Jessica Posner — ϲ Fri, 18 Nov 2016 16:05:13 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.6.2 Adjuncts United Hosts Student Debt Clinic on Sept. 10 /blog/2016/09/06/adjuncts-united-hosts-student-debt-clinic-on-sept-10-65794/ Tue, 06 Sep 2016 18:28:09 +0000 /?p=98358 , the part-time faculty union on the ϲ campus, will host the “Get on Your Feet” Student Debt Clinic on Saturday, Sept. 10, from 1-2:30 p.m. at ϲ.

This free 90-minute clinic, presented by Nicole Hochsprung from the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), includes a presentation and workshop featuring current federal programs designed to ease the burdens of federal student debt on borrowers including: REPAYE, Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program and others. Participants will have the opportunity to take action by completing enrollment forms in the workshop under the guidance of an expert.

Space is limited to 25 participants; registration is required. Priority is given to Adjuncts United members and their families, though all members of the ϲ community are welcome to apply. To register, email Laurel Morton (lsmorton@syr.edu) with your name, e-mail address and phone number. The location will be shared with confirmed registrants.

 

 

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2015 Light Work Grants in Photography: Allison DzԻé, Thilde Jensen, Costa Sakellariou /blog/2015/08/14/2015-light-work-grants-in-photography-allison-beonde-thilde-jensen-costa-sakellariou-34704/ Fri, 14 Aug 2015 17:08:24 +0000 /?p=83501 Light Work has announced the recipients of the 41st annual Light Work Grants in Photography: Allison DzԻé, Thilde Jensen and Costa Sakellariou.

Image composite courtesy Light Work, featuring images by (right to left) Allison DzԻé, Thilde Jensen, Costa Sakellariou

Image composite courtesy Light Work, featuring images by (right to left) Allison DzԻé, Thilde Jensen, Costa Sakellariou

The Light Work Grants in Photography program is a part of Light Work’s ongoing effort to provide support and encouragement to artists working in photography. Established in 1975, it is one of the longest-running photography fellowship programs in the country. Each recipient receives a $2,000 award, has their work exhibited at Light Work and is published in “Contact Sheet: The Light Work Annual.” The judges for this year were Larissa Leclair (founder, Indie Photobook Library), Ryan Linkof (assistant curator, Los Angeles County Museum of Art) and Todd J. Tubutis (executive director, Blue Sky, the Oregon Center for the Photographic Arts).

The 2015 Light Work Grants in Photography exhibition will take place Aug. 17-Dec. 18 in the Light Work Hallway Gallery at Light Work. A reception will take place on Thursday, Sept. 17, from 5-7 p.m. Concurrently on view in the Kathleen O. Ellis Gallery at Light Work is “,” from Aug. 18 through Oct. 22. All events are free and open to the public.

is a visual artist currently living in ϲ. She holds her B.F.A. from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, in partnership with Tufts University. She has exhibited work in the Boston area and is the recipient of a 2015 Traveling Fellowship through the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

was born in Denmark and moved to New York City in 1997. Six years later, her life and career as a documentary and editorial photographer were cut short by a sudden development of severe environmental illness. Jensen’s first monograph, “The Canaries,” is about environmental illness and was published in 2013. It has since received much international acclaim. Her book was selected by many as one of the best photobooks of the year 2013. “The Canaries” was shortlisted for the Paris Photo/Aperture Foundation First Photobook Award 2013, longlisted for the Kraszna-Krausz Book Awards 2014, nominated for the Kassel Best Photobook Award 2014, and is in the collection at MoMA. The project has been exhibited in solo shows at Light Work and the Center for Photography at Woodstock, N.Y.; featured in the New York Times, Esquire Russia, Wired.com rawfile, Vision Magazine China, Business Insider, Slate.com; and selected for Slate.com’s “Best Photography Shows of 2012.” “The Canaries” was featured in the “TONY:2012” exhibition at the Everson Museum of Art in ϲ, N.Y. Jensen is a 2013 NYFA Fellowship recipient.

Sakellariou is a photographer currently living and working in Binghamton, N.Y. From the mid-1980s until 1992, he was a working photographer based in Athens, Islamabad and New Delhi. His clients were the weekly news magazines and his work was represented by JB Pictures in New York City. In 1992, he began work on a long-term project on the dwindling Greek population of Istanbul. The project was published as a book titled “The Last Greeks of Istanbul,” and was one of the first photobooks to be published in Greece. The Benaki Museum plans to acquire a portfolio of the work for its permanent photography collection. In 1998, Sakellariou and his wife moved to Binghamton. A year later, he began teaching photography at Binghamton University, where he continues to teach today.

