MICHAEL MAZZEO GALLERY

Jury Duty

2011-08-25T15:28:00.000-04:00

It's been a long, lazy summer and it's finally time to get back to work! What better way to get a head start than to jury a photo competition? I've spent the past two days reviewing submissions for the En Foco New Works Photography Fellowship Awards #15 and I and have yet to score any of the work. This is a very challenging project. I am required to judge the artists on the work submitted, but I also have to assess their proposals for what they intend to produce if granted a fellowship. Now, where's that crystal ball?

Throughout the selection and scoring process, I'll be sharing some of the images that catch my eye, but please don't assume that these are the winning entries. Here are a couple of portraits from photographer Adam Amengual.

Carlos Nieto from the "Homies" series, ©Adam Amengual

I’ve been attracted to two stories for quite a long time. One is the story of why people join gangs, cults, hardcore religious factions, etc. The other is the story of positive change, how a human can go from being one type of person to another.

Through the help of the gang intervention organization Homeboy Industries, I photographed people who have made the decision to change their lives for the better. The people in these images are all former gang members or had spent time incarcerated before walking through the doors at Homeboy Industries. It is a place that takes people in and sees the potential in them when others do not. “Through a variety of services, Homeboy Industries helps these men and women redirect their lives and provide them with hope for their futures.” In shooting this project I hope that people can see the subjects for what they are, humans trying to better themselves. –Adam Amengual

Alvin Paez from the "Homies" series ©Adam Amengual, 2011

Mad Money...

2011-07-30T23:27:00.006-04:00

In his latest body of work, "The Price We Pay," photographer Will Steacy addresses the subject of debt at a time when our nation is on the cusp of financial crisis. With only days left before the US either raises its debt ceiling or begins to default on its loans, Steacy gives us...money, the familiar American greenback with its distinctive, ornate border designs and the intricately rendered faces of our founding fathers.

But these bills are worthless. They are worn and rotted and have been removed from circulation. The faces which once exuded confidence, security, and self-reliance, now, upon close inspection, appear distressed, disturbed, and disfigured, not much unlike our economy. We are suffering the unfortunate consequences of bitterly partisan political agendas which have nothing, and everything, to do with money.

See the entire project on our website.

Here is a small selection of images from "The Price We Pay."

All images ©Will Steacy, 2011

Deadline Friday: Critical Mass 2011

2011-07-13T15:10:00.001-04:00

For photographers interested in having their work considered by curators, editors, publishers, dealers and writers, and collectors, Photolucida's Critical Mass offers a great opportunity. For a very fair price you can submit 10 images to be seen by a group of more than 200 reviewers, many of whom are in a position to do something substantial with your work.

Photolucida does not call Critical Mass a "competition," and for good reason. Yes, the initial pool of photographers, usually around 700 strong, is quickly edited down to a approximately 180 by a pre-screening panel and the remaining portfolios are then voted on by a second jury. At least one photographer is awarded the prize of a nicely published monograph and the top 50 vote earners can claim the label Critical Mass Top 50. Though it is competitive, no one loses at Critical Mass. The real reward here is not in the rankings, but in the simple fact that 200 influential people have committed their time and expertise for the sole purpose of taking a serious look at your work. There really is nothing else like it.

For the record, Critical Mass allows jurors the opportunity to see your ten thumbnail images online with the option to click through to enlarged images. On the same page is a link to the artist's project statement, most of which I read (not every body of work is completely self-evident in only ten images.) Also on the page is a space for reviewers to leave comments, critiques, and questions for the artist. And of course there is the ratings box. With 200 reviewers from all over the world, the odds are quite good that you will connect with someone who will be keenly interested in your work.

By the way, the "Critical Mass Top 50" label and the vote tally in general doesn't really mean much. I gave a solo exhibition this year to a Critical Mass artist who did not even make the top 50. Also, the top voter earner doesn't necessarily receive the book award. That has to go to someone with enough good work to warrant a monograph. So who cares about vote tallies? I'm just looking for great work.

So take a few moments to read more about Photolucida, the Photolucida Portfolio Reviews, and Critical Mass and see the Critical Mass monographs.

If that isn't enough, read the Photolucida blog.

New York Pride and Marriage Equality!

2011-06-26T00:00:00.001-04:00

"My hope is that these photographs cause some viewers not only to revisit and rethink the subject but even to change their minds about it. It appears to me a matter of basic equality—and basic human rights."
Hrvoje Slovenc, NYC, 2007

Kurt Walters and George Karabotsos - Brooklyn NY ©Hrvoje Slovenc, 2007

Don Price and Wilkie T. Pretorius - New York, NY

Lynnn Schumacher and Louise Strain - East Islip, NY

C. A. Kelly and Joseph Coencas - Brooklyn NY

Hrvoje Slovenc
Partners In Crime
Artist Statement

My project focuses on same-sex couples that have been living together for an extended period of time, eighteen years on average. The idea was inspired by late nineteenth-century wedding portraits and the professional techniques employed in them (large format camera). While most of the earlier works were produced as cabinet cards, shot in studios with artificial backgrounds, my reconstructions are in color, taken in the couples' homes. The purpose is to demonstrate the mundane quality of what can only be seen as a marriage setting. In these photos, though, I am trying to capture the public face that society mandates for same-sex couples. These couples appear to be both physically and emotionally disconnected because in many ways, both subtle and overt, that is how they are told they should behave. Thus in conflating images of stiff, traditional marriage poses and contemporary domestic spaces, I have sought to normalize what is still, at best, a hotly contested relationship in American society.

The vexed attitudes about gay marriage in this country contrast sharply with European perspectives on the subject. Same sex marriage has also been legally recognized in Argentina and South Africa. Much closer to the U.S., Canada gave its imprimatur almost five years ago. My hope is that these photographs cause some viewers not only to revisit and rethink the subject but even to change their minds about it. It appears to me a matter of basic equality—and basic human rights.

Exceptional Press for Caleb Charland: Fathom And Fray

2011-06-11T16:19:00.029-04:00

Attempting to Paddle Straight at the Moon, 2010 ©Caleb Charland

Caleb Charland
Charland says that the photographs in his solo début "rest in the gap between knowledge and uncertainty," which helps explain why so many of them look like the results of science experiments, lab accidents, or inspired pranks. The most mysterious of these are cameraless pictures, made by the direct contact of unusual materials (a lit sparkler, unchecked mold) and film or photographic paper, in the style of Marco Breuer. But in others Charland is a phenomenological provocateur-setting off a smoke bomb in the woods, redirecting the beam of a flashlight in a snowstorm, disappearing into a globe of tiny flames from his cigarette lighter-achieving quietly spectacular results.
Extended through June 24
-Vince Aletti

Caleb Charland's Magical Evidence

Photographer Caleb Charland is currently the subject of a solo show at the Michael Mazzeo gallery in New York City. An artist-inventor and backyard poet, Charland somehow teases the marvelous from the mundane. The images show us that disciplined experimentation can lead to magical results, not just empirical evidence. There is a strong performative aspect to his photographs, whether he is using himself or choreographing objects and events. View entire article...
-Rebecca Horne

