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Contrario Collective and the Sum of its Parts

March 26, 2015 By Caroline Space

"Pearls" by Emma McAlary
“Pearls” by Emma McAlary

The art world has a reputation of being a competitive place, but often here, in the nation’s capital, we see camaraderie bloom between artists. The new photography group, Contrario Collective, has a mission to unite photographers to inspire each other and create collectively. They opened an exhibit featuring work by their members last Thursday, so I stopped by to see the display and talk to the photographers about what their goal is for the collective.

"Out" by Victoria Milko
“Out” by Victoria Milko

Victoria Milko says she felt the need to assemble a collective in D.C. that is a “constructive place where a bunch of us can get together, take photos, and critique each other’s work with no pretense of being competitive.” In the art community, she says, “there are two sides to the spectrum: you can share your information and learn from each other or, you can be really competitive and not talk about what you’re doing.” Milko describes her friend, Emma McAlary as easy-going, kind, and creative, making her the perfect partner to help organize a collective. The two women share the same values and ideas about photography today, especially in Washington, D.C. McAlary says, “Victoria and I got together one day and we were just talking about the landscape of the D.C. art scene—photography specifically—and we thought there isn’t quite a place for us. And we want to go against the grain—hence the name—Contrario.” They wanted to enlist more like-minded photographers to create a collective based on what Milko describes as an “idea that isn’t typically found in the photography scene.”

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Artist Spotlight, Exposed Interview, Review Tagged With: Candid Moments, Contrario Collective, Emma McAlary, Farrah Skeiky, Katie Fielding, Motorcycle Photography, music photography, Noe Todorovich, OUT Riders Women's Motorcycle Club, photojournalism, SCID, Sensory Images, The Perlan Theater Group, Victoria Milko

Review: FotoweekDC Contest Winners

November 11, 2014 By Caroline Space

Image from Gossamer Thread series by Kaitlin Jencso
Image from Gossamer Thread series by Kaitlin Jencso

The 7th annual FotoWeekDC photography festival launched Friday at its 2014 headquarters, the Former Spanish Ambassador’s Residence. The impressive house had a moderate crowd, deafening music, women handing out long-stem red roses—that soon littered radiators and the floor—and kaleidoscoping lights (you probably saw them all over Instagram).

The launch party featured a few formal exhibitions, along with the winners of their annual contest. FotoWeek has often relegated the contest and local content to an afterthought, so it’s not too much of a surprise to find the contest winners exhibited as such. The images were small and poorly printed, pasted onto black foam core and arranged in a grid. The elementary presentation gave the impression that they ran out of time to finish the installation. (Needless to say, they certainly weren’t meant to be seen during the party under dim colored strobe lights; the other exhibits stayed under gallery lighting.)

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Review Tagged With: Arnold van Bruggen, Benjamin Tankersley, FotoDC, FotoWeekDC, Joseph Romeo, Kaitlin Jencso, Rob Hornstra

Some Uses of Photography @ Katzen Arts Center

October 29, 2014 By Caroline Space

Ding Ren, i took a picture i was of motion. 2011_2013
Ding Ren, i took a picture i was of motion. 2011-2013

Some Uses of Photography: Four Washington Artists at American University’s Katzen Arts Center is a unique kind of photography show. In a dark room tucked away on the third level is an intriguing exploration of how photography is used to make art. I was delighted to see that Phyllis Rosenzweig, a former curator at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, organized the exhibition—she was, big disclaimer, one of my thesis advisors, so I asked to interview her about the exhibition and how it serves to change the dialogue of cataloguing photography in contemporary art.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Review Tagged With: Ding Ren, exhibit, Jack Rasmussen, Jenn DePalma, Katzen Arts Center, Phyllis Rosenzweig, Sandra Rottman, show, Siobhan Rigg, The American University

The Places We Find Photography – Andrew Wyeth’s Paintings at NGA

July 17, 2014 By Caroline Space

Andrew Wyeth, Wind from the Sea, 1947
Andrew Wyeth, Wind from the Sea, 1947

Looking Out, Looking In at the National Gallery of Art is a small, humble show featuring mid-century artist Andrew Wyeth’s paintings of windows and farmhouses – a show that quickly became one of my all-time favorite exhibits. You will not see his most famous painting, Christina’s World, or images of his muse Helga; instead, the NGA has followed the thread from their painting, Wind from the Sea, which is regularly on view. This is an emotional journey through light, movement, and contemplation—not only in the process of his paintings but the process of where your mind wanders while looking at art. These works felt familiar but I could not unravel the why at first—this is the first I’ve seen most of these works. I looked back and forth between the paintings and their labels—the dates struck me. The 1940s through 70s were not frequented with many ethereal, subject-driven paintings.

However, photography was.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Review Tagged With: Andrew Wyeth, exhibit, Looking Out Looking In, National Gallery of Art, NGA, review

American Cool at the National Portrait Gallery

April 7, 2014 By Caroline Space

James Dean, Roy Schatt, Silver Gelatin Print, 1954.
James Dean, Roy Schatt, Silver Gelatin Print, 1954.

The National Portrait Gallery’s American Cool, on view until September 7, is a cultural study through portraits of iconic figures from a variety of fields of art, culture, and political activism. American Cool embodies the zeitgeist in a gallery of silver gelatin.

What does it mean to be cool? Cool is rebellious self-expression, magnetism, and edginess. In the early 1940s, legendary jazz saxophonist Lester Young carried this central African American concept into a modern language. Cool became the thoroughfare to laid-back lifestyle bringing a poised state of mind, a spirited mode of performance, and a certain sophisticated fortitude. A cool person controlled the historical moment with an original signature style. Cool has been personified in jazz musicians such as Miles Davis and Billie Holiday, in actors such as Marlon Brando, Audrey Hepburn, and Johnny Depp, and in singers such as Elvis, Jimi Hendrix, Debbie Harry, and Jay-Z.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Review Tagged With: American Cool, exhibit, National Portrait Gallery

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