 

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Light Work to Feature ‘Rotimi Fani-Kayode (1955-1989) /blog/2015/08/14/light-work-to-feature-rotimi-fani-kayode-1955-1989-1989/ Fri, 14 Aug 2015 16:59:45 +0000 /?p=83494 , in partnership with , will present “Rotimi Fani-Kayode (1955-1989),” a solo retrospective of the work of this seminal and highly influential figure in 1980s black British and African contemporary art. Although his career was cut short by his untimely death at the age of 34, Fani-Kayode nonetheless remains an important influence in contemporary photography.

Rotimi Fani-Kayode, “Adebiyi,” 1989. Image courtesy of Autograph ABP, London.

Rotimi Fani-Kayode, “Adebiyi,” 1989. Image courtesy of Autograph ABP, London.

“Rotimi Fani-Kayode (1955-1989)” will be on view in the Kathleen O. Ellis Gallery at Light Work from Aug. 18 through Oct. 22. A reception will take place on Thursday, Sept. 17, from 5-7 p.m. at Light Work. Refreshments will be served at the reception.

Also on view is “” in the Light Work Hallway Gallery. All events are free and open to the public.

Curated in collaboration with Mark Sealy and Renée Mussai of Autograph ABP, whose co-founder and first chair was Fani-Kayode, the exhibition features a selection of his most important photographic works produced between 1985-1989, including large-scale color works and arresting black-and-white images. Fani-Kayode’s photographic portraits explore complex personal and politically engaged notions of desire, spirituality and cultural dislocation. They depict the black male body as a focal point both to interpret and probe the boundaries of spiritual and erotic fantasy, and of cultural and sexual difference.

Ancestral rituals and a provocative, multi-layered symbolism fuse with archetypal motifs from European and African cultures and subcultures, inspired by what Yoruba priests call “the technique of ecstasy.” Hence, Fani-Kayode uses the medium of photography not only to question issues of sexuality and homoerotic desire, but also to address themes of diaspora and belonging, and the tensions between his homosexuality and his Yoruba upbringing. This exhibition coincides with the introduction of new punitive legislation in Nigeria, Fani-Kayode’s country of birth, as well as other countries in Africa in recent years outlawing same-sex marriages and membership in gay rights organizations.

Fani-Kayode was born in Lagos, Nigeria, to a prominent Yoruba family that left Africa as refugees in 1966 and moved the United Kingdom. He later studied at Georgetown University and the Pratt Institute before settling permanently in London in 1983, where he lived and worked until his early death from a short and unexpected illness on Dec. 21, 1989. A prominent figure in the black British art scene, Fani-Kayode was the founding member and first chairman of Autograph ABP (Association of Black Photographers) in 1988. His photographs have been exhibited internationally since 1985, with numerous recent solo exhibitions in London, Boston, New York and Cape Town. In 2003, his work featured in the African Pavilion at the 50th Venice Biennale and in 2011 in ARS 11 at Kiasma-Museum of Contemporary Art in Helsinki, Finland.

Fani-Kayode’s work is represented in the collections of numerous institutions and private collectors, including the Victoria & Albert Museum, Walther Family Foundation, Harvard University’s Hutchins Center, Kiasma-Museum of Contemporary Art and the collection of Yinka Shonibare MBE, among others. Many of his photographs were created in collaboration with his late partner, Alex Hirst, and are collected in the posthumous 1996 publication “Rotimi Fani-Kayode” and “Alex Hirst: Photographs.” His work is represented by Autograph ABP, London.

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UVP, Light Work Announce Summer Review 2015 /blog/2015/06/08/uvp-light-work-announce-summer-review-2015-2015/ Mon, 08 Jun 2015 15:10:27 +0000 /?p=81844 Installation view of Cauleen Smith’s “Crow Requiem,” 2015

Installation view of Cauleen Smith’s “Crow Requiem,” 2015

Urban Video Project and Light Work have announced the UVP Summer Review 2015. From mid-June through early September, UVP is screening two programs featuring works from the 2014-2015 “Celestial Navigation: a year into the afro future” program at UVP Everson.

A group program will be on view from June 18-July 4 and July 23-Sept. 5. The group program will include the following works played on a continuous loop: “Isaac Julien: Western Union: Small Boats (The Leopard),” “Sanford Biggers: Shuffle & Shake,” “Jeannette Ehlers: Black Bullets,” and “Cauleen Smith: Crow Requiem.” Due to its longer duration, “Xaviera Simmons: Number Sixteen” will be screened for a limited, solo review screening from July 9 18. Screenings take place every Thursday through Saturday from dusk to 11 p.m. at UVP Everson, located at the Everson Museum of Art, 401 Harrison St., ϲ, N.Y.

