks fantastic. Below is the link to Fraenkel Gallery about the exhibition.

https://fraenkelgallery.com/exhibitions/lee-friedlander-signs

"The Mind and the Hand" by Lee Friedlander

July 16, 2019

I recently stumbled across Lee Friedlander’s new book “The Mind and the Hand” completely by accident. I did a search on Amazon looking for new Garry Winogrand material and this book came up. The book looked interesting so I took a shot and ordered; $90 isn’t cheap but I always enjoy seeing Friedlander’s work. “The Mind and the Hand” definitely exceeded my expectations

The book is actually six 60 page softbound books in a slip case. Each book has between 25 and 34 of Friedlander’s photographs and documents a photography icon: William Eggleston, John Szarkowski, Richard Benson, William Christenberry, Walker Evans, and Garry Winogrand. Each book also has a brief lecture excerpt by the featured photographer which adds the right amount of information to deepen the viewers understanding of the individual.

I was familiar with a few of the photographs but not most. I would also say most of the images are snapshots. But these are wonderful snapshots and, in this context, they form a fantastic document of each featured photographer. These people were Friedlander’s friends and peers and many of the moments he photographed were very personal like Winogrand’s wedding. I love the images of these photographers out photographing. As a photographer I am always interested in how other photographers approach the medium and Friedlander’s photographs give a wonderful insight to six icons of photography.

The book was released in April by Eakins Press Foundation and was printed by Meridian Printing in East Greenwich, Rhode Island. The print quality is beautiful and I really like the intimate size of the book of 8.8” square. I think Katey Homans did a perfect job with the design and I am assuming that Lee Friedlander’s Archivist, Stephanie Prussin, edited the images. I am very happy with this purchase and would suggest it to anyone interested in documentary photography.

Featured Photographers

William Eggleston

John Szarkowski

Richard Benson

William Christenberry

Walker Evans

Garry Winogrand

Book Details:

· Paperback: 240 pages

· Publisher: Eakins Press Foundation (April 23, 2019)

· Language: English

· ISBN-10: 0871300796

· ISBN-13: 978-0871300799

· Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 1.2 x 8.8 inches

Printer: Meridian Printing – East Greenwich, Rhode Island

Lee Friedlander Archivist: Stephanie Prussin

Design & Typography: Katey Homans

Garry Winogrand - PBS American Masters

April 22, 2019

I got lucky and saw Fraenkel Gallery’s Instagram post about the PBS American Masters documentary on Garry Winogrand which aired last Thursday night.

Winogrand is my favorite photographer, I saw his 1988 retrospective at MoMA curated by Szarkowski, I saw SFMoMA’s 2015 retrospective, I saw the exhibition at Pier 24 gallery where they displayed prints of every image from his Women are Beautiful book on one massive wall, and I even attended Geoff Dyers's lecture last year at Getty for the release of his book on Winogrand.

I have seen several videos of interviews of Winogrand, have numerous books on his work, but I always want to learn more about him and his process. This PBS documentary is amazing. It has old interviews of Gary, lecture audio from Szarkowski speaking about Winogrand’s work, video shot by Winogrand, interviews of scholars, as well as interviews of his family and friends. Great insight in to the man. If you like Winogrand’s work, documentary photography, or just great images, you will enjoy this film.

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/garry-winogrand-all-things-are-photographable-full-film/11339/

Also, as a documentary photographer who photographs on the street, I particularly loved these following three quotes from the film about Street Photography :

“If we applied standard definitions of propriety and niceness to photographers working in the street we’d be left without a lot of the great pictures in the history of photography.”

Jeffrey Fraenkel – Gallerist

“I find it kind of intriguing because we allow the State to photograph us so relentlessly and yet people don’t seem as bothered by that as they do by someone who is clearly an artist.”

Michael Ernest Sweet – Photographer

“It’s an artistic process, you live within this process. So the questions of surveillance, political correctness, all of that stuff, it’s just totally irrelevant. Now perhaps that makes the few of us who even understand what I’m talking about right now are dinosaurs or insensitive ghouls or whatever…but who cares about that?”

