DARK CITY

Photographs by LYNN SAVILLE

January 19, 2017__ Lynn Saville describes “dark cities” as places that has been “stripped of their agreed-upon attractions. A city is no longer about its architecture or the people that inhabit it but instead is an empty skeletal set where lights and shadows showcase an uninterrupted dance.”

“Dark City” by Lynn Saville is featured in the Griffin Museum’s Atelier Gallery at the Stoneham Theatre from February 7^th through April 9^th, 2017. The opening reception will take place on March 21, 2017 from 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. Additionally, Saville will be teaching a “Twilight Photography Workshop” on March 22, 2017 from 6pm to 9pm at the Griffin Museum. Register today through the Griffin Museum website, limited seats available!

Lynn Saville photographs cities at twilight and dawn or as she describes, ”the boundary times between night and day.” Saville explains, “I began my series titled, “Dark City” to pursue this contrast between aesthetic perception and the subtext of economic distress, a contrast that evoked a disquieting beauty. In effect, I was seeking to capture the ways in which urban places become spaces and vise versa.”

In her photographs she hopes to document buildings and places that have undergone urban decay and renewal in recent years. Award winning Geoff Dyer writes in his introduction titled “The Archeology of Overnight” to Saville’s book, Dark City, “Empty premises become difficult to date so that they seem sometimes to have dropped not only out of time but of history.”
Lynn Saville is a fine art photographer currently based in New York City. She studied at Duke University and Pratt Institute. Saville is known for her photographs of cities and rural settings at twilight and dawn. She has published several books including her most recent book published in fall of 2015, Dark City: Urban America at Night. Saville has taught at New York University, International Center of Photography and will also be teaching a workshop at the Griffin Museum. Saville’s photographs are part of permanent collections, museums and corporations and are also in private collections. Saville is a recipient to numerous awards including, fellowships from The New York Foundation for the Arts and a Premio in the Scanno, Italy Festival of Photography. Saville is currently represented by Gallery Kayafas in Boston, MA and Yancey Richardson Gallery in New York City.

The Griffin Museum’s Atelier Gallery at the Stoneham Theatre is open Tuesdays through Saturdays, 1-6 p.m., and one hour before each theater performance. The gallery can be accessed through the Stoneham Theatre’s lobby at 395 Main Street in Stoneham, MA.