Griffin Main Gallery

Statement
The Unchosen Ones takes place on the sidelines of county fair animal contests in Minnesota in 2016. These county fairs lead up to the Minnesota State Fair, one of the largest and best-attended expositions in the world.

One isn’t born a winner or loser, but a chooser. This theme I explore in this series.

As we look at them, they look back, allowing us to think about how we choose winners and the repercussions for the ones not chosen.

The project consists of over 60 portraits made at 10 Minnesota county fairs in 2016. The photographs showcase the subject facing the camera, allowing the viewer to decide what connects and distinguishes these subjects.

With a vantage point straight onto the figures, the direct stance portrayed develops a typology, showcasing individual styles and characteristics. With a serial and systematic approach, the human condition is exposed in real-time. – R. J. Kern

Statement
Out to Pasture serves as a secondary, deeper glimpse of The Unchosen Ones, offering insight into the cultural landscape these animals call “home.”

This work explores how we see animals in a place, how we shape that place, and how it shapes us. The pastoral environment not only serves as backdrop for better understanding the cultural and physical landscape which have shaped this species, but human behavior is often mirrored in response. – R. J. Kern

Bio
R. J. Kern (b. 1978) is an American artist whose work explores ideas of home, ancestry, and a sense of place through the interaction of people, animals, and cultural landscapes.

His work has been exhibited in a number of notable exhibitions, including at the Museum of Modern Art (Tbilisi, Georgia), National Portrait Gallery (London, UK), and the Yixian International Photography Festival (Anhui, China) among others.

Awards and accolades include CENTER 2017 Choice Award Winner, Curator’s Choice (First Place), PDN’s 30 2018, Critical Mass 2018 Top 50, the 2017 TAYLOR WESSING Photographic Portrait Prize (Finalist), and he is the recipient of two Artist Initiative Grants from the Minnesota State Arts Board (2016, 2018).

Kern’s work has been presented in a number of publications, including a feature in National Geographic (November 2017), with his series The Unchosen Ones and Out To Pasture. In 2018, Kern published his first monograph with Kehrer Verlag titled, The Sheep and the Goats, awarded one of  “The Most Beautiful German Books 2018,” by Stiftung Buchkunst.

Public collections holding his work include the Center for Creative Photography, the Griffin Museum of Photography, the Plains Art Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and the Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg. He is represented by the Klompching Gallery in New York and Burnet Fine Art in Minnesota.

He lives and works in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Website

The 2018 Arnold Newman Prize For New Directions in Photographic Portraiture

About the Prize
Arnold Newman had an insatiable fascination with people and the physical world around him. In his work, he constantly explored the boundaries of portraiture and embodied the spirit of artistic innovation. He was also a passionate teacher–he taught at Maine Media Workshops + College every summer for over 30 years, inspiring hundreds of artists and sharing wisdom like, “we make photographs with our hearts and with our minds.” In honor of Arnold’s legacy as both a photographer and mentor, The Arnold Newman Prize for New Directions in Photographic Portraiture recognizes excellence in a new generation of photographers by awarding $20,000 to a photographer whose work demonstrates a compelling new vision in the genre of portraiture. The prize, the second largest in the United States, is designed to assist the winner in continuing the pursuit of their work and to serve as a launching pad for the next phase of their careers.

Maine Media Workshops and College and the Arnold and Augusta Newman Foundation present the Arnold Newman Prize. Established in 2009 the prize is generously funded by the Arnold and Augusta Newman Foundation and proudly administered by Maine Media Workshops + College.

You can view the 2018 ANP Press Kit here. Please direct any press questions to lbrotz@mainemedia.edu.

2018 Award Winner Viktoria Sorochinski with “Daddy”
2018 Finalist Juul Kraijer with “Muse”
2018 Finalist Francesco Pergolesi with “Heroes”
2018 Finalist Donna Pinckley with “Sticks and Stones”

2018 Arnold Newman Award Winner – Viktoria Sorochinski with “Daddy”

Viktoria Sorochinski is a Ukrainian-born Canadian artist currently working and living in Berlin, Germany. Sorochinski acquired her Masters of Fine Arts from New York University in 2008. In the past ten years she has had nearly 60 exhibitions in 18 countries throughout Europe, North and South America, and Asia. Sorochinski’s work is published and reviewed in over 70 international publications including her monograph “Anna & Eve” published in Germany by Peperoni Books in 2013. She is also a winner and finalist of numerous international competitions, fellowships and awards, such as Leica Oskar Barnack Award, Lucie Award (IPA-Discovery of the Year), LensCulture Exposure Award/Emerging Talent Award, Felix Scholler Award, Visible White Photo Prize (Celeste Prize), Magenta Flash Forward, PDN Photo Annual, J.M.Cameron Award, Voies Off Arles Award, Review Santa Fe, Descubrimientos PHE, BluePrint Fellowship and Canada Council for the Arts Grant among others.