Isaac Julien: “

“Western Union: Small Boats (The Leopard)” is a single-channel edit of Julien’s 2007 “WESTERN UNION: Small Boats,” which premiered at the 67th Venice Film Festival. “WESTERN UNION: Small Boats” concerns journeys made across the seas of the Mediterranean by so-called “clandestines” who leave Libya, escaping wars and famines. They can be seen as economic migrant workers, along with certain Europeans—“Angels” in Walter Benjamin’s terms—who bear witness to modernity’s failed hopes and dreams, and who now travel across oceanic spaces, some never to arrive or return. Shot on 35mm film and transferred to digital video, “WESTERN UNION: Small Boats” forms the final installment of his compelling “Expeditions” trilogy, which includes “True North” (2004) and “Fantôme Afrique” (2005).

Sanford Biggers: “

A scene from Sanford Biggers' "Shake"

A scene from Sanford Biggers’ “Shake”

“Shuffle” and “Shake” form the first two parts of Biggers’ Odyssean trilogy about the formation and dissolution of identity. “Shuffle” explores the struggle between our own perception of self vs. others’ projections onto us. “Shuffle” also examines how we matriculate through society, often masking our insecurities, pain, longing and the internal schizophrenia of the id. The original soundtrack is composed from the artist’s field recordings made in Indonesia. Both videos feature Ricardo Camillo—a Brazil-born, Germany-based choreographer, stuntman, clown and DJ. In “Shake,” the second video of the trilogy, Camillo walks from the favelas (or shantytowns) of Brazil, to the ocean before finally transforming into an androgynous silver-skinned figure. Biggers’ imagery and narrative simultaneously reference Greek mythology and the quintessential afrofutrist aesthetics of Parliament Funkadelic.

Jeannette Ehlers: “

Ehlers’ haunting 2012 video piece, “Black Bullets,” is inspired by the Haitian Revolution of 1791, which led to the creation of the world’s first black republic. Filmed on location at La Citadelle in Haiti, the piece is a tribute to the act of revolt.

Cauleen Smith: 

Crows have a mythological reputation as tricksters and harbingers of death, but the reality is that they are creatures of remarkable intelligence who lead complex social lives. Smith became fascinated by these misunderstood animals when she noticed the massive flock of crows roosting outside her bedroom window during her artist residency at Light Work in ϲ. She learned that the native population of crows circulates between ϲ and nearby Auburn, and that this migration is partly in response to harassment and, at times, state-sanctioned violence at the hands of a human population that views them as a nuisance. Smith interweaves the figure of the crow through the histories of these two cities, both of which were key stations on the Underground Railroad and innovators in early cinematic and 3D optical technologies. “Crow Requiem” connects this history to recent and ongoing violence against people of color at the hands of the state. Shot on location in Central New York, and featuring selections from Onondaga Historical Association’s extensive archive of 19th century stereoscopic images.

Xaviera Simmons: “

“Number Sixteen” is an hour-long, unedited video documenting a performance produced without an audience that engages endurance, abstraction and the energies beneath abstraction. In the video, a vocalist and performer work together in a studio space. The video’s audience becomes witness to a layered convergence: materials and texts, script and chance, sound and image, time and space, the body and its limits. Like the photographic and sculptural works in “Accumulations,” “Number Sixteen” reveals a complex network of accumulated inspirations, cultural allusions and visceral histories.

 

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‘Sight Specific’ to Be Presented at Light Work /blog/2015/03/13/sight-specific-to-be-presented-at-light-work-79184/ Fri, 13 Mar 2015 20:44:56 +0000 /?p=77649 will present “,” featuring the work of artist Letha Wilson, in the Kathleen O. Ellis Gallery at Light Work from March 17 through July 18.

Letha Wilson, "Utah Maine Concrete Slab," 2013

Letha Wilson, “Utah Maine Concrete Slab,” 2013

Wilson will deliver a formal artist lecture on Tuesday, March 17, at 6:30 p.m. in Watson Auditorium in the Menschel Media Center, 316 Waverly Ave. This lecture is co-sponsored by the Visiting Artist Lecture Series.  A reception and informal gallery talk will take place on Thursday, March 19, from 5-7 p.m. at Light Work. Refreshments will be served at the reception. All events are free and open to the public.

