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2010_Developed_Work

Center Gallery

111 Ellis

Wichita, KS

Exhibition: Final Friday, March 26

 

2010 NATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY FELLOWSHIP COMPETITION - "DEVELOPED WORK"

Visiting Juror: Natasha Egan, Associate Director, Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, Illinois

 

Opening Reception: Final Friday, March 26, 7 - 10 p.m.

Exhibition Dates: March 26 - April 23, 2010

Gallery Hours: Friday 12 - 6 p.m. & Saturday 12 - 2 p.m.

 

 

$ 500 Fellowship recipient: Larry Robinson, Iowa City, IA.

 

Exhibiting Artists: Zach Abubeker, Chicago, IL; Roger Boulay. Albuquerque, NM; Jennifer Colten, St. Louis, MO; Mary Farmilant, Chicago, IL; Pete Herzfeld, Washington, DC and Eric White, New York, NY.

 

Work featured on the Center Gallery website, Honorable Mentions: Ray Klimick, Athens, OH; Brook Reynolds, Charlotte, NC; Rylan Steele, Columbus, GA and Amanda Pfister, St. Louis, MO.

 

Juror Statement: It’s always a pleasure to serve as a juror for such national exhibitions like the Center Galley’s Developed Work exhibition for the 2010 National Photography Fellowship Competition. The process of looking at each submission opens my eyes to a variety of exciting trends developing in the field of photography. The photographic styles ranged from portraiture to landscape, abstract to sculptural, and conceptual to dreamlike. Overall the dominant theme was a introspect view of the United States’ social political landscape. The seven artists I chose to include in this exhibition reveal the diversity in photographic theme and style seen throughout all the entries.

 

 

 

Larry Robinson’s work cleverly stood out in the submissions with its wit, absurdity and pop culture references. The juxtaposition between the projected images of food in the installations with their contrasting domestic or natural environments speaks humorously to America’s infatuation with food. Roger Boulay’s photographs of sculptural stacks of magazines speak beautifully to America’s consumption of media. Jennifer Colten’s eerie surveillance-like video stills of uninhabited places tap into the more anxiety prone culture Americans have developed since the September 11th attacks. Eric White’s examines the border between Mexico and the United States with particular focus on the security fences, surveillance stations and checkpoints. Through portraiture, still-life and landscape, Zach Abubecker observes Ethiopian immigration in the United States raising issues of assimilation and cultural identity. Mary Farmilant’s striking interiors of abandoned hospital spaces perhaps act as a depiction of the current demise of the heath care system. And lastly, Pete White conflates death notice photographs with weather reports in an attempt to illustrate the social political tension generated by death.

 

 

 

The caliber of the work submitted was stellar and I would like to recognize the following artists that I was unable to include in this exhibition: Brook Reynolds for her pictures of closed gas stations; Rylan Steele for his interior office pictures, and Amanda Pfister for her typography of closed car dealership throughout the United States.

 

 

 

Natasha Egan

 

Associate Director and Curator

 

Museum of Contemporary Photography

 

Columbia College Chicago

 

For more information regarding Center Gallery and the 2010 National Photography Fellowship Competition - "Developed Work" exhibition, please contact: www.centergalleryonline.com

 

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Uploaded on September 16, 2010
Taken on September 16, 2010