Statement on “Daddy”

“Daddy” is a long term, narrative project that dwells in between documentary and fiction. Notwithstanding the staged quality of this project, it is a true story of a relationship between father and daughter (Andrew and Lucie) whom I first met in New York in 2008 and whom I follow since 9 years. All the scenes in “Daddy” project are inspired by my conversations with Andrew – conflicted young man who has decided to have a child when he was 20 years-old. During these conversations, he has generously shared with me his most concealed thoughts, feelings, fantasies and fears. The young father was going through a complex psychological conflict with himself. His unfulfilled wish to have a son turned into an unexpected reality where he has to bring up a daughter. Dealing with his own childhood memories and unsettling relationship with his own father he is overwhelmed by his weaknesses and fears, struggling with the fact that he has to be the role model for his child. Using a fiction-like, playful approach allowed me to talk about deep personal issues and psychological tensions that would have otherwise stayed behind closed doors.

In addition to the photographs, I have recorded “Daddy’s Confession” 2012 – a video that features the father’s monolog where he reflects on his ambivalent state of mind. viktoria-sorochinski.com

“I’m truly thrilled and honored to be the winner of the Arnold Newman Prize for New Directions in Photographic Portraiture 2018! The recognition of my work by this prestigious award is one of the greatest achievements in my career as an artist-photographer to date. For many years Arnold Newman’s masterful photographic portraiture has been an inspiration for me. I feel really overwhelmed and thankful to the judges for selecting my project as the winner. I have worked on the series DADDY for nearly 10 years and I care deeply about this work and the subject of father-daughter relationships that it portrays. I am really happy that this work is going to get wide exposure thanks to the Arnold Newman Prize.” – VS

2018 Finalist – Juul Kraijer with “Muse”
Juul Kraijer was born in 1970 in The Netherlands. She lives and works in Rotterdam.

In the twenty years since she graduated from art school, Juul Kraijer’s meticulous, exploratory methods have yielded an authentic, consistent oeuvre of predominantly drawings, and several sculptures and videos. Her work has been shown widely and is in the collection of many mainly European museums.

Recently she has concentrated on making photographs, expanding and deepening her photographic universe with characteristic single-mindedness. juulkraijer.com

2018 Finalist – Francesco Pergolesi with “Heroes”
Francesco Pergolesi was born in Venice in 1975.  After a law degree he decided to dedicate his life entirely to photography and installations. His work explores the territory of memories. Every shot is a theater scene. He lives and works between Rome and Barcelona. He is represented by the Catherine Edelman Gallery, Chicago. francescopergolesi.com

 

 

2018 Finalist Donna Pinckley with “Sticks and Stones”

Donna Pinckley was born in Louisiana and has lived in the South all her life. Her work has dealt with the human condition and the intimate relationship between the subject and her audience and has evolved into her current body of work that deals with racism. She received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in photography from Louisiana Tech University and a Master of Fine Arts in photography from University of Texas at Austin.

She has received Visual Artist Fellowships from the Mid-America Arts Alliance/NEA and the Arkansas Arts Council. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally in over 200 solo/juried shows and included in several public collections, such as the Ogden Museum of Southern Art in New Orleans, Louisiana, the University of VeraCruz at Xalapa, VeraCruz, Mexico, and the Photographic Collection at the Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas at Austin.

In 2017, she received the Beth Block Honorarium from the Houston Center for Photography’s Member’s Show and in 2016, she was the first recipient of the Josephine Herrick Photography Award for combining photography with social justice. Also, that year, she was selected for PhotoLucida’s Critical Mass Top 50 exhibition. In both 2015 and 2014, she won Honorable Mention in the Black and White Spider Awards and in 2013, she won third place at The International Photography Awards. She has been published in GEO Germany, Black and White (UK), The Photo Review magazine, Photography Quarterly and the online   publications, www.slate.com and www.theguardian.com and www.huffingtonpost.com. She is currently Professor of Art at the University of Central Arkansas. donnapinckley.com

The Atelier Photography 28 will showcase at the Griffin from September 11 – October 5, 2018. The reception will take place on September 16, 2018 from 5:30 – 7:30 PM after Jennifer Shaw’s talk at 4:00 PM

The Atelier is a course for intermediate and advanced photographers offered by the Griffin Museum of Photography. You are invited to come view the photographs at the Griffin Museum, 67 Shore Road, Winchester, MA 01890.

Photography Atelier Instructor and Photographer Meg Birnbaum shared, “The Photography Atelier has such a long and rich history, I’m honored to be leading this workshop for emerging photographers with Amy Rindskopf assisting. The talent among the 24 members of this group show is varied and inspiring — from our relationship with architecture, memory, color, light and objects, the landscape, borders and boundaries and portraits — the show is very satisfying feast for the eyes and soul.”