...enough of endless narcissism -- at last this season we can celebrate the medium's ability to combine rich objective content with exciting subjective imagination. The new Caleb Charland show at Michael Mazzeo is truly wondrous to behold.
Gathering the light cast from the things of this world, only to reflect it back at us, photography is the medium of the mirror. How apt, therefore, that some of Charlard's most intriguing images incorporate actual mirrors, notably in a piece "Study for Sun with Face Mirror", in which he puts himself virtually in orbit... Read the entire review...
-Barbara Confino

Caleb Charland sees the extraordinary in the common place. His photography is on exhibit at the Michael Mazzeo Gallery in Chelsea. You'll see , sparks fly from cigarette lighters and create a sphere of fire, face mirrors multiply and float like celestial bodies. Or how a beam of light splinters from his hand and splits the night sky. All of his images are created in camera without digital manipulation. He combines art and science with endless curiosity and captures the energy on photographic paper. Wonder what would happen if you put bacteria on film, let it multiply, and photographed it? Probably not, but Mr. Charland has. You'll marvel in the beauty of the fray. The show is extended to June 24th. Don't miss it. Perfect for 7 and up. View the blog...
-Edna Suarez

Caleb Charland refuses to be bound by the limits of materials he's working with. Charland considers the subjects he's photographing - or scanning -- with a head-cocked, "hmmmm, what can I do with this" perspective. It's actually hard to determine whether he's bringing a creative viewpoint to scientific, intellectual situations, or the reverse.
What is obvious is that his work is beautiful, attention-getting and head-scratching interesting. For example, a work that seems to be a picture of a starry sky in reality is a reversed scan of Charland's palm with dots penned on. Another panorama of a nova is actually four levels of bacteria photographed over time. So get over to Michael Mazzeo gallery and take this show in while it's still around. You'll be as enchanted as this reviewer was. View the blog...
-R.J. Westerhoff

Going on from now till June 24 at the Michael Mazzeo Gallery in New York is an exciting exhibition from one of our most beloved artists, Caleb Charland. Back in July 2010, we wrote about how Charland makes us believe in magic through his shockingly surreal work. Using everyday objects in new and unexpected ways (and mostly without the help of Photoshop), he makes us eternally curious about the world around us. The exhibition, called Fathom and Fray, is showing his recent work or 17 prints of both camera and cameraless images. Of course, the best part about his works is that you can enjoy the image for what it is and then get surprised by reading what it's made of! View the blog...
-Alice

View Fathom And Fray as well as other projects by Caleb Charland at

www.michaelmazzeo.com

Open Submissions: Family Value

2011-06-07T23:42:00.001-04:00

The gallery is reviewing work for inclusion in our summer portrait salon, titled Family Value, which opens on July 7. We are seeking diverse interpretations on the theme of family portraits and the idea of family in general.

Michael Mazzeo Gallery strongly supports artists with distinctive points of view. As is customary at the gallery, we do not charge fees for submissions, but if selected, prints must be framed and delivered to the gallery by June 30, with a return shipping label included. All work must be exhibition quality, signed, numbered, and available for sale. Gallery policy is to offer original editioned prints to our clients. We do not exhibit "special edition" prints made for benefits, charities, auctions, or fundraisers.
Print sales will be split 50/50, with the cost of framing reimbursed to the artist.

SUBMISSIONS:
Please do not send jpegs or pdf files! We prefer a link to images posted online. Deadline for submissions is June 18, but sooner is better.
Please include in your email:
1. A link to the images
2. A couple of sentences about the images or a project statement
3. Available sizes and editions
4. Retail prices

Send to: summer@michaelmazzeo.com

Please do not hesitate to contact us with questions or concerns.

All correspondence should be sent to summer@michaelmazzeo.com

Michael Paris Mazzeo
Gallery Director

MICHAEL MAZZEO GALLERY
508/526 W.26 St. Suite 318
New York, NY 10001
+1.212.741.6599
www.michaelmazzeo.com
www.mazzeogallery.blogspot.com

EXTENDED THROUGH JUNE 24:
CALEB CHARLAND
FATHOM AND FRAY

OPENING JULY 7:
FAMLY VALUE
SUMMER SALON

New Yorker Review of Caleb Charland's Fathom And Fray

2011-06-06T14:34:00.000-04:00

We are absolutely delighted by Vince Aletti's review of Caleb Charland's Fathom And Fray, in the Summer Fiction Issue of The New Yorker. The exhibition is on view at the gallery through June 24. Please stop by to see this inspiring collection of photographs.

Call For Entries: New Works Photography Fellowship

2011-06-04T07:30:00.001-04:00

En Foco's New Works Photography Fellowship Awards is an annual program selecting three or more U.S. based photographers of Latino, African, Asian, and Native American heritage, through a national call for entries. New Works helps artists to create or complete an in-depth photographic series exploring themes of their choice, and provides the infrastructure needed for national visibility and a professional exhibition of their new work in the New York area.

Selected artists receive an honorarium, photo-related products, technical assistance, a photographer's page on enfoco.org, an article in Nueva Luz, and a culminating group exhibition in New York City in 2012.

I am honored and excited to have been asked by Executive Director Miriam Romais to be the juror for New Works #15. I am an ardent supporter of En Foco, having worked with the organization on fundraising events and including En Foco artists in gallery exhibitions. I eagerly anticipate viewing the submissions as they come in.

Deadline for entries is July 27.
More information here.

Manual Training and Industrial School for Colored Youth, Bordentown, NJ ©Wendel White, New Works #13

This exhibition is supported in part by the New York State Council of the Arts, the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, the Bronx Council of the Arts, and Canson Infinity.

ABOUT EN FOCO:
En Foco is a non-profit organization that nurtures and supports contemporary fine art and documentary photographers of diverse cultures, primarily U.S. residents of Latino, African and Asian heritage, and Native Peoples of the Americas and the Pacific. Founded in 1974, it makes their work visible to the art world, yet remains accessible to under-serviced communities. Through exhibitions, workshops, events and publications, En Foco provides professional recognition, honoraria and assistance to photographers as they grow into different stages of their careers.
Learn more about En Foco here.

Moveable Feast at The Museum of the City of New York

2011-06-02T23:47:00.000-04:00

There is still time to see Moveable Feast: Fresh Produce and the NYC Green Cart Program at the Museum of the City of New York. The Aperture Foundation, in partnership with the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund and the New York City Department of Health, commissioned five photographers – LaToya Ruby Frazier, Thomas Holton, Gabriele Stabile, Will Steacy, and Shen Wei to document the program. The exhibition is on view through July 10. Read more about the project at Aperture.org

Here is what The New Yorker Magazine critic, Vince Aletti, had to say about the show...

A first look at Caleb Charland's upcoming "Fathom and Fray"

2011-04-23T14:24:00.000-04:00

Black Dots on My Palms Anywhere Lines Cross, Scanned and Inverted to Look Like Stars, 2009

Diptych, two Lambda C-Prints on Fujiflex Paper

4 x 7 in., Edition of 15

Caleb Charland's "Fathom and Fray" will be on display from May 5 to June 13, with an opening reception Thursday, May 5th 6-8pm.

