This weekend, the Bond Street Gallery will be closing its doors. We greatly appreciate all the support everyone has given to the gallery and our exhibitions, as well as your interest in supporting off-the-beaten-path art spots. I appreciate all of the great feedback I’ve received on the blog. It’s been a fantastic opportunity to interact with such a phenomenal range of artists and curators. I specifically would like to applaud Amani Olu for being a super energetic and innovative gallery director.  Be sure to follow upcoming events and exhibitions organized by Amani through Humble Arts Foundation.

Speaking of fantastic opportunities… Please please please remember to vote on November 4th.

Work from Michael Vahrenwald’s series Universal Default appears as part of Revisiting America. Using the ambient light produced by giant corporate chain stores such as Wal-Mart, Vahrenwald photographs the landscape immediately beyond the buildings. He cites these spaces as a “biproduct of economics, a leftover landscape.” Here, I’ve also included selections from his series Winter Landscapes, in which he has meticulously photographed a variety of doctor prescribed depression therapy lightboxes. Both bodies of work use as their light source a manmade, and slightly ominous, version of reality.  

New Horizons, 2006

Straw Hill, Wal-Mart, Bloomsberg, PA, 2005

Color Cube

Tree, Wal-Mart, Coralville, IA

White Hill, Wal-Mart, Oneonta, NY, 2006

Fall’s in full swing and there are tons of great shows up in the galleries and museums. Here are a few that I recommend or that I’m looking forward to seeing:

-I know it’s not photography, but Tim Rollins and KOS do amazing work with innovative ideas about arts education, often creating abstract pieces based on works of literature. Lehman Maupin is showing a new body of work inspired by the words of Martin Luther King, Harriet Jacobs, Langston Hughes, Ralph Ellison and Malcom X.  

-Mikhael Subotzky’s photographs from his series Beaufort West is on display at MoMA as part of the fall New Photography exhibition. The large color prints are both stunning and disturbing. I highly recommend checking out both the exhibition and the book, recently published by Chris Boot. 

-Lise Safarti’s show Rough, Cold and Close: A Russian Poem opened tonight at Yossi Milo. Additionally, her edition of the Magnum series Fashion Magazine, has just been released, taking a quirky stance toward fashion photography.

-Amy Elkins also opened a show tonight. Work from her series “Wallflowers” is on display in the project room at Yancey Richardson. 

-New York, N. Why?: Photographs by Rudy Burckhardt, is a gem of a show currently up at the Met. Rudy Burckhardt’s photographs of New York in the 1930’s are shown in their original context, an album created with poet Edwin Denby. 

-

Justin James Reed’s images of corporate development are currently on display at Bond Street Gallery as part of Revisiting America. His work exposes new landscapes created by fields of McMansions, stark parking lots, and parallel lines in spray paint. Here is a selection from his series New Cities, South Philadelphia, and Westward.

King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, 2006

Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, 2005

Broad Street, 2006

Castle Street, 2006

Prospect Plains, New Jersey, 2007

I can’t shake this picture from my mind today. Last night we heard Barack Obama and John McCain squabble over the fate of Joe the Plumber and his American Dream and today I saw this image and felt it said a whole lot more than about what Americans want than either candidate.

Here is the little space we all want to call our own—our own comfortable, clean, and not too extravagant house with our own backyard grill with heavy duty plated steel cooking grate, 18.5 inch diameter grilling area, and limited warranty nestled in the corner of our own 10 x 20 foot cement patio constructed by father and son one sweltering summer Sunday afternoon to the tune of Willy Nelson on the stereo (“LB + DA” carved with a heart in the corner), all planted right in the middle of our own patch of well tended, lush, and fertilized land, which despite the disagreeable climate and a 9-5 job, we’ve managed to keep alive.

Angie Smith’s work is currently on display at the Bond Street Gallery as part of the exhibition Revisiting America. 

BOND STREET GALLERY is pleased to present Revisiting America, a group show curated by amani olu. This exhibition explores the shift in American culture following the Second World War, and how that shift has influenced American values today.