The photographers of Photography Atelier 28 include: Edward Boches, Ann Boese, Terry Bleser, Sally Bousquet, Larry Bruns, Lee Cott, Fehmida Chipty, Corinne DiPietro, Jackie Heitchue, Cynthia Johnston, Laura Jolly, Shelby Meyerhoff, Judith Montminy, Jeff Mulliken, Juan Murray, Leslie Myers, Nancy Nichols, Vivian Poey, Larry Raskin, Astrid Reischwitz, Darrell Roak, Claudia Ruiz-Gustafson, Donna Tramontozzi and Maria Verrier.

Ann Boese with ‘Interlude’ explores how the ocean’s edge reminds her of growing up in the Midwest.

Astrid Reischwitz with ‘Spin Club Tapestry’ examines a tradition from her home in Northern Germany where the village women would gather together to talk and stitch textiles for their homes.

Claudia Ruiz-Gustafson with ‘She’ finds inspiration in an ancient poem found in a cave in Egypt that is as relevant today as it was in the first century.

Corinne DiPietro’s long-term project ‘Human Nature‘ captures life in the Victory Gardens in Boston, one of America’s oldest continuously operating World War II community gardens.

Cynthia Johnston went on a road trip ‘Somewhere in the Middle‘ and returned with surprising images of the continuing myths and symbols found in the middle of the US.

Darrell Roak’s project ‘Glimpses of the Past’ is printed in gorgeous black, white and grays. He photographs historical artifacts and places that he feels a personal connection.

Donna Tramontozzi in ‘Becoming Animal’ visits aquariums and places where one can see animals up close although not in their natural habitats. She watches patiently for moments where she can imagine that captivity is forgotten for a moment and behavior is as natural as in the wilds.

Edward Boches ‘Slowly at First’ compassionately photographed the last days of his mother’s life and the families that grieved with him.

Fehmida Chipty in ‘Color and Light’ creates color-rich abstract images by showing us interior architectural spaces and presenting them to us in handsome new ways.

Jackie Heitchue’s self-portraits called ‘Just me’ shows different sides of herself by constructing complicated environments and transforming herself through the use of costumes.

Jeff Mulliken project is about the ‘Elm Street Dam, in Kingston MA.’ which was a significant place for him growing up. Jeff discovered that the dam is to be taken down in the near future so he explored and documented the dam and the roaring power of water as it is now.

 Juan Murray in ‘Anonymity’ adds a new layer of narrative to his work with a local non-profit agency on the subject of homelessness in Massachusetts.

Judith Montminy’s project ‘Inside/Out’ creates compelling parallel worlds through reflections in windows and mirror-like surfaces.

Larry Bruns recorded and abstracted the changing seasons of natural color as reflected in different bodies of water in his body of work called ‘Carpe Diem‘.

In ‘Nature Nurtures‘ Larry Raskin takes weekly healing walks through the woods and photographs the quiet and surprising things he comes across.

The citizens and city of Chelsea, Massachusetts, enthralled Laura Jolly. In particular she was interested in the people who independently fish the waterfront and harbor side. The body of work is called ‘Admirals Hill‘.

In ‘Architecture Never-the-less‘, retired architect Lee Cott sees inherent design in most structures big and small. In this project he considers the creative thought and decision making that went into abandoned roadside vegetable and fruit stands.

Leslie Myers project called ‘It seems that this- the day- returns but counterclockwise’ employs the panoramic image to explore the time, space and motion of particular places.

In ‘Not Forgotten‘ Maria Verrier discovered a box full of her family’s old worn shoes. She set about creating portraits of the shoe’s owners by creating significant environments for the shoes that reflect the person and time.

In the portfolio ‘Stand Here‘, Nancy Nichols creates colorful, evocative images of places and things hoping to inspire the viewer to imagine their own narrative.

Sally Bousquet’s portfolio ‘A Modern Family‘ presents a larger and more emotional slice of a family’s history than the more posed and formal images we become accustomed to seeing on social media.

Shelby Meyerhof in ‘Zoomorphics‘ transforms her appearance using complex and detailed body paint into creatures inspired by what she finds in nature.

Terry Bleser’s six-year project ‘Tree and Door‘ explores a quiet story that built over time. The shared life of the two central figures helped the artist to realize a deeper understanding of her own yearnings and dreams.

Vivian Poey’s ‘Barquito de Papel: we are not butterflies‘ explores migration both personal to the artist and as a timely Trump-era hot button issue. This portfolio is part of long-term explorations into borders and barriers.

Photography Atelier Website

PhotoSynthesis is a collaboration of the Winchester High School and Burlington High School brought to you by the Griffin Museum of Photography.

By creating photographic portraits of themselves and their surroundings, students from Burlington High School and Winchester High School have been exploring their sense of self and place in a unique collaborative program at the Griffin Museum.