Wilson’s photographic, sculptural work begins as an exploration into our understanding of landscape. By alluding to conventions of romanticism and mythology, and expanding the possibilities of interpretation through abstraction, Wilson exposes the photograph’s inability to truly contain the place it represents. Her images of the American West—vast canyons, desert plants and sky—are formed into sculptural objects that utilize the physical space of the gallery. At times embedded into walls, floors and ceilings, even wrapping around (or through) architectural details, her inventive and playful approach to installation informs the tactile experience of her work. Wilson intervenes in the static image by folding, distorting and bending iconic landscapes into complex forms that elicit the sheer weight and beauty of the sublime. Wilson spent the month of February as an artist-in-residence at Light Work, where she made a selection of new works specifically for this gallery exhibition.

is a mixed media artist who was born in Honolulu, raised in Colorado and currently lives in Brooklyn. Her outdoor excursions among the Rocky Mountains have placed the natural world and its photographic image at the root of her artistic interests. She earned her B.F.A. from ϲ and an M.F.A. from Hunter College in New York City.

Wilson’s artwork has been shown at many venues, including the Bronx Museum of the Arts, Socrates Sculpture Park, Exit Art, White Box, Platform Gallery, Fredrieke Taylor Gallery, BravinLee Programs, Partipant Inc., the Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Vox Populi and Higher Pictures. In 2009, Wilson was a resident at the Santa Fe Art Institute and the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture and was nominated for the Louis Comfort Tiffany Award.

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Perspective: Selections from the Light Work Collection /blog/2015/03/11/perspective-selections-from-the-light-work-collection-14629/ Wed, 11 Mar 2015 13:49:55 +0000 /?p=77659 will present “” from March 17-July 31 in the Light Work Hallway Gallery. The exhibition features recent acquisitions from 2013 As photographers, the selected artists employ perspective as an integral technical and conceptual tool of their craft.

Dani Leventhal, "Coon's Ambivalence," 2013

Dani Leventhal, “Coon’s Ambivalence,” 2013

A reception will be held March 19 from 5-7 p.m.

Each year, Light Work invites between 12 and 15 artists to come to ϲ to devote one month to creative projects as part of its artist-in-residence program. Light Work’s residency includes a $5,000 stipend, a furnished artist apartment, 24-hour access to its state-of-the-art facilities and generous staff support for the artist. Over 360 artists have participated in the program, and many of them have gone on to achieve international acclaim.

Culled from the , the exhibition highlights work by Brijesh Patel, Alexandra Demenkova, George Gittoes, John D. Freyer, Jason Eskenazi, Anouk Kruithof, Dani Leventhal, Karolina Karlic, Cecil McDonald Jr., Matt Eich, Jo Ann Walters, Ofer Wolberger and Eric Gottesman. Each of these artists adopts a unique point of view, whether through their subject or their mode of photographic production—exemplifying the diversity of today’s image makers.

The artists in this exhibition are also featured in the “,” each accompanied by an essay about their work. Copies of the “Light Work Annual 2014 are available to browse in the gallery.

 

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UVP, Light Work, CFAC Present Afro-Futurist-Themed Programs /blog/2015/02/05/uvp-light-work-cfac-present-afro-futurist-themed-programs-75433/ Thu, 05 Feb 2015 21:02:37 +0000 /?p=76586 “Black Radical Imagination I & II” is a two-part screening of experimental film and video curated by Erin Christovale and Amir George exploring the aesthetics of afro-futurism and afro-surrealism.

“Black Radical Imagination I & II” is a two-part screening of experimental film and video curated by Erin Christovale and Amir George exploring the aesthetics of afro-futurism and afro-surrealism.

UVP, parent organization Light Work, and the Community Folk Art Center (CFAC) have announced several interrelated, afro-futurist-themed events and exhibitions through March, on the occasion of UVP’s year-long curatorial program “Celestial Navigation: a year into the afro future.” The constellation of programs includes: “Black Radical Imagination I & II” screenings and panel discussions on Feb. 10 at Shemin Auditorium on the University’s main campus and at CFAC; “Jeannette Ehlers: Black Bullets” exhibition from Feb.10-March 28 at UVP Everson; and “Cristina de Middel: The Afronauts” exhibition through Feb. 28 at CFAC. All events are free and open to the public.

Black Radical Imagination I: Screening & Talk
Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2-4 p.m.
Shemin Auditorium, Shaffer Art Building

Black Radical Imagination II: Screening, Talk, & Reception
Tuesday, Feb. 10, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Community Folk Art Center
805 E. Genesee St., ϲ

Jeannette Ehlers: Black Bullets
Feb. 10-March 28
Thursday-Saturday, dusk until 11 p.m.
UVP Everson
401 Harrison St., ϲ

Cristina de Middel: The Afronauts
Jan. 17-Feb. 28
Tuesday-Friday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
Saturday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m.
Reception: Jan. 29, 6-8 p.m.
Community Folk Art Center
805 E. Genesee St., ϲ, N.Y.