The show includes the work of Timothy Briner, Jon Feinstein, Matthew Gamber, Justin James Reed, Angie Smith, and Brian Ulrich.

The opening reception will take place tomorrow (Wednesday the 15th) evening from 6-9pm.

297 Bond Street, Brooklyn, NY 11231, 718.858.2297

Hope to see you there!

Brian Ulrich, Gurnee, IL, 2005

John T. Hill is one of the co-curators of the current Bond Street Gallery show, Walker Evans: Carbon and Silver. A photographer, writer and designer, he serves as the executor of Evans’ estate. He has produced five books about Evans, including Walker Evans at Work and Walker Evans: Lyric Documentary. 

How did you first meet Walker Evans? Can you tell me a bit about how he worked?

Herbert Matter, the Swiss photographer/designer introduced me to Walker in 1961. In 1964 he came to teach at the Yale School of Art and Architecture where I was teaching photography. We enjoyed our time together on that faculty.

Walker died in 1975. I served as executor of his estate for the next 19 years. In that time we produced a number of books and exhibitions.

The show at Bond Street Gallery features new prints of many of Evans’s iconic images. Can you explain what these new prints are and what they bring to the table? Many of the images are displayed in a variety of sizes. Can you talk about this curatorial choice?

These are personal interpretations made by Sven Martson and me. They are almost all made from high res scans from contact prints made from WE orig negs that are in the Library of Congress. All of these images are public domain — no copy right issues are involved. In making these we have carefully studied Evans own prints, but more importantly, we have taken as our guide the reproductions which he supervised in his publications. Unlike the expected models of Edward Weston, Ansel Adams and the majority of other photographers who saw/see darkroom work as a major part of creative process, Evans gladly accepted the prints made by his assistants or professional labs. This is not for lack of interest, because he demanded good work, but he was not a believer in the necessity of the ultimate definitive print. For him the concept and the revelations of the subject were sufficiently strong without precious presentation.

Evans made prints of various sizes throughout his life. The 8 x 10 inch contact print was a matter of convenience more than final choice. To afford an enlarger of that size during his early career was unimaginable. But one could easily turn a kitchen or bathroom into a place for making contact prints. We like the large prints for two obvious reasons. At that larger size they give access to the wealth of detail which Evans valued. And secondly, to change scale in exhibition relieves the monotony of all same size prints.

As a curator I have made sequences and groupings for various reasons. The nine churches is an obvious references to the Becher’s process of collecting multiple images around one subject, {example, water towers) which they present as a grid. They openly claimed Evans as their major inspiration. So, I liked the idea of showing that in 1936 Evans had come across the same idea, even though he may never have shown the pieces as a grid. Other groups are about signs and vernacular advertising, and vernacular architecture. 

This is the last week to see Walker Evans: Carbon and Silver at the Bond Street Gallery.

297 Bond Street, Brooklyn, NY 11231 718.858.2297

Gallery Hours: Tuesday-Saturday, 11am-6pm

The vice presidential debate’s in less than an hour and I’m feeling antsy for some real change/discussion/get-us-out-of-the-giant-rut-we’re-in action. As I mentioned yesterday, an impressive range of artists has gathered to organize an auction to raise money for the Obama/Biden campaign. Bidding opens tomorrow and there’s an amazing selection of work available. Here’s a sample:

Joel Sternfeld, Architecture Museum, Provincetown, Mass., 1980

Laurie Simmons, Lying Book (Sepia), 1990

Tim Davis, Barack Obama, Springfield, MO, 2008

Will Staecy, friend of Bond Street and talented photographer, notified us today that he’s offering a set of limited edition prints at an affordable price point ($150). After a major rent hike, he’s had trouble pulling together the funds necessary for a move and he’s calling on the photo community for a bit of help. I admit my first reaction was, “Hey, my landlord just raised my rent too and we all find New York rents hard to handle,” but what happens when artists are priced out of the city that’s supposed to be center of creative production? If we’re not supporting our artists, where does that leave us? I can’t imagine a society without creative energy and innovative works and that unfortunately requires at least the most basic resources…
And while we’re on the subject of art for a cause: http://www.artforobama.net/