In its thirteenth year, the 5-month program connects approximately 20 students – from each school – with each other and with professional photographers. The goal is to increase students’ awareness of the art of photography, as well as how being from different programs and different schools affects their approach to the same project.

The students were given the task of creating a body of work that communicates a sense of self and place.  They were encouraged to explore the importance of props, the environment, facial expression, metaphor, and body language in portrait photography.

Students met in November with David Weinberg, who after a 28-year career as an academic pathologist at a Boston teaching hospital, decided to pursue his longstanding interest in photography on a full-time basis. For many years his research explored the use of digital imaging to detect and classify human disease, so it was entirely natural for him to adopt digital photography for his personal work. In 2006 he obtained a Certificate in Professional Photography from the Center for Digital Imaging and the Arts at Boston University.

His personal work consists mainly of portraits, landscapes, cityscapes, and still life. His photographs are an attempt to deal with the mystery of the visual world, which he sometimes find humorous, sometimes soothing, and often confusing. Although the various series of photographs in his portfolio may at first appear unrelated, they are linked by desire to discover a spiritual connection to the subject. His series, “Palimpsest,” is perhaps most explicit in this regard.

Keiko Hiromi met with students in February and discussed her photography journey especially her project on survivors of the atomic bomb in Nagasaki and Hiroshima, Japan. Keiko Hiromi is a Japanese photographer based in Boston, USA & Tokyo, Japan.   Her work has appeared on NYT, People Magazine, Vanity Fair, El Pais, Der Spiegel, Diamond Weekly (japan), Boston Globe, PRI and ABC news and many more publications around the globe.  Keiko is a regular contributor for Huffington Post Japan.  She is available for assignments world-wide. She has international honors, has exhibited widely and is represented internationally in museum collections internationally.

Students also met with photographer Sam Sweezy to discuss sequencing of images. Sweezy is a professional fineart and commercial photographer and educator who resides in Newton, MA. He has exhibited at major photography venues including the George Eastman House in Rochester, NY.

Alison Nordstrom, the former curator of the George Eastman House in Rochester, N.Y., and photographer Sweezy gathered with students for a one-on-one discussion of their work and a final edit was created for the exhibition at the museum.

“In collaboration and through creative discourse these students have grown,” said Paula Tognarelli, executive director of the Griffin Museum. “We are very pleased to be able to share this year’s students’ work. We thank the mentors and teachers for providing a very meaningful experience for the students. We also want to thank the Griffin Foundation and the Murphy Foundation, whose continued commitment to this project made learning possible. To paraphrase Elliot Eisner, the arts enabled these students to have an experience that they could have from no other source.’’

 On January 11, 2018, the Griffin Museum opens with “Holly Roberts: 33 Years,” an exhibition of mixed media artwork by Holly Roberts.

“Holly Roberts: 33 Years” will showcase in the Main Gallery of the Griffin Museum of Photography in Winchester, MA from January 11 – March 4, 2018. An opening reception (Free for all) takes place on Thursday, January 18, 2018, 7 – 8:30 p.m. There will be a gallery walk/talk with the artist at 6 PM on January 18, 2018. The gallery walk/talk is free for members and is $10 for nonmembers.

Holly Roberts says, “I have been experimenting with different ways of making images for the past few years, but always with paint and photography as the driving forces.” Her work has continued to evolve, but she has reversed her original process of heavily overpainting the black and white silver print. She now works on top of a painted surface, developing a narrative scene with collaged photographic elements. Where earlier pieces reflected psychological or emotional undercurrents, newer works make use of familiar or iconic stories to address tougher questions about man’s effect on the land and the animals that inhabit it.

“My photographic imagery is widely varied, all the way from specific portraits of people or animals to photos of rocks, leaves, or even dead moths—material I can use to build textures and surfaces.”  She goes on to say, “I have also begun to work with transfers, something I have taught for years but never really integrated into my own work. I am seduced by the magic of taking something and making it live as something else.  And, most recently, I have gone back to working with oil paints, something I gave up 13 years ago in favor of acrylics.”

“What has resulted is a wide variety of images, still with my own view of the world at their core, says Roberts. “Animals, people, and people as animals are my most constant themes.  Portraits of men and women have become a larger part of what I do.  Horses, dogs, and birds are the animals I use predominantly since those are the animals I feel most connected to.  If I can find any one theme that runs through my work, it would be a subtle kind of loneliness or feeling of separateness, at times mixed with odd humor.”

Paula Tognarelli, executive director of the Griffin Museum says, “In the trilogy of shows opening in Winchester on January 11, 2018, if there is a common element that links each to the other, it is the ability of the artists to disclose personal psychologies without vulnerability. It is this show of openness that draws us to the artists and their art-making process.”