‘Black Radical Imagination I & II’

“Black Radical Imagination I & II” is a two-part screening of experimental film and video curated by Erin Christovale and Amir George exploring the aesthetics of afro-futurism and afro-surrealism. The programs feature different lineups, and each is followed by a discussion with the curators. The conversation following “Black Radical Imagination II” will also include artists Ephraim Asili and Lewis Vaughn.

This touring program has visited many prestigious academic institutions, cutting-edge film festivals and contemporary art venues. This event marks the first time this program has been screened in Central New York. Featured artists include Cauleen Smith, Jacolby Satterwhite and de Middel (BRI I); and Terence Nance and Sanford Biggers, Lauren Kelley and Jeannette Ehlers (BRI II), among others.

Cristovale is a curator based in Los Angeles focusing on film/video within the African diaspora. She graduated with a B.A. from the USC School of Cinematic Arts. Cristovale’s exhibition, “,” is currently on view at the MoCADA Museum. She also works with the Native Thinghood collective, which promotes emerging artists of color.

George is a motion picture artist and film curator from Chicago. His video work and curated programs have been screened in festivals and galleries across the U.S., Canada and Europe. In addition to founding the Cinema Culture, a grassroots film programming organization; George was founding programmer of Black Cinema House, a residential cinema space on Chicago’s south side. He currently teaches and produces media with youth throughout Chicago.

“Black Bullets,” is inspired by the Haitian Revolution of 1791, which lead to the creation of the world’s first black republic.

“Black Bullets,” is inspired by the Haitian Revolution of 1791, which lead to the creation of the world’s first black republic.

“Black Radical Imagination I & II” is presented in conjunction with the exhibition of “Jeannette Ehlers: Black Bullets” at UVP’s Everson Museum of Art venue and the exhibition of de Middel’s “The Afronauts” at CFAC. For more information and the complete program for each screening, please go to .

‘Jeannette Ehlers: Black Bullets’ at UVP Everson

UVP will present “Jeannette Ehlers: Black Bullets,” on view at UVP Everson every Thursday through Saturday, from dusk to 11 p.m. from Feb. 10-March 28. Ehlers’ haunting 2012 video piece “Black Bullets” is inspired by the Haitian Revolution of 1791, which led to the creation of the world’s first black republic. Filmed on location at La Citadelle in Haiti, the piece is a tribute to the act of revolt. Additional work by Ehlers is featured in the “Black Radical Imagination II” screening and panel talk on Feb. 10 at CFAC.

is based in Copenhagen. A 2006 graduate of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, she produces works that revolve around the Danish slave trade in the colonial era. She is of Danish and Trinidadian parentage.

Cristina de Middel’s ‘The Afronauts’ at Community Folk Art Center

“The Afronauts” is inspired by Zambia’s short-lived space program.

“The Afronauts” is inspired by Zambia’s short-lived space program.

CFAC, in cooperation with UVP, will present an exhibition of de Middel’s series, “The Afronauts,” from Jan. 17- Feb. 28. “The Afronauts” is inspired by Zambia’s short-lived space program. In 1964, the newly independent nation of Zambia began a space program with the intention of putting the first African on the moon. Though it never received necessary funding, the program—led by eccentric school teacher Edward Makuka—captured the excitement and ambitions of this young country. Using this history as a point of departure, de Middel created “The Afronauts,” a body of artwork including photographs, drawings, video and sculptures. A video by de Middel is featured in the “Black Radical Imagination I” screening and curator talk on Feb. 10 in Shemin Auditorium.

was born in Spain, earned an M.F.A. at the University of Valencia and M.A. in photography from the University of Oklahoma, and is a photojournalist. Her first book and film, “The Afronauts (2012),” received critical acclaim and was named by many as one of the best photobooks of 2012. De Middel is currently based in London.

Co-sponsors

The above events and exhibitions are presented in collaboration with the College of Visual and Performing Arts, Department of Transmedia and the Department of Art’s Visiting Artist Lecture Series; the Community Folk Art Center; and with the generous support of the Humanities Center and the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSA).

 

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‘Quaking Aspen’ to Open at Light Work /blog/2015/01/28/quaking-aspen-to-open-at-light-work-61014/ Wed, 28 Jan 2015 20:39:07 +0000 /?p=76127 A work from Gary Metz's "Quaking Aspen: A Lyric Complaint"

A work from Gary Metz’s “Quaking Aspen: A Lyric Complaint”

will present “Quaking Aspen: A Lyric Complaint,” featuring the work of photographer Gary Metz at the Robert B. Menschel Gallery in Schine Student Center from Feb. 1 through June 30. The exhibition is curated by Stephan Apicella-Hitchcock and Joe Lawton; and made possible by Lawton, Apicella-Hitchcock, Fordham University and Metz’s estate.

