“Completely cameraless photographs” are also called photograms.
Photograms
The photogram represents a unique art form requiring only the action of light on a photosensitive substrate.
The history of photography is punctuated by practitioners who have developed a technique or style that has become a part of art history. The first period of “photogram” exploration was to gain scientific record of natural objects (e.g. Anna Atkins). The second period was a rediscovery of the artistic potential as illustrated by Christian Schad, Man Ray and Lazlo Moholy-Nagy in the Dada, Surrealist and Constructivist periods of art, respectively.
More recently, photogramists have utilized the photogram as a means of artistic expression to produce a wide variety of designs and surreal imagery.
This imagery is being created using traditional silver-gelatin black and white materials and other photosensitive media including cyanotype that are now considered alternative methods. Others are using both negative and positive acting color photographic materials to create ‘photograms’.
The following video presents DAVID ZWIRNER – Thomas Ruff:
Thomas Ruff’s new photograms series depict abstract shapes, lines, and spirals in seemingly random formations with varying degrees of transparency and illumination. Their compositions are reminiscent of artistic experimentation with camera-less photography in the 1920s, where objects were placed directly on photo sensitive paper and exposed to light, creating white or gray silhouettes wherever they made contact. Cherished in particular by Surrealists, such photograms were governed by unanticipated light effects, allowing for the element of chance in the final result. Yet both the objects and the light in Ruff’s “photograms” derive from a virtual studio built by a custom-made software program, giving the artist more control over the outcome.
Ruff adds colors to his photograms (a departure from the monochrome tones of traditional versions), creating visually complex, illusory arrangements of foreground and background, definition and blur. The composition of each work appears to present a fragment of a larger, continuous whole, much like the artist’s photographs of stars and galaxies gathered from negatives bought from the European Southern Observatory, but ultimately corresponding to his own pictorial scheme. As in this earlier series, Ruff’s photograms are autonomous from actual referents.
By invoking early twentieth century processes—which in the hands of artists like László Moholy-Nagy and Man Ray carried revolutionary promises of a more direct representation of light than photography mediated by a camera—Ruff’s photograms suggest an equally radical method of simulating light using calculations based on optics. Their digital generation raises broader questions about what constitutes photography, and ultimately touches upon the issue of the medium’s veracity. As such, they continue the artist’s interest in exploring the limits of photographic representation, in the process reinventing many of its familiar genres.
The works in Ruff’s ma.r.s. series are based on black-and-white satellite photographs of the surface of Mars, taken by NASA spacecraft as part of a search for clues about how long water existed on the planet, and if it was ever present for a long enough spell to provide a habitat for life (“ma.r.s.” stands for “Mars Reconnaissance Survey”). Ruff’s images show extreme close-ups of the planet’s rugged surface, until recently unseen by anyone. Downloading the pictures from NASA’s website, the artist used computer manipulation to infuse the gray-scale images with saturated color. The resulting chromogenic prints transform the originals into visual statements that both capture the sweeping enormity of the planetary surface while distancing themselves from representational imagery, evocative instead of abstract and minimalist compositions
TEXT COURTESY OF:
David Zwirner- 525 W. 19th
525 W. 19th Street
(between 10th Ave. and West St.)
New York, NY 10011-2808
WEBSITE: http://www.davidzwirner.com/
50th Anniversary Huntington Summer Arts Festival
Presents
Artie Techie Juried Art Show
Exhibit: July 2 – 18, 2015
Opening Reception July 10, 6-8pm
FREE Admissions: All are Welcome to Attend
Main Street Gallery, 213 Main Street, Huntington New York, USA
Main Street Gallery Hours: Monday – Friday 9 am – 5 pm; Saturday 12 pm – 4 pm
Please note the Gallery will be closed July 3-4 in observance of the holiday.
Phone: 631-271-8423
email info@huntingtonarts.org
Enjoy!
NEWS RELEASE
Artie Techie Juried Art Show
June 26, 2015
Main Street Gallery announces the upcoming Artie Techie Juried Art Show. The exhibit is on display from July 2 – 18th, 2015. The Opening Reception on Friday, July 10 from 6-8pm Main Street Gallery, 213 Main Street, Huntington NY. All are welcome to attend.
Congratulations to all of the participating artists;
David Benson, Stephen Bitel, Jeanine Boubli, Virginia Bushart, Elizabeth Cassidy, Robby Cusack, Emily Eisen, William Farran, Jim Finlayson, Beryl Garner, Joanna Gazzola, Diane Godlewski, Marzena Grabczynska, William Grabowski, Samantha Hernandez, Kate Kelly, Cheryl Kurman, Neil Leinwohl, Remy Lexington, John A. Lynch, Stephanie Marcus, Ron Merrick, Carol J. Miller, Jean Miller, Kasmira Mohanty, Lynellen Nielsen, Lisa Petker Mintz, Howard Prince, Alan M. Richards, Sally Shore, Mark Strodl, Irv Suss, Mac Titmus, Bobbie Turner, Debra Urso, Pamela Waldroup, and Nancy Yoshii
Special acknowledgement goes to:
1st Place – Jeanine Boubli – Salt
2nd Place – Kasmira Mohanty – Harrison
3rd Place – Jim Finlayson – Sentinel
“The artists in ‘Artie Techie’ used a variety of image-making methods from across the artistic and technological spectrum from manipulated digital prints, camera-generated images and completely computer-generated images evoking paintings and drawings. Others used the scanner as their main capture. Still others appear to be representational, camera-generated photographs, but are, in fact, completely cameraless, a new technical twist on the trompe l’oeil Photorealist movement of the 1960s and 70s. ’Artie Techie’ is a truly unique and innovative exhibition that opens a wide spectrum of artistic offerings. Worth a visit! “ JUROR: Barbara Jaffe, Professor of Fine Arts / Photography in the Department of Fine Arts, Design, Art History at Hofstra University.
The Main Street Gallery hours are Monday – Friday from 9am-5pm and Saturday 12pm-4pm. Please note the Gallery will be closed July 3-4 in observance of the holiday. For additional information on the exhibit and other Huntington Arts Council events please contact HAC at 631-271-8423.
Some original images that were captured by Mars Rover Curiosity’s cameras as well as info about the rover’s cameras can be viewed at http://www.photoxels.com/mars-rover-curiositys-cameras-captured-selfies-broken-sidewalk-small-ball-pyramid-bird-sculpture-laser-shots/ .