Holly Roberts, born in Boulder, Colorado, earned an M.F.A. from Arizona State University, Tempe, in 1981. Her artworks mixing photography with paint and other media are found in close to forty corporate and public collections, exhibited nationally and internationally, and have been published in three major monographs. She has twice received National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships. Holly currently lives and works in Corrales, New Mexico, with her husband, Robert Wilson.

Known for its Native American heritage, New Mexico, surrounded by desert, is a place where indigenous ideology and Western beliefs merge, creating a magical area filled with a sense of history and spirituality — elements essential to Roberts and her work. In 1980, while living on a Zuni reservation in New Mexico, Roberts quietly painted on photographs she had taken of her husband, children, animals and friends. The results of her efforts was startling, as her work was embraced across the country for its innovative style and psychological dramas which confront the anguish, joy, challenges and complexities involved in daily life.

Holly Roberts is represented by Tilt Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ, Craig Krull Gallery, Santa Monica, CA, Morpeth Contemporary, Hopewell, NJ, Turner Carroll Gallery, Santa Fe, NM and Catherine Edelman Gallery, Chicago, IL.

My website

My blog

Catalog for Holly Roberts: 33 Years

We have placed all of the jpgs we had on the web for all to see before the show comes down. There is no sequence. It will probably be in alpha order  based on name of files.

For the fifth year, The Griffin Museum has invited all of its current members to exhibit in the Winter Solstice Exhibition. From across the world, artists enter one piece to be on display for December 2017. Photographs will be presented in the Main Gallery of the Griffin and display a spectrum of genres and processes. The opening reception is Thursday, December 7, 2017 from 7-8:30 PM. Sales are encouraged and many artists have donated the proceeds back to the Griffin.

Prospectus

CALL FOR ENTRIES: WINTER SOLSTICE SHOW
Griffin Museum of Photography’s ALL Members Show

Exhibit dates: December 7 – December 31, 2017
Reception: December 7, 2017 from 7-8:30pm
67 Shore Road, Winchester MA 01890

ELIGIBILITY: This Call for Entries is open to all Member photographers. There is no entry fee.

Entrants must be members of the Griffin Museum of Photography (with expiration after 12/08/2017). The Griffin Museum invites photographers working in all mediums, styles and schools of thought to participate. Experimental and mixed techniques are welcome. We accept only one image that you’ve carefully considered. Artwork submitted must be original and by the submitter. Images must be no larger than 16×20 inches framed. Frame must be wired.

SUBMISSION DEADLINE: Work must ARRIVE at the Griffin between November 17, 2017- December 1, 2017.

We are not open on Mondays. Our hours are noon to 4 PM. If you need something outside of those hours, call us to see if we can handle your request.

HOW TO ENTER:
Use the digital portal on our website for submitting:

1. Submit jpg file of photograph. 300 dpi rgb. more or less 4×6 inches. Name your file: your last name_your first name.jpg. We will use images for website, to plan layout, for media and possibly for catalogue if found we can handle it in time.
2. Sale Price
3. Title of Photograph
4. Creation Date
5. Medium (i.e. archival inkjet print, silver gelatin print)
6. Size of framed print
7. Download loan agreement on website, read, sign and return to the Griffin Museum with framed piece. Any questions email: iaritza@griffinmuseum.org.
8. Download form and attach to back of framed piece filled out.
9. Will piece be dropped off or shipped?

Loan_Agreement_Winter Solstice Members’ Exhibition
Winter Solstice Form to go on back of framed print

If we do not receive submission before Dec 1^st (when work is due in museum) work will not be included.

IMAGE PREPARATION:

• Framed and wired to hang
• Framed piece may not exceed 16×20 inches
• Must include artist name on the back of your frame with form attached.
• Must include complete form sheet on the back of frame

 

MAILED SUBMISSIONS:

• Please include complete title sheet below and return to Griffin Museum to put on back of framed piece.
• Must include return shipping label with package

Mail to:

Griffin Museum Winter Solstice Show 2017
67 Shore Road
Winchester, MA 01890

We will ship immediately after show so please expect to receive the package soon after the exhibition is over. (See loan agreement for more information)

DROP OFF / PICK UP:
The museum does not have sufficient space to store work that has been dropped off. You are responsible to pick-up immediately after the exhibition is over. (See Loan Agreement for more information)

EXHIBIT PRINTS: All images submitted for exhibition must be printed and framed professionally with either glass or plexi. The Griffin Museum recognizes that some work is non-traditional and incorporates the framing as an integral part of the presentation. Artists will be responsible for shipping their framed images to the Griffin Museum in advance of the gallery show and for supplying a pre-paid return-shipping label. All must provide the signed Loan Agreement Contract. See link above.

SALES: All work accepted for the Winter Solstice gallery show must be for sale. The Griffin Museum will retain a 35% commission on the sale of any work with the option to give all proceeds to the Griffin Museum. Thank you so much if you choose this option.