In the 1970s, the late photographer and educator Metz generated a significant body of work that was very much in the spirit of the times. Metz’s “Quaking Aspen: A Lyric Complaint” challenged the first 100 years of landscape photography, which had placed a major emphasis on depicting nature as sublime, heroic and unspoiled. Unlike previous photographers who glorified nature, Metz and his contemporaries wrenched photography out of the national parks and replaced the scenic with the vernacular of the everyday American landscape.

A number of Metz’s colleagues received wide recognition for their similar investigations culminating in the seminal 1975 exhibition “The New Topographics: Photographs of a Man-Altered Landscape” at the Museum of Photography at the George Eastman House. Metz never received the same level of acknowledgement. Now, 40 years later, his “Quaking Aspen: A Lyric Complaint” is as powerful and relevant as ever, resonating with current interests in ecology and the everyday landscape.

Metz spent the month of August 1985 as an artist-in-residence at Light Work. Working with negatives made from 1970-1983 in Aspen, Colo., Metz virtually completed a first editing stage of a body of work that was an ongoing study of physical and social transformations specific to Aspen, but also representative of processes occurring throughout North America at the time. “The month at Light Work has enabled me, at last, to gain a sense of resolution of the material I’ve made over 13 years and to see where to take the work next,” said Metz at the time of his Light Work residency. This body of work evolved to become “Quaking Aspen: A Lyric Complaint.”

Metz was the was a professor at the University of Colorado, Boulder, director of Education at the International Center of Photography and head of the photography department at the Rhode Island School of Design. He received NEA fellowships in photography, 1972 and 1980, and is represented in various collections including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, George Eastman House in Rochester, N.Y., the National Gallery of Canada and the Visual Studies Workshop in Rochester.

 

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Xaviera Simmons Presents Work at Light Work, UVP /blog/2015/01/07/xaviera-simmons-presents-work-at-light-work-uvp-35514/ Wed, 07 Jan 2015 15:49:13 +0000 /?p=75428 Light Work and Urban Video Project are presenting “” and “,” concurrent exhibitions featuring the work of multidisciplinary artist Xaviera Simmons. The works within these exhibitions present an artist working with—and through—formal languages of performance, video, sculpture, photography and social and art histories.

Production still from Sanford Biggers' "Shake" (2011)“Accumulations” presents a group of photographs from Simmons’s “Index/ Composition” series. At first glance, the images emerge as a series of complex and abstract sculptural collages. Closer inspection reveals something else: textiles pulled taut over what appears to be a torso, with a barrage of objects hanging from the body. Fabric, a cache of photographic texture and imagery, feathers, palm fronds and other diverse materials tumble across the center of each photograph—composing an explosion referent to the sculptural within the photographic. “Accumulations” works to both obscure and define the formal qualities of photography by using elements of sculpture, assemblage, chance and other methods to produce the works.

“Number Sixteen” is an hour-long, unedited video documenting a performance produced without an audience that engages endurance, abstraction and the energies beneath abstraction. In the video, a vocalist and performer work together in a studio space. The video’s audience becomes witness to a layered convergence: materials and texts, script and chance, sound and image, time and space, the body and its limits. Like the photographic and sculptural works in “Accumulations,” “Number Sixteen” reveals a complex network of accumulated inspirations, cultural allusions and visceral histories.

“Accumulations” will be on view at Light Work from Jan. 12-March 5. “Number Sixteen” will be on view at UVP Everson from Jan. 15-31. Simmons will deliver a formal artist lecture on Tuesday, Jan. 27, at 6:30 p.m. in Watson Auditorium, located in the Menschel Media Center across the hallway from Light Work. This lecture is co-sponsored by the Visiting Artist Lecture Series. A reception and informal gallery talk will take place on Wednesday, Jan. 28, from 5-7 p.m. at Light Work. Refreshments will be served at the reception. All events are free and open to the public.

Simmons received her B.F.A. from Bard College in 2004, after spending two years on a walking pilgrimage retracing the trans-Atlantic slave trade with Buddhist monks. She completed the Whitney Museum’s independent study program in studio art in 2005, while simultaneously completing a two-year actor-training conservatory with the Maggie Flanigan Studio. Simmons has exhibited nationally and internationally. Major exhibitions and performances include the Museum of Modern Art, New York City; MoMA PS1, New York City; the Studio Museum in Harlem; the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston; the Public Art Fund, New York City; David Castillo Gallery, Miami; among many others. Her works are in major museum and private collections, including Deutsche Bank, UBS, the Guggenheim Museum, the Agnes Gund Art Collection, the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, the Studio Museum in Harlem, MOCA Miami and the Perez Art Museum, Miami.

