Have a Bite at Kim's - Signs series
Unique Markings / Visual Anthropology
The Hardy Gallery
August 27 - October 10, 2005
The Hardy Gallery
August 27 - October 10, 2005
Call me quirky but I love
to picnic in cemeteries, I collect rocks, really big rocks,
on all my travels and I can not pass a hand-painted sign with
out pulling over and taking a picture. Photography and travel
go hand in hand for me. I've collected images of signs from
coast to coast. I brake for all signs indiscriminatingly. So
much so, I should have a bumper sticker printed. I've trespassed
to make an image, daringly entered overgrown grasses in the
everglades, and even have had a police escort out of what they
called "not a good neighborhood for a girl all by herself with
a fancy camera." To say the least, I sometimes throw caution
to the wind to get the shot.
Wanderlust is what best describes
my motivation to hit the road and discover a new corner of our
vast and amazing nation. Give me any excuse to take a road trip
and I'm packing my bags. The back roads and small two lane highways
are the best for me. But I never rule out a cobblestone alleyway
or an abandoned neighbor in urban setting either. These are
all the places where I usually find my best visual fodder. Sadly
these signs, these beautiful works of peeling and faded folk
art, lead one to business that have long gone belly-up. Not
that I'm ever interested in what's being peddled. For me its
all about the hand made, time warp qualities of what is on the
board. The odder the better.
As a photographer I've wrapped my
brain around my work as such: fine art and collecting. The fine
art is the work I take long hours to contemplate, visualize
and then execute. The collecting is where I go out and let it
happen, unplanned and unscripted. My images of signs fall into
this category. The fun category. The carefree category. The
one my husband calls the "hurry up and wait while she takes
another picture" category. What ever the heading - I'm
hooked on signs. Not until this show, however, have I thought
about the bigger picture of how these signs connect me to a
living history, to a timeless tradition - a thrifty, pioneering,
under-the-the-radar kind of idealism and attitude. A very American
way of self expression and self promotion.
On the day I drove
to jury this exhibition I reviewed in my mind
all the signs I have ever photographed. Even
passing a few on highway 42 I still would like
to get on film. I imagined arriving to shot
after shot of signs. What else is there, I thought
to myself. But clearly there's more. I was pleasantly
taken aback. The fresh, high quality, diverse
work submitted completely set the mood for the
way I approached the jurying of the show. Work,
though very different from my own, swept me
off my feet. Even color work, me - the black
& white purist, feel in love with with the image
titled "Wallpaper - Tehran" of gaudily
printed khaki wallpaper with a portrait of the
Iranian version of Che Guevara on the wall.
The quietness captured within this image is
both haunting and fascinating. It allow me to
be voyeur and fearless globe-trekker all in
one.
The incredible bold turquoises in
the eerie digital series titled "Your Fairy Tale will Crash
and Burn" make my McCoy pottery collection fade in comparison.
While the cottony folds of white on white in the series titled
"Not There" show that color photography can be just as
powerful with the disciplined use of color. This work is quite
amazing - extremely personal statements. Almost akin to a visual
diary.
The clever appropriation
of the vintage snapshot of the kid in a halloween
custom and the gaggle of the Holy Mothers with
a lone Christ on the front lawn are not only
extremely well made and visual successful but
also right up my alley. Talk about quirky America.
The nod to Diane Arbus was apparent in the two
square portraits of the well-feed children standing
on the beds dressed in what I hope to be customs.
These are fine examples of the strange and hyper-normal
America sheltered under suburban roofs. But
what caught me off guard was the work that was
clearly staged, almost theatrical titled "Untitled."
Its subdued, muted and detached tone speaks
volumes - it young, fresh and edgy.
The almost vintage quality of "Keyhole
- Panafiel, Spain" (though I wish it were one quarter it's size)
and the pair of aged hands titled "1927" share a timeless
beauty. Work I would not only hang in my own home but would
also like to have as postcards so I could share them with family
and friends as well.
Of all the work, I am most smitten
by the lovely and odd images of scientific fascination. "Boxed
Wing" and "Spiral Shells (Study)" - both palladium
prints on rich museum quality paper - not only drew me in with
it's subject matter of incredible natural beauty but the richness
in which both prints were hand crafted. Though both photographs
share equal strength - "Boxed Wing" is my personal favorite
and the one I give my Juror's Choice Award. These two images,
for me, stand head and shoulders above the crowd. To this photographer,
I say kudos.
In my photographs I capture what
seems to be an America of another time. A slower universe parallel
to the fast past society in which we all live. I hope to reveal
a penchant toward an America that shares my values. A place
where real estate is a place we call home with a little room
to grow. A place where cathedral refers to a grand churches
not ceilings. And a place where quirky is still a good thing.
But regardless of my personal tastes and habits, my never-ending
curiosity will keep me on the road with a camera in tow. Being
a photographer allows me the pleasure to get real close and
CLICK - forever capturing it on film. For me the focus may be
my neighbor's "Eggs For Sale - 50 Cents a Dozen" sign or
the busy-body old timer's sign telling us to slow down because
we're all moving too fast. So no matter the speed, call me quirky
or maybe now a visual anthropologist, either is just fine with
me.
I would like to congratulate all
the photographers that have been selected for this exhibition.
Thank you to my fellow Jurors, Jan LaFontaine and Sarah Detweiler
and to The Hardy for this invitation to jury their first all-photographic
exhibition.
Suzanne Rose
August 2005
(Individual names of photographers
were withheld during the jurying process and not revealed until
after this essay had been written. My apologies.)