USE RIGHTS: Artists maintain copyright on all of their work. By submission, artists grant the Griffin Museum the right to use their images for the purpose of marketing the exhibition and other Griffin Museum programs; and for reproduction online, social media and in a print exhibition catalogue. Artists grant the use of their image(s) as stated without further contact or compensation from the Griffin. Artist’s recognition is provided with any use. Submitting artists will be added to the Griffin Museum’s monthly newsletter subscriber list. They may opt out using a link on each newsletter at any time. Any questions, please email iaritza@griffinmuseum.org

We always look forward to our members show. You make our everyday happen!
Thank you for being a part of the Griffin community.

On October 11, 2017, the Griffin Museum opens with “Gray Matters,” an exhibition of photographs by Marina Font, Francie Bishop Good, Sandra Klein, J. Fredric May, Liz Steketee and Colleen Woolpert. This exhibition is shown under the overarching title called “Gray Matters” and opens during FlashPoint Boston. Six solo exhibits will be featured in the Main Gallery, Atelier Gallery and the Griffin Gallery of the Griffin Museum of Photography in Winchester, MA.

J. Fredric May, in the Atelier Gallery at the Griffin, will exhibit “Apparition: Postcards from Eye See You” and Liz Steketee, will exhibit “Sewn” in the Griffin Gallery. Francie Bishop Good exhibits “Comus,” Marina Font’s exhibit is called “Mental Maps, Colleen Woolpert exhibits pieces from her series “Persistence of Vision” and Sandra Klein exhibits photographs from her “Noisy Brain” series.

“Gray Matters” will showcase at the Griffin Museum of Photography in Winchester, MA from October 11 – December 3, 2017. An opening reception takes place on Wednesday, October 11, 2017, 7 – 8:30 p.m. There will be a gallery walk with the artists at 5:45 PM on October 11, 2017.  In SoWa Boston for FlashPoint Boston through January three 48″x48″ sidewalk color vinyls will be on view featuring Francie Bishop Good, Sandra Klein and Marina Font photographs.

“Assembling the “Gray Matters” exhibition came out of a personal realization that none of us escape the aging process,” says Paula Tognarelli, executive director of the Griffin Museum of Photography. “As an aging female and as the daughter of a parent with dementia, I’ve had first hand experience of how our culture regards its elderly. I wanted an exhibition that started conversations on the value of elders coupled with a focus on how the brain influences a quality of life. Gray matter includes the regions of the brain that are the nuts and bolts of muscle control, memory, speech, perception, hearing and emotions.”

In “Noisy Brain,” Sandra Klein examines her 21^st century brain that is constantly analyzing the world around her. She also hopes to understand the universal mind. She says, “As I watch my mother experience dementia, I am stunned by the changes in the aging brain.  In creating a narrative that focuses on layers of thinking, I ponder the noises that are yet to come.”

Sandra Klein was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey and received a BFA from Tyler School of Fine Arts in Philadelphia, PA and an MA in printmaking from San Diego State University. After working as a teacher, her art focus moved from printmaking into mixed media and fine art photography. Her practice involves conceptual imagery that explores memory and personal narratives. Her layered, often three dimensional photographs have been shown across the United States in venues such as the Center of Fine Art Photography in Colorado, Candela Gallery in Virginia, A Smith Gallery in Texas, Tilt Gallery in Arizona, Southeast Center of Photography in North Carolina, and Building Bridges, Arena 1 Gallery and the Los Angeles Center of Photography in Los Angeles. Her work has been featured on Lenscratch, A Photo Editor, Musee Magazine, What Will You Remember, and in Diffusion magazine, and is held in public collections. She will be in a four-person show at the California Museum of Art, Thousand Oaks in September 2017. She lives and works in Los Angeles.

Marina Font couples exploration of the human mind with female identity. Using metaphoric means she considers the biologic, psychological and social aspects of the female body and the intersections of these planes. She says, “With this series, I aim to approach what lies beyond control and reason, exploring, through the act of drawing with thread, embroidery, fabric and appropriated crochet pieces onto the photographic surface, the intricate mysteries of the psyche. Through these works I intend to shed imaginary light on the female experience in order to build idealized and fantastical connections to the forces of the unconscious.”

Born and raised in Argentina, Marina Font studied design at the Escuela de Artes Visuales Martin Malharro, Mar del Plata, Argentina. In the summer of 1998 she studied photography at Speos Ecole de la Photogrphie in Paris, followed by completing her MFA in Photography at Barry University, Miami in 2009. For the past ten years she’s has been working on photo-based works that explore issues of identity, gender, territory, language and the forces of the unconscious. Her work is held in several collections including the MDC Museum of Art + Design, Miami, The Lowe Art Museum at the University of Miami, The Boca Raton Museum of Art, The Girls’ Club Collection, Fort Lauderdale, The Bunnen Collection, Atlanta, FoLA, Fototeca Latinoamericana de Fotografia, Buenos Aires, Argentina and various important private collections around the world.