 

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Light Work Launches ‘2015 Transmedia Annual’ Exhibition /blog/2015/01/07/light-work-launches-2015-transmedia-annual-exhibition-68263/ Wed, 07 Jan 2015 15:36:39 +0000 /?p=75420 Light Work will host the “2015 Transmedia Photography Annual” exhibition, featuring photographs by seniors from the art photography program in the Department of Transmedia within .

Production still from Sanford Biggers' "Shake" (2011)The exhibition will be on view in the Light Work Hallway Gallery from Jan. 12-March 5. A reception on occasion of the “2015 Transmedia Photography Annual” and “Xaviera Simmons: Accumulations”on view in Light Work’s Kathleen O. Ellis Gallery—will take place on Wednesday, Jan. 28, from 5-7 p.m. Refreshments will be served; the event is free and open to the public.

Exhibiting students include: Olivia Alonso Gough, Cade Austin Halkyard, Natasha Belikove, Uraina Bellamy, Morgan Edgecomb, Patrice Gonzales, Boying Huang, Joe Librandi-Cowan, Molly Malone, Aimee Mercure, Anna Moulton, Max Orphanides, Izzy Owen, Matthew Pevear, Bridget Rogers, Ian Sherlock, Christina Tainter, James Tarbell, Nancy Taylor, Kevin Tomczak, Carly Tumen and Jermaine Williams, Jr.

Kate Barrett, associate photography editor at Wallpaper* magazine, served as juror to select images for Best of Show and honorable mentions. Best of Show went to Librandi-Cowan and honorable mentions went to Sherlock and Tarbell.

According to Barrett: “There was a really high standard of photography from these students. It is great to see such diversity in their styles and subject matter.”

Light Work’s close partnership with the Department of Transmedia provides art photography students with full access to Light Work’s production facilities, lectures and workshops. Many students have worked with Light Work throughout their undergraduate careers.

 

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2015 Light Work Grants in Photography Call for Entries /blog/2015/01/06/2015-light-work-grants-in-photography-call-for-entries-34512/ Tue, 06 Jan 2015 21:28:00 +0000 /?p=75401 Light Work has announced the 2015 Light Work Grants in Photography competition. Three $2,000 grants will be awarded to photographers who reside within an approximate 50-mile radius of ϲ. Recipients are invited to display their work in a special exhibition at Light Work, and will have their work reproduced in Light Work’s award-winning publication, “Contact Sheet: The Light Work Annual.

In its 40-year history, the grant program has supported more than 118 artists, some multiple times. With the help of the regional grant, many artists have been able to continue long-term projects, purchase equipment, frame photographs for exhibitions, promote their work, collaborate with others or otherwise continue their artistic goals.

All applicants must reside in of one of the following Central New York counties: Broome, Cayuga, Chemung, Chenango, Cortland, Herkimer, Jefferson, Lewis, Madison, Oneida, Onondaga, Oswego, Schuyler, Seneca, St. Lawrence, Tioga or Tompkins.

Three judges from outside the grant region will review the applications. Their decisions are based solely on the strength of the candidate’s portfolio and completed application. Individuals who received this award prior to 2010 are eligible to re-apply. Full-time students are not eligible.

Applicants should apply online at .

Light Work is a nonprofit, artist-run photography organization and imaging center located in ϲ. The organization is dedicated to helping artists working in photography and related media, and supports artists from across the world through exhibitions, publications and artist-in-residence program.

To obtain further information or for any questions, contact Light Work at 315-443-1300 or grants@lightwork.org.

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Light Work Presents Raymond Meeks’ ‘Where Objects Fall Away’ /blog/2014/10/27/light-work-presents-raymond-meeks-where-objects-fall-away-61136/ Mon, 27 Oct 2014 17:21:47 +0000 /?p=73190 Light Work will present “,” an exhibition spanning the career of photographer and book artist Raymond Meeks, from Nov. 3-Dec. 17 in the Kathleen O. Ellis Gallery at Light Work, located at 316 Waverly Ave. Meeks will deliver a gallery talk on Thursday, Nov. 13, at 5 p.m. A reception will be held from 5-7 p.m. on the same evening. All events are free and open to the public.

Spread from "Orchard Journal #2, Not Seen, Not Said," Raymond Meeks/ Wes Mills (Silas Finch, 2011)

Spread from “Orchard Journal #2, Not Seen, Not Said,” Raymond Meeks/ Wes Mills (Silas Finch, 2011)

In the words of artist and publisher , “I continue to be inspired by collaboration with writers of poetry and short fiction and the merging of visual and word narratives. Recently, I’ve focused my efforts towards making artist books and a collaborative journal,,’ which presents a visual conversation with fellow artists.”