Will Steacy, 48 HOURS

2011-04-23T13:07:00.001-04:00

Allen, Madison Firefighter, IAFF Local 311, Madison, 2011 ©Will Steacy

Michael Mazzeo Gallery is pleased to announce a special presentation of recent photographs by the American photographer, journalist, and social documentarian, Will Steacy. The 50 8x10 inch color prints will be on view for 48 hours only from April 28 to April 30 and will be accompanied by an installation of artifacts and ephemera relating to the project. There will be an opening reception on Thursday, April 28, from 6-8 PM and a gallery talk by the artist on Saturday, April 30 at 3 PM.

Deeply moved by headlines decrying the perils facing the nation, Steacy, a former union laborer, packed his view camera and drove to Madison, Wisconsin to witness the heated confrontation between union workers and Governor Scott Walker. He spent 24 hours that night and the following day photographing events as they unfolded inside and around the capitol building, as
the Governor prepared to sign the notorious bill restricting collective bargaining rights for union workers.

Shortly afterward, Steacy drove to Gary, Indiana, home to the first US Steel plant, and a city whose rise and fall has become a symbol of the plight of the American workforce. He photographed up and down Broadway, Gary’s main artery, documenting city institutions and local businesses, revealing the grim challenges that now face this once-vibrant city.

Photographed in 48 hours, Steacy’s understated, quietly seductive images reveal an undercurrent of catastrophic anxiety enveloping the American psyche while pointedly exposing the harsh realities of a nation torn apart by misguided government policies and corporate greed. An outspoken critic of inequality and injustice, Will Steacy’s images, insightful, confrontational, and elegant, offer hope and renewal to a nation divided.

Mr. Steacy is honored to dedicate this exhibition to his mentor, Charles Gandee, 1952-2011.

Recent Press for Home Theater...

2011-03-30T11:59:00.001-04:00

We are pleased to share some recent press for Home Theater, Hrvoje Slovenc's first solo exhibition, now on view at MMG. For more information about the artist or his work, please contact the gallery. You can view Hrvoje's images on our website www.michaelmazzeo.com

http://www.newyorker.com/arts/events/art/hrvoje-slovenc-mazzeo

http://thefanzine.com/events/5/ny/12/art/5470/event

Will Steacy at the Wisconsin State Capitol...

2011-03-12T16:20:00.001-05:00

Will Steacy was well within his comfort zone, standing amidst crowds of protesters in the Wisconsin State Capitol Building. While Governor Walker was addressing the press in response to stripping collective bargaining rights from public workers, Will took the opportunity to turn his iPhone on some of the people affected by this controversial bill...

This Is What Democracy Looks Like

Firefighters for Labor

Next stop, Gary, Indiana.

On the Road With Will Steacy...

2011-03-11T17:06:00.000-05:00

Anyone who knows Will Steacy's photography will attest to his concerns about social, economic, and political issues in the US. As a former union laborer himself, he has a particular interest in the state of the American labor force.

Will was in Milwaukee, Wisconsin this week for a lecture at the Haggerty Museum of Art, where his work is hanging in the group exhibition, The Truth Is Not In The Mirror: Photography And A Constructed Identity, curated by Wally Mason. The talk went well, and though he could have come right back to New York to prepare for his show with the Aperture Foundation, Will could not resist the forces pulling at him from the State House down the highway in Madison. So, after the lecture, he hit the road again and, as always, I'm looking forward to seeing things from Will's point of view.

After Madison, he's expecting to go to Gary, Indiana, where there's another face-off between government and labor. Here are a few photos. I'm hoping he sends more...

'Forward' Blindfolded

At the State Capital in Madison, WI

Will Steacy in Madison

Opening Reception, Hrvoje Slovenc, Home Theater

2011-03-11T14:50:00.000-05:00

We were very happy to be joined by such a large and enthusiastic crowd last night for Hrvoje Slovenc's first solo exhibition. Thank you all for coming out despite the torrential rain.
The evening started with a visit by former MoMA curator and current Dean of the Yale University School of Art, Robert Storr.

Hrvoje Slovenc (at attention), with Robert Storr

Hrvoje (a bit more relaxed)

Hrvoje Slovenc, HOME THEATER

2011-03-07T23:25:00.000-05:00

Untitled 1 (October Bliss), 2009

Michael Mazzeo Gallery is pleased to present Home Theater, a solo exhibition of large-scale, multiple-panel, color photographs by the New York based, Croatian photographer, Hrvoje Slovenc. The work will be on view from March 3 through April 23, with a reception for the artist on Thursday, March 10, from 6 – 8 PM. This is the first solo exhibition for Mr. Slovenc since receiving his MFA degree from the Yale University School of Art in 2010.

Home Theater is an exploration of domestic spaces in which specific areas have been designed, decorated, and outfitted for sadomasochistic sexual activities. The images grew out of the artist’s personal experiences in which he solicited people on internet sex sites, ultimately gaining their confidence and being invited into their homes. Slovenc’s interest lies not only in the physical convergence of living and performance/recreational spaces, but in the questionable dichotomy of roles assumed by the participants as they move from one arena to the other. He states, “I am intrigued by the ‘scenes’ that people construct in their homes with all their semiotic referents not just to their individual pleasures but, more importantly, to the ones that are socially prescribed. After the sadomasochistic act is over and the ‘performers’ step into the domestic space, the question remains: Do we cease acting or do we merely exchange scripts?”

Untitled IV (Tea Party), 2009

Using a large-format view camera and supplemental lighting, the unexpected interiors of these mostly New York City residences were photographed in sections over multiple visits by the artist. Later reconstructed as diptychs and triptychs, the carefully considered compositions delineate domestic areas from recreational areas while maintaining the appearance of spatial continuity. Curious juxtapositions of everyday objects and S&M accoutrements, along with eccentric décor and affective lighting lend the images an appearance of artificiality, suggestive of stage or film sets.

Untitled VI (Radio Flyer), 2009

Hrvoje Slovenc holds an MS in Biochemistry from the University of Zagreb and MFA in Photography from Yale University School of Art. He currently lives and works in New York City. His photographs have been exhibited in dozens of shows nationally and internationally including the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago, the Museum of New Art in Detroit, 2010 Art Chicago, and the 2009 Pingyao International Photography Festival. Hrvoje’s photographs are included in the permanent collection of the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago. He is a recipient of the London Photography Award, the International Photography Award, the Golden Light Award, the Photography Now Award, the Mortimer Hays-Brandeis Traveling Fellowship, the BRIO grant, and the Alice Kimball English Traveling Fellowship. Hrvoje is currently part of AIM residency program at the Bronx Museum of Art and is preparing an installation for The Bronx Museum of the Arts Biennial 2011.

Holiday Offerings and Gift Ideas...

2010-12-02T16:34:00.020-05:00

This holiday season, give the gift of art... or treat yourself!
Unique prints and Polaroids, editioned prints, and books by gallery artists.

The natural world, as seen by Eric William Carroll, from The Speed of Dark...

Eric William Carroll, Speed of Dark 004, Triptych. Pigmented ink print with varnish. Three 4x5 in. images on 9x17 in. sheet.
Edition of 10, starting at $500.00.
Inquire

Eric William Carroll, left: Speed of Dark 148, right: Speed of Dark 300, Pigmented ink prints. 11x11 in.
Each image, Edition of 10, starting at $400.00.
Inquire

Classic B&W prints of Paris and environs, by Christopher Rauschenberg, from In Atget's Shoes...