She has exhibited in numerous one-person and group shows in galleries, cultural institutions and museums including The Boca Raton Museum of Art (with RPM Projects), The Consulate General of Argentina in New York, The Deering Estate at Cutler, Miami The Appleton Museum, The Museum of Florida Art, The Nova South Eastern University, The Baker Museum, The Art Center South Florida and the Andy Gato Gallery at Barry University to name a few. She just had her fourth solo show at the Dina Mitrani Gallery, Miami. She lives and works in Miami Beach, Florida since 1997 and is represented by the Dina Mitrani Gallery.

Francie Bishop Good uses “a staccato of media” to create “a hybrid form of portraiture.” She begins with images from her mother’s and her yearbooks. She and her mother went to the same high school in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The artist says, “I cross-pollinate painting, photography, drawing, and collage with digital layering. The source material of photographs from yearbooks is something very personal yet universal. I am transforming the imagined. “Comus” was and still is the title of the yearbooks from Allentown High School.”

Born in Bethlehem, PA, Good lives and works in Fort Lauderdale, FL. Her work has been exhibited throughout the US, Europe and Latin America and is included in public and private collections in the US. Her work has appeared in publications, including The Miami Herald, Art in America, and ARTnews, among others. She is represented by David Castillo Gallery in Miami, FL. Francie Bishop Good did her undergraduate work at Philadelphia College of Art, received her BFA at the University of Boulder and her Masters at Florida Atlantic College.

In 2012 J. Fredric May experienced an aortic aneurysm. His sight was irreversibly altered losing 46% of his vision rendering him legally blind. His limited vision did not stop him from producing artwork. Independent curator J. Sybylla Smith says that May’s photographs are “a hybrid of analog and digital processes that are the result of his explorations.” Additionally she says, “May begins with vintage portraits which he scans and puts through data corruption software. He then creates layered composites and prints these as cyanotypes. He bleaches and tones his cyanotypes with a mixture of photo chemicals and tea. Ultimately, he digitizes the altered cyanotypes and creates an archival pigment print.”

Fredric May is a former photojournalist and filmmaker who has traveled all over the world, telling visual stories with a signature style of bold color and confrontational composition. He resides in Palm Springs, CA with his wife.

Liz Steketee uses family photographs to speak on identity and truth telling. She deconstructs, cuts and rebuilds photographs into personas with newly conceived histories, narratives and characteristics. Memories and truth become distorted with her use of threads, everyday moments from her life, photomontage and juxtaposition. She says of her work, “I break the rules of traditional photography by mixing elements and materials that do not necessarily belong together. I allow subjects to express emotions or information long repressed, causing a shift in expectations. Finally, I explore the traditions of sewing and photography colliding and establishing new ground. This work carries subtexts for me such as, the notion of truth in photography, the connection between photographs and memories, and the visual history and impact of the tradition of portraiture.”

A resident of San Francisco, Stekette lives with her husband and two children. She maintains her own art practice and teaches at the San Francisco Art Institute where she graduated with an MFA and received the prestigious John Collier Award. In 2011, Nazraeli Press published Steketee’s work in a One Picture Book, Dystopia.

Colleen Woolpert’s “Persistence of Vision” includes photography, video, and interactive objects and installations that explore how we visualize the unseen and navigate the unknown. The Griffin Museum chose to highlight three artworks from this series.

Colleen Woolpert is an interdisciplinary artist, designer, photo educator, and stereograph specialist based in Kalamazoo, Michigan. She creates still and moving images as well as interactive objects and installations that explore the nuances of vision—from visual perception itself to abstract concepts like imagination, wonder, and doubt.

Recipient of both an Individual Artist Grant and a Community Arts Grant from the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA), other recognition includes Juror’s Selection from Darren Ching (Klomching Gallery) in Same But Different at the New York Center for Photographic Art and a Top Knots Award from Photo District News. Her work has been curated into exhibitions at the Griffin Museum of Photography, Humble Arts Foundation, Dumbo Arts Center, and Light Work, among other venues, and her editorial photographs have appeared in many publications including The New York Times, Bicycling, Martha Stewart Weddings, and The Chronicle of Higher Education. Colleen received her MFA from Syracuse University and BA from Western Michigan University, where she currently teaches in the Photography and Intermedia Department.

The Photography Atelier 26 will present an exhibit of student artwork from September 7th to October 1, 2017. The Atelier is a course for intermediate and advanced photographers offered by the Griffin Museum of Photography. You are invited to come view the photographs at the Griffin Museum, 67 Shore Road, Winchester, MA 01890.