Tod Papageorge – Photographer

12th Pollux Awards

November 24, 2018

I received notification recently that the six image I had submitted for the 12th Pollux Awards had received Honorable Mention in the Documentary and Reportage Series category. All images were from my Pasadena Police Department Series, the juror was Philip Brookman, consulting curator of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C..

The images are displayed on line now at: https://www.thegalaawards.com/pollux-non-pro-2

I will also be participating in the Pollux Awards Exhibition in Barcelona, Spain in May of 2019. The exhibition will either be held at Gallery Valid Foto or Space Nau Bostik during the first two weeks of the month.

2018 Triple Crown Winner “Justify” , with Mike Smith up, wins the 2018 Santa Anita Derby

Old Reviews of my Santa Anita book ....

November 15, 2018

In 1991 I published my first book, Santa Anita. I stumbled on to photographing at the racetrack while searching for a place to photograph here in California with images like I found on the streets of New York and Chicago. You can find Street Photography in California, even Los Angeles now, but it is different because California is so spread out and everyone drives everywhere. The track has it all, people from all walks of life, right there in one place, and easy to move about them photographing, just like being in New York. I continue to photograph at Santa Anita, probably more as a personal retreat than actually working on a new project but that is fine, the process is what matters when photographing. Plus I have been able to photograph two Triple Crown winning horses the last few years by continuing to go out. Anyways in case you are wondering why I am writing a post about a project from 27 years ago today, its because I just was doing a Google Search on myself and came across a couple old reviews of the book which I don’t think I have shared before. Pretty accurate in my mind so I wanted to put do a post on them and thought it best to provide an introduction why I was.

The Reviews

Laura Rose of Equine Images Magazine wrote: "In his book Santa Anita, photographer William Karl Valentine captures the pulse of this California racetrack with his camera, The images, chosen from four years' worth of photographs, include everything your eye may pick up during a day at the track - from a classic stretch drive to a refreshing horse bath, from a grandstand littered with people and paper to a lost child in the safe grip of a track security officer." "But the photographs of the people of the track tell just as much of the story, and Valentine has captured them not as snapshot figures, but as friends...it's evident that not only does Valentine know the track, it knows him."

Mark Ratzky of the Daily Racing Form wrote: ""Santa Anita" is a must-see for any fan of this racetrack. The book contains 80 black and white pictures of just about every aspect of an afternoon at the foot of the beautiful San Gabriels, and really manages to capture a day at the races."

f/2.8-4.5 1" Sensor 24-200mm equivalent lens 24 fps continuous

Sony RX100 VI

November 12, 2018

A review of the Sony RX100 VI camera by Photographer William Karl Valentine

Wayne Thiebaud at The Shrem Museum - UC Davis

August 15, 2018

A review of Wayne Thiebaud’s 2018 exhibition at theJan Shrem & Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art at UC Davis.

Street / People by Ave Pildas

August 11, 2018

A quick review of Ave Pildas’s short run book “Street / People”

Geoff Dyer - The Street Philosophy of Garry Winogrand

July 28, 2018

William Karl Valentine’s review of Geoff Dyer’s book “The Street Photography of Garry Winogrand” and his March 23, 2018 lecture at the Getty celebrating the books release.

Vision

June 28, 2018

Photographer William Karl Valentine examines the influences of how he developed his photographic vision or photographer’s eye.

Boston Museum of Fine Arts - (Un) Expected Families

June 5, 2018

Review of the Boston Museum of Fine Art’s Unexpected Families exhibitions

Jason Lee & Aline Smithson at Arcana: Books on the Arts

May 27, 2018

Actor and Photographer Jason Lee at Arcana for the release of his book A PLAIN VIEW

The Process ...

May 26, 2018

My thoughts about the process of seeing and photographing.

New York Galleries - October 2017

November 18, 2017

I was in New York last month to show my work and to photograph. I also took some time to hit a few galleries in Chelsea, here is what I found:

Laurence Miller Gallery 521 West 26th Street, Fifth Floor, NYC

I loved the vintage work they had up (new exhibitions up now), some amazing images I had never seen before from the masters. W. Eugene Smith's image from the 1941 World Series at Yankee Stadium really got my attention. I have photographed a lot of baseball so I am always interested in how other photographers, especially a master, choose to document the sport. I also thought it was interesting this image was taken just before the start of WWII. Robert Frank's prints were another favorite. I am very familiar with the work but the style of printing for these prints was interesting, gave me more insight of him as a photographer. I also appreciated the photographic technique and craftsmanship of Erica Deeman’s prints. Her work has received a lot of attention recently. The gallery staff knows the medium well, I enjoyed talking with them.