Christopher Rauschenberg, from In Atget's Shoes. Gelatin Silver Prints, 8x10 in. $800.00 ea. More images available!
Inquire

Unique images by Chris McCaw from Sunburned...

Chris McCaw, left: Sunburned GSP 447 (Mojave), right: Sunburned GSP 446 (Sierra)
Unique Gelatin Silver Paper Negatives, 8x10 in. $2000.00. See more Sunburn images...
Please Note: Prices of Chris McCaw's Sunburn images will increase as of January 1, 2011.
Inquire

Unique Polaroid prints by Roberto De Luna, from Lost Weekend...

Roberto De Luna, Unique Polaroids Instant Film, from Lost Weekend. $300.00 each. See more of De Luna's Polaroids...
Inquire

A special edition Cherry Blossom Triptych by Yong Hee Kim...

Yong Hee Kim, Cherry Blossom Triptych. Pigmented Ink Print
3.5 x 13.5 in. on 5.5 x 16 in. 505gsm sheet., edition of 10. Starting at $250.00.
Inquire

For more outstanding photography, please visit our website!

Josh Quigley, A SHAMELESS LONGING, Opening November 18

2010-11-12T10:14:00.004-05:00

Eric (Myspace) ©Josh Quigley, 2010

Michael Mazzeo Gallery is pleased to present A Shameless Longing, an exhibition of large-scale color photographs by American photographer, Josh Quigley. This is the artist’s first solo exhibition in New York City. The work will be on view from November 18 through December 23. A reception for the artist will be held on Thursday, November 18, from 6PM to 8PM.

Working within the confines of the contemporary domestic interior, Quigley carefully orchestrates curious scenarios involving lovers, friends, and families in which moments of intimacy and sexuality are presented with a provocative balance of truth and fiction. Quigley’s subjects (family members, including himself, and strangers found on social networking sites) become characters on stage, reenacting seemingly commonplace moments resulting in suggestive and unexpected performances.

Trained as filmmaker, Quigley’s directorial approach to photography and his adept use of light provides us with a voyeuristic window onto typically private encounters. With a sense of wonder and amusement, he invites us to enjoy these scenes through the filters of our own experiences and perceptions.

Josh Quigley studied cinema at Ohio State University and Northern Michigan University and received an MFA in Photography from The Minneapolis College of Art and Design in 2008.

For more information, please contact the gallery.

Roberto De Luna, LOST WEEKEND, Opening November 18

2010-11-12T10:02:00.000-05:00

Both images: Untitled, from Lost Weekend ©Roberto De Luna, 2010

Michael Mazzeo Gallery is pleased to present Lost Weekend, a selection of 100 unique Polaroid Instant Film images by American photographer, Roberto De Luna. The exhibition is the artist’s first at the gallery and will be presented in the project room from November 18 through December 23. A reception for the artist will be held on Thursday, November 18, from 6PM to 8PM.

Rejecting linear narrative for an elliptical stream of consciousness, De Luna presents 100 Polaroid prints in a deliberate confluence of photographic genres and styles. His diaristic images of landscapes, portraits, still lifes, and interiors, are documents of long-forgotten experiences, revisited and re-imagined as a questionable account of actual occurrences. Throughout the work, meaningful and meaningless relationships converge to create a fractured dialog of affirmations and contradictions with little possibility of reconciliation.

Typically accepted as an accurate and truthful photographic record, the Polaroid print functions here as mnemonic device, a vernacular tool with which lost memories are re-experienced, reshuffled, and reconstituted into new mythologies. Always asking, “Who am I, who do I need to be?”, we pick and choose, presenting different facts to different people at different times in our lives , consciously or unconsciously, living and altering histories as necessary.

Roberto De Luna has shown internationally in group and solo exhibitions since graduating from Parsons School of Design in 1999, and is best known for his work with Polaroid and instant film images. De Luna has been featured in numerous print publications including The New Yorker, V Magazine, Eyemazing, Soma, The New York Blade, Zing!, The Village Voice, and American Photo.

For more information, please contact the gallery.

Exhibition Opportunity...

2010-10-19T00:55:00.157-04:00

Submissions deadline has been extended and the exhibition will open in January.

With a project room to fill and ideas to explore, Michael Mazzeo Gallery is accepting submissions for consideration to participate in a salon-style group exhibition in our Chelsea gallery. The show will open in late January.

As with our RSVP initiative, artists are invited to upload images in response to a specified theme or subject. The submissions deadline is December 4 and selected artists will be notified by December 19. There are no fees involved, but selected works must be framed, ready to hang, and delivered to the gallery by January 8.

The overriding theme for this exhibition is privacy, a concept that has undergone significant reinterpretation in recent years. We willingly, and unwittingly, offer personal information and private details to online 'friends' and unknown entities. Surveillance cameras record our moves in public and private spaces and gps technology can pinpoint our precise location through our phones. Is the notion of privacy a quaint myth?

Surely there is still space for confidential matters, furtive encounters, hidden agendas, undisclosed locations, secret identities, clandestine affairs, ritual, fetish, desire, and intrigue.
What secrets do we keep now? How are artists addressing these issues?

We're looking for compelling work that will engage viewers and challenge assumptions. We look forward to discovering new talent and continuing our support for established artists.

Work will be selected through online submissions only and here are the guidelines:

You may upload up to three images via the gallery submissions page.
Deadline for submissions is December 4.
Please note that space is limited and large prints will be kept to a minimum.
All selected work must be available for sale through MMG and not consigned from other another venue.
All selected work must be exhibition quality, signed, and editioned.
All selected work must be framed, ready to hang, and delivered to MMG by January 8.
To submit work, RSVP.

RSVP: Class Pictures Exhibition Now on View...

2010-10-09T17:04:00.002-04:00

"Within" Untitled 2 ©Norma Rossetti, 2010

We are pleased to announce the opening of Class Pictures, the second exhibition in our RSVP online initiative and the first to focus solely on the work of undergraduate college students.

Class Pictures features photographs by nine talented young artists including Hannah Carlton, Roland Jackson, Theresa Lamarre, Sarah-Marie Land, Jennifer Lynne Morse, Norma Rossetti, Tara Sellios, Allison M. Walters, and Alex Wein.

In constructing purposefully loose-ended narratives through serial imagery, these photographers take on a myriad of personally and historically charged topics. Elements of fantasy, history, identity, morality, seduction, isolation and solitude find themselves manifested in a variety of domestic, commercial and natural spaces. Whether working in familiar or unknown territories, these photographers use the environment as a conduit for their vision, producing imagery that is built upon their ideas and experiences.

Class Pictures was curated from a large collection of portfolios submitted to the gallery in response to a call for work initiated on our blog. We gratefully acknowledge the time and effort donated by our esteemed selection committee whose diverse opinions provided us with an eclectic exhibition. Thank you Dr. Jörg M. Colberg, Zuzana Lapitkova, Christopher Rauschenberg and P. Elaine Sharpe.