On Thursday, September 7th, the public is invited to attend the artists’ opening night reception from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at the Griffin Museum.

Photography Atelier Instructor and Photographer Meg Birnbaum shared, “The Photography Atelier has such a long and rich history, I’m honored to be leading this workshop for emerging photographers with Amy Rindskopf assisting. The talent among the 19 members of this group show is varied and inspiring — from our relationship with the past to emotions, memory, objects, poetry, science and the landscape — the show is very satisfying feast for the eyes and soul.”

Work by 2017 Atelier 26 members includes:
Tony Attardo, Diane Bennett, Terry Bleser, Edward Boches, Judy Brown, Larry Bruns, Fehmida Chipty, Megan Cronin, Erik Eskedal, Kay Goodman, Claudia Gustafson, Donald Harbison, Janis Hersh, Cynthia Johnson, Charles Mazel, Coco McCabe, Amy Rindskopf, Darrell Roak, and Maria Verrier.

Tony Attardo: “Just as He Left It” is a series of photographs that are crafted to express the honor and dignity of Joseph L. Attardo by capturing moments, settings and the personal objects that define who he was and how he lived.

In Terry Bleser’s ‘Brink of Change’, the photographs emerge as little postcards from sleep-born anxieties over moving to a new city.

‘Without you” Diane Bennett says that in after her husband passed away, she picked up her camera and found scenes that reflected her sadness, isolation, and grief and became a source of comfort.

Edwards Boches’: Seeking Glory: are portraits that celebrate the strength and courage it takes to be a boxer.

Judy Brown is an animal photographer  concentrating on farm animals in the project, “Far from the Madding Crowd“.  It is her hope that these photographs might be useful to an organization working for better treatment of farm animals.

Larry Bruns has photographed light and space in “Christina’s Home” the subject of Andrew Wyeth’s iconic painting, “Christina’s World.”

Femida Chipty studies and captures color and light as they bring new vision and thought to ordinary architectural shapes like doors and windows.

‘Shadow Land’ finds Meghan Cronin exploring one of the things that we all have in common, we all cast shadows.

Erik Eskedal: In ‘Junkyards: The Transcendental Automobile’ there is the mystery of countless stories as the native growth slowly enshrouds these battle-scarred metal icons.  The breeze speaks with ghostly whistles and inspires the art of transcending automobiles.

In “Fire, Air, Earth, Water” Kay Goodman explores relationships between elements

Claudia Gustafson, In the series ’The Space Between’ I am re-enacting my dreams. To create these images, I use metaphors and symbols. I write poetry, sketch my visions, and then I capture them with my camera using toy and vintage lenses to create a blur reality.

Donald Harbison remembers the woods as his ‘Sanctuary‘ growing up. His photographs explore memories that are still raw but muted by time.

 Janis Hersh‘s ‘Season Prelude’ focuses on the largely un-noticed scenes and transitions that occur as a town on Cape Cod wakes from a very long and quiet winter season and readies for summer.

Cynthia Johnston’s work, ‘In the Quiet Hours’, features landscapes lit by ambient lighting and by mysterious evening skies.

 Charles Mazel: Light under Light explores the stunning visual dimension of fluorescence that is around us all the time, but unseen beneath the sea of white light in which we live.

Coco McCabe: In “T time” a commute can be an intensely private time in the most public of places. It’s that tension that I am capturing in this series of photographs: the aloneness in a crowd, the pause in a rush, the emptiness in a station after hours.

In “Interstellar,‘ Amy Rindskopf discovers an earth-bound journey through the stars

In “Mother Nature’s Easel”, Darrell Roak represents his “continuing wonder of Mother Nature and her artistic hand at molding all of her created parts and pieces in just the right places”.

Maria Verrier – What you say and what I hear is not the same. The diptychs in ‘The In-between’ are intended to represent my own fractured ability to communicate all that is hidden beneath.

About the class:
Photography Atelier, in its twenty-second year, is a unique portfolio-making course for emerging to advanced photographers. In addition to guidance and support in the creation of a body of work, the class prepares artists to market, exhibit, and present their work to industry professionals.

Each participant in the Atelier presents a final project in the form of a print portfolio, a photographic book or album, a slide show, or a mixed media presentation. In every Atelier, students hang a gallery exhibition and produce work for their own pages on the Atelier website. To see the photography of present and past Atelier students and teachers, please visit www.photographyatelier.org. Instructor Meg Birnbaum will be happy to discuss the Photography Atelier at the reception on September 7th with anyone interested in joining the class.

The Atelier was conceived by Holly Smith Pedlosky in 1996 and taught by Karen Davis for 7 years. The workshop was previously offered at Radcliffe Seminars, Harvard University and Lesley Seminars and in the Seminar Series in the Arts, The Art Institute of Boston (AIB), both at Lesley University.

Photography Atelier 26 Website