Robert Mann Gallery 525 West 26th Street, NYC

What a cool space and I loved Julie Blackmon’s photographs. Her large prints are amazing, best way to experience her images, they allow you to see all the details. I especially like her new work, "Trapped" & "Holiday", and I really appreciate her humor. I also picked up a copy of Julie's book, great addition to the library. Gallery staff at Mann has energy and you can tell they love what they do. Can't wait to visit again.

https://www.instagram.com/julie_blackmon/

http://www.julieblackmon.com/

Robert Mann Gallery

Holiday - Julie Blackmon

Trapped - Julie Blackmon

Friedman Benda Gallery 525 West 26th Street, 1st Floor, NYC

I went to the opening of Misha Kahn's Midden Heap by accident while looking for Kasher Gallery's opening and am thankful I did. Friedman Benda describes Kahn's exhibition this way:

By allowing the illogical and the irreverent to take over his creative process, Kahn transforms a white-walled gallery space into a delightfully inventive alternate reality. “Each piece is part of a landscape I imagine as the earth gets swallowed by the sea,” he says. “No single object has any specific meaning. It’s all part of a feeling.”

I have no idea what it was but it was so cool, and describing it as a "feeling" is accurate, especially during the action of a New York opening. This exhibition runs through December 16, 2017, if you're in NYC it is worth experiencing.

Steven Kasher Gallery 525 West 26th Street, 2nd Floor, NYC

I enjoyed Jill Freedman’s work. The prints were obviously vintage based on their condition and the craftsmanship; I always like opportunities to see vintage prints because I can learn so much more about the photographer. Debi Cornwall's work definitely had merit too.

Benrubi Gallery

521 West 26th Street, 2nd Floor, NYC

I thought Matthew Pillsbury’s images were very interesting, unique, and well crafted. Definitely best to view prints because the images really work at that scale. I don't know if this will make sense, but for me, when I looked at these images for a few moments, their layers showed themselves and a deeper meaning came through. I see how it would be possible to move through the gallery quickly and think you saw these images but you really wouldn't have.

Strand Books 828 Broadway, NYC

Okay not a Gallery, and in a different part of the city, but this book store is amazing and worth talking about. I picked up a copy of Meryl Meisler’s book ‘A Tale of Two Cities: Disco Era Bushwick’. It's not the tightest edit or greatest printing of a book I have ever seen but I just liked a lot of her images, found it to be an interesting documentation of the New York during that era. Could have filled my suitcase with everything I found on their racks.

Pier 24 Gallery

November 14, 2017

William Karl Valentine's review, and images, of Pier 24 Gallery's exhibition "The Grain of the Present"

MoPA - Sebastiao Salgado exhibition

September 29, 2017

The Sebastião Salgado "Genesis" exhibition at MoPA in San Diego is wrapping up this weekend, luckily I was able to get to see it earlier this month. I am a huge fan of MoPA, and a member. Its a great space, always worth the trek south, and this was another solid exhibition.

I had seen silver prints from Sebastião Salgado's Workers series before and was impressed. I am pretty sure this is the first time I have seen prints from the Genesis series. All the prints at MoPA were digital prints either from original digital files or scanned negatives. The massive scale is impressive and appropriate for the subject matter. The quality of most of the prints were very good. I think MoPA did an outstanding job getting so much work up without it feeling crowded.

The The International Center of Photography was the first venue in the United States to host this exhibition in 2014 which was curated by Lélia Wanick Salgado. The ICP described the exhibition this way: "Genesis is the third long-term series on global issues by world-renowned photographer Sebastião Salgado (born Brazil, 1944), following Workers(1993) and Migrations (2000). The result of an eight-year worldwide survey, the exhibition draws together more than 200 spectacular black and white photographs of wildlife, landscapes, seascapes, and indigenous peoples—raising public awareness about the pressing issues of environment and climate change." A powerful body of work, relevant to today, and well worth the view.