The exhibition page includes links to print sales and a 50 page on-demand catalog.

[RSVP is a Michael Mazzeo Gallery program of curated online exhibitions. By way of call and response initiated on the gallery blog, artists are asked to submit images to be considered for inclusion in specific, themed shows. RSVP exhibitions are handled in the same professional and enthusiastic manner as the gallery’s on-site exhibitions, with advertising and sales efforts, on-demand printed catalogs and gallery support.
It is important to note that RSVP is not a pay-to-play program.
There is no charge for entries.
There is no charge for inclusion in exhibitions.
There is no charge for inclusion in exhibition catalogs.]

Preview Tonight: Camera Club of New York Benefit Auction

2010-10-09T14:21:00.006-04:00

The Camera Club of New York is holding their annual fundraising auction two weeks from now, but you can get a preview of the works tonight. Come to 336 West 37th Street, Suite 206 to see the work and take note of your favorite pieces. You can also preview many of the works on the Camera Club website. There is a lot of great work here at very affordable prices, and I'm not saying that because I'm on the auction committee! You can acquire some wonderful photographs for your collection while supporting this venerable institution!
MMG artists John Chervinsky and Chris McCaw are represented, and here are just a few of my other favorite pieces...

©Allen Frame

©Jen Davis

©Jowhara AlSaud

©Lori Nix

©Erica Allen

©Shen Wei

©Amy Stein

Will Steacy Signs Off...

2010-09-28T22:37:00.001-04:00

Will Steacy earned a loyal blog readership with his acute observations, societal critiques, prophetic discourse, fiery rants and project updates. Well, Will has logged out, signed off. Steacy has terminated his blog in pure Steacy fashion...with a thought-provoking rant inspired by a "conflict of morality and what the blog represents in terms of newspapers and the struggle for readership v. online media platforms". Will Steacy, as always, Keeping It Real... Will Steacy Blog

Eric William Carroll, Dave Jordano, Opening Saturday, September 11

2010-09-08T18:46:00.001-04:00

Michael Mazzeo Gallery is pleased to present Recent Developments, featuring The Speed of Dark by Eric William Carroll and Terra-Caelum by Dave Jordano. It is the first solo exhibition at the gallery for each artist. The work will remain on view through October 16 with an opening reception on Saturday, September 11, from 6-8PM.

Eric William Carroll addresses the fundamentals of photography in The Speed of Dark, a project completed while working in residence at the McDowell Colony this past summer. Challenging accepted notions of photographic image-making, Carroll repurposes commercial blueprint paper, made for reproducing fine lines and detailed graphics, creating ethereal images of light and shadow. Working within the genre of nature photography, his large scale, multiple panel photograms of foliage consider the issues of beauty and cliché in popular photographic subject matter. Pushing the boundaries further, these Diazotypes are non-archival and are likely to undergo changes in color and density throughout the period of the exhibition.

The elegantly photographed landscapes that make up Terra-Caelum, are a small part of Dave Jordano’s Prairieland, an extensive and ongoing documentation of the land, towns, and inhabitants of rural Illinois. This series of meditative images were made during the fall and winter months when this former wild prairie, now cultivated farmland, is stripped of its bounty and devoid of ornamentation. Through his formalist approach, Jordano uses the uninterrupted horizon to divide the frame equally between broad expanses of richly textured earth and cool, luminous skies, revealing a land reshaped, repurposed, and redefined by the labored efforts of generations of farmers.

A Few More Fine Submissions from Class Pictures...

2010-08-14T11:28:00.002-04:00

We received more than 500 submissions from college students for our upcoming RSVP: Class Pictures online exhibition. Here are a few more fine images.

Untitled (Within) ©Norma Rossetti, Fondazione Studio Marangoni (FI), Italy

White Ponds 16, 2009 ©Jennifer Lynn Morse, SUNY Brockport

Untitled 2, ©Victor Rivera, Pennsylvania College of Art and Design

A Few Great Portraits from Class Pictures...

2010-08-08T23:48:00.006-04:00

Here are a few of the outstanding portrait submissions recieved from college students for our upcoming RSVP: Class Pictures online exhibition.

Stephen, 2010 ©Taryn Cowart, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro

Lilley, 2009 ©Sarah-Marie Land, St. Louis Community College

Untitled #3, 2009 ©Terri Lamarre, Humboldt State University

Untitled Portrait 02 ©Nathanael Turner, Rochester Institute of Technology

Danielle in McCarren Park, 2010 ©Amy Lombard, Fashion Institute of Technology

And The Winner Is......

2010-07-30T12:53:00.000-04:00

The lucky winner of an 8x10 limited edition Will Steacy print, signed and numbered by the artist is....
Dolly Meieran.
Thank you for visiting the gallery and congratulations!

Tony, San Francisco, 2010

Pigmented Ink Print

10 x 8 in.

Edition #40 of 50

Chelsea Art Walk

2010-07-30T12:35:00.000-04:00

The stifling heat and humidity gave way to comfortable and breezy Thursday evening in Chelsea as crowds of art lovers roamed the streets and galleries enjoying the food, drinks, art, and events. Michael Mazzeo Gallery maintained large and steady crowd throughout the night, with Will Steacy telling stories about his adventurous journeys Down These Mean Streets while personalizing newspapers with drawings, inscriptions, and Steacyisms.

One lucky visitor, whose name was selected in our free drawing, won an 8x10, limited-edition print signed by the artist.

It was a great way to end the run of one of our most talked-about and successful exhibitions.
We thank all who helped make the exhibition and the Chelsea Art Walk such a tremendous success.

Class Pictures Update

2010-07-27T01:09:00.000-04:00

Class Pictures Update

We thank all the college students who submitted work to the RSVP Class Pictures project. We had a good number of submissions and the images are now in the hands of the selection committee. The final results will be announced by the end of the month. Yes, we are behind schedule. The heat wave in New York certainly has slowed things down, but the real issue was the surprising number of improperly titled image files which had to be sorted, re-titled and assigned to the correct artist before sending off to the jurors. Over the next two weeks, in advance of the exhibition, I'll be posting some of the submitted images that caught my eye.

Juliana Gamino, Parsons, The New School for Design, Mom in My Apartment, 2010

Will Steacy, Down These Mean Streets

2010-06-01T22:47:00.002-04:00

Opening Reception, Thursday, June 10, 6PM - 8PM.

Calling All College Students! RSVP!

2010-06-01T22:40:00.003-04:00

There are two weeks left to submit your best work for consideration in the RSVP online exhibition, Class Pictures.
PROSPECTUS:

Artists are currently invited to submit work for consideration in Class Pictures, an RSVP online exhibition of exceptional work by currently enrolled students of undergraduate photography programs. Students may submit up to five images from a single project.

As the school year winds down, educators like myself have the pleasure of reveling in the birth of projects that have been gestating in classrooms, darkrooms, studios and computer labs for the past year. Challenged by rigorous institutional demands and the need to create compelling work while maintaining their individuality, students' progress and achievements become evident in the richness and diversity of their final portfolio presentations. In an effort to bring some of this work to a wider audience, we will present a selection of extraordinary work by a few of these outstanding students.