Meeks has collaborated with artists Deborah Luster, Wes Mills and Mark Steinmetz. His books and pictures are housed in numerous public and private collections, including the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris; George Eastman House; Corcoran Gallery of Art; and the Howard Stein Collection.

For more information about Meeks and his work, visit 
o . A video interview with Meeks can be viewed at

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Annual Light Work Grants Exhibition Opens /blog/2014/08/19/annual-light-work-grants-exhibition-opens-80157/ Tue, 19 Aug 2014 19:27:29 +0000 /?p=70455 Light Work has announced the 40th annual “Light Work Grants” exhibition, featuring the work of the 2014 Light Work Grant recipients: Trevor Clement, Sebastien Collett and Dan Wetmore. The exhibition opened Aug. 18 in the Light Work Hallway Gallery, and will run until Dec. 17. A reception with the artists will be held on Thursday, Sept. 25, from 5-7 p.m. Light refreshments will be served.

A work by Trevor Clement in the Light Work Grants exhibition

A work by Trevor Clement in the Light Work Grants exhibition

The Light Work Grants in Photography program is a part of Light Work’s ongoing effort to provide support and encouragement to artists working in photography. Established in 1975, it is one of the longest-running photography fellowship programs in the country.

Each recipient receives a $2,000 award, has their work exhibited at Light Work and published in Contact Sheet: The Light Work Annual. The judges for this year were Natasha Egan (executive director, Museum of Contemporary Photography), Taj Forer (co-founder, Daylight Books) and Paul Moakley (deputy photo editor, TIME).

is a ϲ-based visual artist, musician and performance artist. His photographic and visual art has been shown at Visual Studies Workshop in Rochester, the Spark Art Gallery in ϲ and at the NoFound Photo Fair in Paris. Recent efforts have been focused on producing ’zines and artist books, musical endeavors and the administrative maintenance of BADLANDS, an all-ages, DIY art and music space in ϲ. Over the past seven years, Clement has performed in various hardcore-punk/noise groups across the greater eastern half of the country. The do-it-yourself ethic, the antisocial, violent and anti-capitalist character of noise and hardcore-punk music all play a major role in Clement’s thinking about visual art.

is a photographer working in the United States and Berlin. He studied with Stephen Shore and Larry Fink at Bard College, and earned an M.F.A. from the Hartford Art School. His work has been exhibited at 25CPW Gallery in New York and Kominek Gallery in Berlin, and is in the permanent collection of the Philadelphia Art Museum. He was recently awarded residencies at the Hambidge Center and the Vermont Studio Center. His work has been featured in Fraction Magazine and Vice Magazine and is included in Mossless Magazine’s survey of documentary photography, “The United States, 2003-2013.”

is a photographer operating between Pittsburgh and ϲ. He received a B.F.A. from ϲ in 2013, and now works at a food cooperative to fund his photography practice.

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Light Work to Feature ‘Revive’ Exhibition /blog/2014/08/15/light-work-to-feature-revive-exhibition-14436/ Fri, 15 Aug 2014 18:23:32 +0000 /?p=70364 Light Work has announced the exhibition “Revive,” featuring the work of Alison Rossiter. It runs Aug. 18-Oct. 22 in the Kathleen O. Ellis Gallery at Light Work. A reception will be held Thursday, Sept. 25, from 5-7 p.m.

Agfa Brovira Royal White, expired March 1940, processed 2013, fragment of irregular size, 7x6.25

Agfa Brovira Royal White, expired March 1940, processed 2013, fragment of irregular size, 7×6.25

In 2007, Rossiter purchased a battered box of silver gelatin print paper stamped with an expiration date of May 1, 1946. Hoping to use the paper to make photograms, she headed into the darkroom to make a test print. She describes what emerged on the paper as she moved it through the developer, stop and fix as a beautiful graphite drawing.

Rossiter uses camera-less photographic processes and expired paper to make abstract images relying on chance. The images are often aesthetically and conceptually in opposition to the exacting science of photography. Fingerprints, off-gassing, light leaks and mold serve as indexical evidence of the action of time.

She points out, “I don’t develop these prints. Time does.”

In the darkroom she is dipping, pouring and processing her collection of expired papers. Like the abstract expressionist painters she is often compared to, her process involves experimentation and a dialogue with simple raw materials.

Rossiter’s photographs are in the collections of major public institutions, including the Art Institute of Chicago; the Philadelphia Museum of Art; the Minneapolis Institute of Arts; the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; the Milwaukee Art Museum; the Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago; the Center for Creative Photography, Tucson; and the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles.

Rossiter was born in Jackson, Miss., in 1953 and lives and works in the New York metropolitan area.

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