February 22-March 22, 2003
Andrew Kreps
Gallery in collaboration with Olivier Renaud-Clement, is pleased to present
BACK
GROUNDS, an exhibition of early paper negatives by Baron Adolphe Humbert de
Molard (1848), New
Landscapes (2002), contact positive prints by James Welling, and Black and
White (2003) a series of recent
work by Liz Deschenes. This exhibition was first presented at Galerie Nelson
in Paris last November-
December, 2002.
Baron Adolphe
Humbert de Molard (1800-74), along with colleagues, Bacot and Brebisson, was
associated
with the group the Primitifs FranÁais. Humbert de Molard discovered
and experimented with the
photographic process as early as 1843 and began using the paper negative in
1844. Around 1848, he
traveled to Falaise, in Normandy, France where he photographed the city surroundings
as well as
Guillaume the Conquerorís Castle. This exhibition will present these
unknown negatives for the first time.
Introducing this type of material today questions the relationship of taking
a picture-the subject- and the
first results encountered-the object or the negative itself- even before a
final image can be produced. Is the
technician solely interested in obtaining a result for the sake of reproduction,
or is the simple act of
photographing and exposing sensitized paper to light sufficient in itself?
How do we look at such an
object/image today? Is this pure science, archeology, or can we think of this
as an artwork? Why did
Humbert de Molard not necessarily print a positive image, and what was his
true motivation as a technician
and artist?
Juxtaposing these
negatives with James Wellingís contact prints from his New Landscapes
series questions
issues of contemporary digital techniques, the notion of banality, and the
relationship of the subject to the
photographic act itself. In revisiting the places where he spent most of his
childhood, Welling revives the
idea of the photographer as traveler. He returns to the impractical and heavy
8 X 10 format camera when it
would seem easier to use lighter weight gear to produce the same result. The
physical relationship of
camera to place recreates a situation similar to ones encountered in the early
days of photography. The
result is a positive print that reveals the entirety of the original negative.
By not enlarging the negatives the
subjects are captured with amazing accuracy. Although Welling is known for
experimenting with a variety
of photography related mediums and techniques, with this series he has returned
to the primary act of
photographing- capturing light and understanding it. This, for Welling is
the basis of all experiments in his
work.
Liz Deschenes'
recent series Black & White continues Deschenes' interest in examining
the omnipresent screen,
from its analog beginnings to its digital present. In Black & White Deschenes
questions the importance and
relevance of the distinction between color and black and white photographs.
Early color processes used dyed
layers of black and white materials and even now, this layer process is the
base of Kodachrome and Dye Transfer
printing, as well as a concept in Photoshop. In this exhibition Deschenes
presents images of screens, real and
implied, in both black and white and color. One photograph of a plasma screen
reveals white light to be an equal
combination of red, green, and blue pixels, printed to appear ìblackî
at a distance. Light from an enlarger was
used to make two silvery gray ìphotogramsî proportionate to a
digital and analog screen. These black and white
prints (commonly referred to as Gelatin Silver prints) simultaneously allude
to the materiality of black and white
photographs and the motion picture silver screen. All of these untraditional
photographs are displayed in standard
aluminum frames. In using these frames Deschenes references this photographic
tradition first used by Alfred
Stieglitz in 1959. The window mats are not entirely standard; the images are
over-matted with proportions
referencing aspect ratios, utilized in both film and television.
With this exhibition
we hopefully question the ultimate ìtoolî of illusion and reality,
along with the
photographic process and the notion of perception.
The exhibition
will be on view from February 22 - March 22, 2003. A reception will be held
for the artists in the
gallery on February 22 from 6-8 PM at 516 West 20th St., New York City. For
information call 212-741-8849.
Blue Screen Process
March 10-April 7, 2001
Andrew Kreps Gallery is pleased to present Blue Screen Process, a photographic project by Liz Deschenes. Liz curated Photography About Photography last year at the gallery. This is her second solo show at Andrew Kreps Gallery.
"Blue Screen Process" uses as its subject matter a process used by film and video for compositing. The subject matter is shot against an evenly lit, bright pure blue, green or red background. The compositing process, whether analog or digital, removes the "blue" and replaces it with another image, known as the background plate. Red screens are used in filming objects. Blue and green screens are used in filming people because these colors are complementary to flesh tones.
The compositing process known as ìblue screenî had its beginnings in the late 1920s. It has since catapulted over the years to become one of the most important processes utilized by the motion-picture industry. It is also widely used in video, and is referred to as chroma key.
The
exhibition contains several photographs of green screens and a photograph
that appears to be a photographic backdrop in the shape of a cyclorama. The
photographic backdrop is itself a photograph; hung in direct relationship
to an image of a computer screen using the proportions of 35mm film (the academy
aperture). This relationship reflects on the process directly -shooting, compositing
and projecting. Many of the images in "Blue Screen Process" have
mimicked contemporary film processes; shot on film, digitally scanned and
output back to photographic paper/film. "Blue Screen Process" represents
enormous possibilities, virtually any combination of people and places is
within the realm of possibility and believability. Blue Screen Process is
a vital tool of the moving image maker, made more accessible by digital technologies;
but it is just a tool, how it is utilized in reality is determined by the
user. This project photographically examines a process that reflects a society
abundant in screen and screen technology. The concerns of this show are very
much photographic, spatial, and decidedly not narrative.
The exhibition will be on view from March 10 - April 7 2001. A reception will
be held for the artist in the gallery on March 10 from 6-8 PM at 516 West
20th St., New York City. For information call 212-741-8849.