RSVP is a Michael Mazzeo Gallery program of curated online exhibitions. By way of call and response initiated on the gallery blog, artists are asked to submit images to be considered for inclusion in specific, themed shows. RSVP exhibitions are handled in the same professional and enthusiastic manner as the gallery’s on-site exhibitions, with advertising and sales efforts, on-demand printed catalogs and gallery support.

It is important to note that this is not a pay-to-play program and the exhibitions are not 'competitions'.
There is no charge for entries.
There is no charge for inclusion in exhibitions.
There is no charge for inclusion in exhibition catalogs.

To submit images, follow the instructions on our Online Submissions page.

Selection Committee for RSVP: Class Pictures

2010-06-01T20:54:00.006-04:00

With two weeks left to submit images for the second installment of our RSVP online exhibition initiative, Class Pictures, we are pleased to announce the five members of the Selection Committee....
Zuzana Lapitkova, P. Elaine Sharpe, Dr. Jörg M. Colberg, Christopher Rauschenberg and Michael Paris Mazzeo.

Zuzana Lapitkova (SK)
Central European House of Photography, Bratislava, Slovakia
Zuzana Lapitkova works as a curator in the Central European House of Photography, an institution of the FOTOFO association. The house functions as a scientific institution in the field of photography, promoting quality photography from Slovakia and from abroad. The house has its own gallery, public library and organizes public talks, screenings, auctions and other activities connected with the medium of photography.

Lapitkova is above all responsible for international contacts, projects and promotion.
She is active as a curator and manager in the project of the European Month of Photograhy organized together with Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris, House of Photography, Moscow, Café-Crème, Luxembourg, ZoneAttive, Rome, Kulturprojekte, Berlin and Vladimir und Estragon, Vienna. She is a project manager of a pan-European research project The History of 20th Century European Photography and she participates in the organization of the Month of Photography, Bratislava festival.

P. Elaine Sharpe (CA)
P. Elaine Sharpe is a Canadian artist, curator, and educator currently living and working in Toronto. She is an Internationally exhibited artist with career covering a 20 year span, working with digital media and technologies. She is interested in a broad discourse embracing acute arguments including and not limited to; the social construction of the subject, gender perspectives, the history of an individual, the ethical dimension of horrific crimes, the surveillance of absence, relational pleasure, the viewer of the work of art, the encounter of perception and affect, the uses of technique and the impact of technological media.

Sharpe is formerly the Director and Curator for O Born Contemporary, commercial gallery in Toronto specializing in photography, representing artists obsessed with all aspects of contemporary photographic praxis. They have exhibited a wide range of artists, including Jill Greenberg, Jessica Roberts, Jeong Mee Yoon, Edith Maybin, Dominic Nahr, Alex Fischer, as well selected works from Art Industry, an archive maintained by Sharpe that consists of vernacular and professional mid-century nudes.

Sharpe has been teaching about photography (both theoretical and applied) at the University level since 1999. She is currently completing her philosophy doctorate at the European Graduate School (EGS) in Saas Fee, Switzerland with a Media Research specialization (conceptual, aesthetics, technological sublime, praxis, theory, methaxis). In addition to having received two Canada Council Research Grants in 2004 and 2007, she was a recent recipient (September 2009)of a full Fellowship at the Stone Theory Institute, Chicago, entitled: “What Do Artists Know” led by noted art historian, James Elkins.

Dr. Jörg M. Colberg (USA)
Conscientious
Dr. Jörg M. Colberg was born in Germany in 1968. He studied physics/astrophysics at the universities of Bonn and Munich and moved to the US in early 2000. Jörg is the editor of the blog 'Conscientious', one of the most widely read and popular blogs dedicated to contemporary fine-art photography. He is a faculty member of the international low-residency MFA program at the University of Hartford, Art School; he has organized successful gallery shows (most recently 'Bare' at Michael Mazzeo Gallery), and he has been writing for photography magazines nationally and internationally.

Christopher Rauschenberg (USA)
Christopher Rauschenberg was born in New York in 1951, has practiced photographic art since 1957, and has a B.A. in photography from The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. He taught art and photography from 1982 to 1996 at Marylhurst College in Lake Oswego, Oregon.

He has photographed in Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Canada, China, Cuba, the Czech Republic, Denmark, England, France, Guatemala, Germany, Honduras, Holland, India, Italy, Mexico, Morocco, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, the United States and Uruguay. He has had 86 solo shows in Argentina, Germany, Italy, Sweden, the United States and Yugoslavia. His work has also been featured in group shows in Canada, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Slovakia, Sweden and the United States. Available monographs of his work include three books and a deck of cards.
In 1995 he organized a group of a dozen artists who joined him in a nine year long systematic photographic exploration and documentation of the city of Portland – and then immediately organized a second group of artists for a second nine year cycle (PortlandGridProject.com).

In 1997 and 1998, he took three trips to Paris and rephotographed 500 of the images made of that city by Eugene Atget between 1890 and 1927. A book of this project, titled Paris Changing: Revisiting Eugene Atget's Paris, was published by Princeton Architectural Press in 2007.

Rauschenberg was a co-founder and president of Photo Americas (a major photography festival in Portland, Oregon – now called Photolucida) from 1999 to 2003 and is currently a Board member. He is a co-founder and co-director of Blue Sky Gallery, an internationally respected non-profit photography gallery, and was a board and exhibition committee member of Portland Center for the Visual Arts (the first non-profit Artists Space in the country). Over the last 32 years he has co-curated and co-produced over 600 solo exhibitions and 46 group shows and has edited and produced over 60 art and photography publications.

Michael Paris Mazzeo (USA)
Michael Mazzeo Gallery, NYC
Michael Paris Mazzeo is a gallerist, educator and photographer based in New York City.
Since opening in 2005, the Michael Mazzeo Gallery has become one of the premier showcases of rising young talent in the field of photography, having awarded ten artists their first solo exhibitions in New York and including more than 100 others in group shows. Works by gallery artists have been acquired by major institutions including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Philadelphia Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Princeton Museum and Fidelity Investments, as well as by many private collectors.

In seeking to promote the work of more artists, Michael recently initiated the RSVP project, an innovative series of curated online exhibitions, complete with on-demand published catalogs and e-commerce pages for photography collectors.

Michael has curated exhibitions, participated in panel discussions and has juried photography competitions. He has been a featured portfolio reviewer at dozens of events including FotoFest, Review Santa Fe, Photolucida, Critical Mass, New York Photo Festival, FotoWeek DC, The Center of Photography at Woodstock, ICP, ASMP and SPE.

Michael serves on the faculties of the School of Visual Arts, the International Center of Photography, the Pennsylvania College of Art and Design and has been a guest lecturer at many other prestigious institutions. He also leads workshops in wet-plate collodion photography and antiquarian processes at the Center for Photography at Woodstock and in New York City.

Yong Hee Kim, 7days.

2010-05-19T13:47:00.007-04:00

Michael Mazzeo Gallery is pleased to present 7 days., a photographic installation by Korean-American artist, Yong Hee Kim. This will be Yong's first solo exhibition at the gallery. An opening reception and book-signing will be held at the gallery on Friday, May 21 at 6PM.

