Sue Palmer Stone, ‘Tea and Crackers’
(LENOX, Mass.) – A reception for the 5th Annual Juried Exhibition showcasing the photographic work of 22 finalists, takes place at Sohn Fine Art Gallery on Saturday, May 7, from 4pm to 6:30pm.
Artists in the exhibition include April Aldighieri, Mark Bennington, Matthew Bialer, Debra Bilow, Steven Duede, Steven Edson, George Grubb , Erin Gordon, Jonathan Hankin, Steve Knight, Lear Levin, Allan Markman, Rebecca Moseman, Paul Murray, Kathryn Nee, Lori Pond, Eric Rennie, Richard Schatzberg, Brian Sesack, Sue Palmer Stone, Ken Tannenbaum, and Samantha VanDeman. Schatzberg and Markman will also be signing copies of their new books at the event, during which the winners will be announced.
The exhibition is on view through June 25. Members of the public can vote for a People’s Choice Award anytime during the run of the exhibition.
This year’s panel of jurors includes John Stomberg (Virginia Rice Kelsey 1961’s Director of the Hood Museum of Art at Dartmouth College); Hannah Blunt (Assistant Curator at Mt. Holyoke College Art Museum); and Jan Nagle (Program Associate at Center for Photography at Woodstock).
During the reception, Rick Schatzberg will be signing his award winning book, “Twenty Two North” and Allan Markman will be signing his book “Door Jams: Amazing Doors of New York City“. The photographs in Schatzberg’s book were photographed along Route 22, which connects New York City north to Canada. Each signed book includes a limited edition print. Schatzberg’s image in the exhibition “Blue House with Turbine”, is exemplary of what he achieves with photographs from Twenty Two North – human subjectivity, color, light, chance, and movement help him describe an environment in flux in order to understand a place as process rather than fact.
Erin Gordon, ‘Everything Is Illuminated’
Allan Markman’s exhibited piece “The Grind of Creation” is from his most recent body of work, Macro Still Lifes. An inveterate collector, he searches New York streets, parks and construction sites for twisted shards of metal, abandoned rusted tools, nuts and bolts, berries, feathers, vines, acorns, fungus and wildflowers. Using tweezers and magnifying glasses to juxtapose these disparate objects, he creates unique still lifes where the man-made and organic materials are interchangeable and otherworldly.
Additional work in the exhibition includes Steven Duede’s “Evanescence XIII”, an unconventional still-life of composted organic materials including red roses, egg shell, grapefruits and cabbage. Duede’s work explores beauty and decay – the mechanics of transition through time, neglect and natural decomposition.
“Forgotten No. 3” by George Grubb is from a series that explores the landscapes of a U.S. Air force Military base in Greenland that was operational during World War II. Flooding out of the “frame” of the beautiful black and white landscape photograph are some of the thousands of leaking fuel drums that remain strewn across the environment.
Documenting her son’s boyhoods, Rebecca Moseman’s stunning black and white photograph “Brothers” is from a larger body of work where she captures the innocence of adolescence through a very personal and dreamy lens.
Mark Bennington, ‘Ken – Kadisha’
Mark Bennington’s “Ken-Couple #2” features a serious middle aged man holding a younger African American woman. Saturated with color and inquisitive, the image in this series illustrates the symbolic gesture of “letting go” through the powerful physical act of male/female role-playing. The real contextuality of the series lies in its ability to provoke questions about the emotional baggage we all carry.
Half of all sales from the exhibition will benefit Sohn Fine Art’s Master Artist Series Program. The Master Artist Series (MAS) program offers innovative experiences with world-class photographers through workshops, lectures, book signings and exhibitions. MAS contribute to the vitality of arts, culture and education in the Berkshires by promoting broader understanding of and community engagement with photographic mediums. Patrons, professionals and students of photography enjoy a full range of experiences with artists of the highest caliber in unique and intimate settings.