The following story is courtesy of American Photo Magazine:

A TASTE OF CHERRY
In Yong Hee Kim's delicate photographs of cherry blossoms, an ephemeral part represents the beloved whole. By Russell Hart

A blooming cherry tree is such a beautiful thing to behold—and so invested with human notions of natural perfection, especially in the cultures of east Asia—that an artist depicting it may struggle to rise above pure representation. This difficulty is still greater in photography because of the medium's literal inclination. Yet photographers have long been seduced by the cherry's ineffable pink blossoms, called Sakura in Japan, where its namesakes have included the country's first color film and its first commercial camera.

So it was aesthetically brave that Yong Hee Kim, in his first photographs of cherry blossoms, chose to sap their very color—shooting them with flash against the sky's dark zenith and printing them in black and white with such density that they struggle to emerge from the surface of the print. Unable to resist the blossoms' hue, the South Korea-born photographer has since returned to depicting them in color. His color images don't represent cherry trees as rooted beings, though. Instead, they form abstract networks of branches exploding with blossoms.

You can see that newer work in a one-person exhibition starting May 21 at Manhattan's Michael Mazzeo Gallery. Take heed, though: Kim's show will be up for only seven days, because that's about how long cherry trees hold onto their blossoms before depositing them in a pink carpet on the ground below. That's also the time period during which the artist created the entire body of photographs that is on display.

The prints are spectacular. Made with archival pigment inks, they measure 20x30 inches on a 24x34 sheet of fine-art paper. Kim, who has exhibited in both Korea and Europe, is a masterful printmaker. If you can't get to the Michael Mazzeo Gallery, though, you can see the images in a diminutive form in 7 days., a limited-edition artist's book that Kim has created to go along with the show.

Entirely handmade in Poland, the 5.75x8.25-inch book contains 30 images and an original 2.5x3.5-inch metallic C-print held in a sleeve at the back. Produced in an edition of just 500 copies, it costs $100 and can be ordered directly from www.michaelmazzeo.com—but if you buy one during the week of the exhibition you can get it for half price, just $50. Unadorned except for a small sticker with the title and artist, the book's cover is a very pale pink. It seems that Japanese cherry blossoms are typically a more delicate shade of pink than those in America—and to determine the color of the cover, Kim actually "sampled" a fresh Japanese cherry blossom to arrive at the CMYK equivalent of its beloved hue.

RSVP: CLASS PICTURES, now open for submissions

2010-04-22T13:17:00.006-04:00

Artists are currently invited to submit work for consideration in Class Pictures, an RSVP online exhibition of exceptional work by currently enrolled students of undergraduate photography programs. Students may submit up to five images from a single project.

As the school year winds down, educators like myself have the pleasure of reveling in the birth of projects that have been gestating in classrooms, darkrooms, studios and computer labs for the past year. Challenged by rigorous institutional demands and the need to create compelling work while maintaining their individuality, students' progress and achievements become evident in the richness and diversity of their final portfolio presentations. In an effort to bring some of this work to a wider audience, we will present a selection of extraordinary work by a few of these outstanding students.

RSVP is a Michael Mazzeo Gallery program of curated online exhibitions. By way of call and response initiated on the gallery blog, artists are asked to submit images to be considered for inclusion in specific, themed shows. RSVP exhibitions are handled in the same professional and enthusiastic manner as the gallery’s on-site exhibitions, with advertising and sales efforts, on-demand printed catalogs and gallery support.

It is important to note that this is not a pay-to-play program and the exhibitions are not 'competitions'.
There is no charge for entries.
There is no charge for inclusion in exhibitions.
There is no charge for inclusion in exhibition catalogs.

To submit images, follow the instructions on our Online Submissions page.

Caleb Charland

2010-04-16T21:55:00.003-04:00

Caleb Charland has been playing with matches for as long as I’ve known him and probably since he was a child. He’s also been playing with power tools, fireworks, electricity and bacteria, among other things. This comes as no surprise if you know that his childhood summers in Maine were spent, not swimming and playing with friends, but wielding tools and working on the house with his father. Driven by a fascination with utilitarian objects and a tenacious curiosity for the fundamental forces of nature, his photographs provide us with a visual proof of his inquiries and observations. Charland is the artist as engineer, scientist, inventor and magician.

From his earlier black and white images made in the basement of his family’s home to his recent work produced during his residency at Skowhegan, performance has been an integral part of his practice. Rarely does Charland appear in his photographs and when he does allow us a glimpse of himself, it is as an apparition- ghostlike hands drafting a cube in light, a transparent silhouette from which a cascade of flames emanates or a disembodied hand spraying fuel on the fire. Still, his images offer us clear evidence of his activities and interventions.

Carefully planned and meticulously executed, his Demonstration images consist of precisely controlled, yet decidedly low-tech, sets of actions performed for the camera. 4 Spheres with Compass, Penlight and Drill is composed of 85 separate exposures on a single sheet of film. The individual actions, seemingly insignificant, merge to appear as a rudimentary device, emitting perfectly rendered spheres of radiant energy.

Sparkler Through Crystal Ball, cleverly references Dr. Harold Edgerton’s high-speed bullet
photographs, but it took Charland minutes to capture the spray of sparks on film, an enormous amount of time compared to Edgerton’s millionth-of-a-second images. This playful use of allusion and illusion appears regularly throughout his projects.

In his Bacterial Biographs, he dispenses with absolute control in favor of absolute randomness. By introducing bacteria to his exposed and developed sheet film, he hands over control of the image-making process to nature, allowing the bacteria to devour and redeposit the film emulsion to create new and unimaginable abstract pieces which at times can evoke aerial photographs, organic materials or astrophotography.

In Charland’s latest body of work, he takes his performances out of the studio, adopting environmental settings. Silhouette with Matches represents the accumulation of a simple action, lighting a match and tossing it in the air, repeated hundreds of times over the course of an evening. Only by compressing time into a single image could this temporal event be documented in such a dramatic fashion.

Scheduled to receive his MFA next month from the Art Institute of Chicago, Charland already has prints in the collections of The Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Smithsonian Museum of American Art, The Progressive Collection as well as numerous private collections.

Caleb Charland’s work is on view at MMG in Burning Desire. More can be seen at the gallery and at www.michaelmazzeo.com

Gallery Talk, Saturday, April 17, 2PM

2010-04-08T15:03:00.001-04:00

Michael Mazzeo Gallery is pleased to announce a gallery talk and conversation with the artists of Burning Desire, moderated by our favorite peripatetic artist/philosopher/curator/writer, P. Elaine Sharpe.

Join artists Marina Berio, Doug Beube, Davide Cantoni, Eric William Carroll, Stan Gaz, Chris McCaw and Amanda Means for an engaging and entertaining afternoon on Saturday, April 17 at 2PM.

Space is limited. RSVP is suggested.

For more information about the exhibition, visit michaelmazzeo.com

Michael Mazzeo Gallery

526 W.26 St. Suite 209

212.741.6599

From the Web to the Wall

2010-02-13T00:46:00.001-05:00

I never planned for Arbor to land on the gallery walls. It was conceived as an online exhibition, the first in the RSVP program, and there it was supposed to reside, to be viewed and eventually archived. My desire to initiate “webside” exhibitions came about while on the portfolio review circuit. I’ve seen a lot of great photographs at these events, and while there is limited space at the gallery, the virtual world is virtually unlimited. I’ve always wanted to offer opportunities to more artists without resorting to false promises or games of chance and the RSVP initiative was a way to do this. Despite the challenges, I learned a lot along the way and accomplished much of what I set out to do. I succeeded in opening the doors to a great number of photographers, demanding nothing more than compelling imagery. In the process, I met a lot of new artists, a few of whom will continue a relationship with the gallery.

I always expected that the RSVP exhibition would attract viewers and that prints would be purchased, but I was surprised when collectors and curators began asking to see more work by specific artists in the show. I found myself with the unexpected task of requesting entire portfolios be shipped to the gallery for viewing. Print sales have been steady and one artist’s work made it’s way to the acquisition committee at a prominent American museum.

The Arbor gallery show is an offshoot of the online exhibition. Most of the artists in the show are from the NY metro area and some of the images on view are alternates, variants and extensions of the images online. My image selections and editing were determined by a balancing act of conceptual effectiveness, availability of work and financial concerns. The works on view should not be construed as being the best of Arbor as many great images could not be included due to shipping and framing costs.

While an online exhibition is relatively linear, with images adjusted to fit the space, a physical gallery exhibition has spatial constraints, requiring particular image specifications and relational sequencing. Scale is an obvious factor here, whereas online, it is negligible. Presentation and presence are also notable. Print quality, frames and glazing affect our perception of the work. It is quite interesting to compare the two exhibitions, designed for different viewing experiences and for very different purposes. The online exhibition consists 53 sequential images of similar size. The gallery exhibition spans two rooms, with 23 images by 12 artists.

Arbor is Online!

2009-08-30T17:45:00.007-04:00

I’m happy to announce that the inaugural RSVP exhibition has been launched on the gallery website, www.michaelmazzeo.co m. Originally conceived as our “summer show”, it was not long after the submissions deadline that I knew the project would become larger than I had anticipated and that production time would need to be extended. Now, as we are about to enter the Fall gallery season, Arbor, a selection of images of trees, is online, complete with an e-commerce section for purchasing catalogs and prints.

The exhibition opens with Clearing 1, 2006, a photograph by Sandi Haber Fifield, which presents us with a portal leading through a grove of trees into sun-filled clearing. I was seduced by this image the moment I saw it, drawn in by the soft, assuring light, the gesture of the trees framing an entry to an uncertain, but providential refuge. After reading Sandi’s statement I was certain that I this would be the lead image in the show.

”Walking on the processional path to see the Oracle of Delphi, I noticed this dense thicket of olive trees arched above a clearing. It felt like the perfect entry to a place that is said to be the exact center of the Greek world.”
-Sandi Haber Fifield

View the entire exhibition, in full screen view on the gallery website.

RSVP Submissions Deadline Extended

2009-07-15T15:00:00.003-04:00

Submissions for Arbor have been coming in at a surprisingly fast and steady rate, especially since RSVP was noted on Jörg M. Colberg's, Conscientious. It's been quite exciting to see the variety of work submitted and especially enlightening to read the artists' comments. Since word seems to be spreading, we're extending the deadline for submissions through Sunday, July 19.
It's going to be a very challenging edit!

RSVP

2009-07-01T01:14:00.007-04:00

RSVP is the title of a new program of curated, online exhibitions which will premier on the gallery website later this month. By way of call and response initiated on this blog, artists will be invited to submit one image to be considered for inclusion in a specified exhibition.
These thematic group shows will offer artists an exceptional opportunity for exposure and sales. RSVP exhibitions will be handled in the same professional and enthusiastic manner as the gallery’s on-site exhibitions, with advertising and sales efforts, on-demand printed catalogs and gallery support.
It is important to note that this is not a pay-to-play program and the exhibitions are not “competitions”.
There is no charge for entries.
There is no charge for inclusion in exhibitions.
There is no charge for inclusion in exhibition catalogs.

Artists are currently invited to submit work for consideration in the exhibition, RSVP 1: ARBOR.
Arbor! A celebratory summer show of tree images. The tree as muse, the tree as metaphor, the tree as oracle, the tree as destination. Trees represent strength, beauty, wisdom, life, femininity, protection, rebirth, and the link between heaven and earth.
The Tree of Life. The Tree of Knowledge.

I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree…

This is the leading, and most memorable, couplet from the famous poem, Trees, by Joyce Kilmer. And though images of trees may not always be “lovely”, they usually are poetic. Perhaps that is the nature of trees.
Lately, it seems, many photographers have been working in the presence of trees, and due to their efforts, many wonderful images have been created. For this inaugural RSVP exhibition, we're inviting artists to submit their extraordinary images of trees.
Images for RSVP 1: Arbor will be selected by gallery director, Michael Mazzeo. Follow this blog for details about future exhibitions.

For submission details please visit our Uploads Page

Portfolio Reviews

2009-06-29T11:52:00.014-04:00

Review Santa Fe: the portfolio walk at CCA

I’ve participated in a number of portfolio review events over the past year, including five days at FotoFest in Houston, four days at Photolucida in Portland, Oregon, one day powerHouse in Brooklyn, and most recently, three days at Review Santa Fe. I declined an invitation to the powerHouse/NY Photo Festival reviews, but I’ll be going to Rhubarb-Rhubarb in Birmingham, UK at the end of July.

Portfolio review events can be very rewarding for photographers and reviewers. Of course, it is only the photographers who have to decide whether or not it is worth the price of admission and travel.
The multiple-day review events are carefully structured to create a comfortable, communal atmosphere and a strong support system for artists and reviewers. They offer photographers a great opportunity, not only to meet face to face with curators, gallerists, editors, publishers and collectors, but to share their work with other artists from around the country and the world. The organizers of these events solicit the help of their local arts communities to share in the festivities by arranging exhibitions, talks and parties which contribute to the overall experience for the review participants.
The great advantage of these 3-5 day events is that over the course of days and nights, artists forge friendships, compare notes, exchange ideas, share experiences, discuss reviews, re-edit their portfolios and build networks. What may not be so obvious to the artists is that reviewers take advantage of this time in much the same way. They discuss the artists and their work, exchange thoughts, question and challenge each other about projects they’ve seen. They also make recommendations to each other.

I always find these events to be inspiring and informative. The standard 20 minute review session is a great introduction and often quite rewarding, but I also enjoy meeting artists away from the review table and getting to know them better. You can learn a lot more by sharing a beer than reading an artist statement. I also go out of my way to meet the other reviewers. I’ve had the privilege of meeting some of the most knowledgeable minds in the photography world at the reviews and I’m grateful to them for sharing their insightful thoughts.

Though many artists come to reviews with hopes of securing gallery representation, book contracts or museum exhibitions, others come simply to gauge interest in a current project or to seek advice from experienced editors. Due to the poor economy this year, the success stories may not have been as obvious or immediate, but I was introduced to some great new work that I will not soon forget. Most of the people I spoke to reported positive experiences, and I have no doubt that opportunities will arise for many of the artists. I will certainly be doing my best to help.