Press release –
The New Pioneers
November 5, 2015 – January 15, 2016.
Along with Ian Ruhter’s collodion prints the gallery has assembled a selection of work by some of the most notable photographers working today who have reinvigorated and re-imagined the photographic western landscape tradition.
Matthew Brandt’s experiments with process include his “Lakes and Reservoir” series – color photographs that are soaked in the specific lake or reservoir water that they represent. Over time, the lake water both developed the print and degraded the emulsion creating an unpredictable collaboration with nature.
For the last 16 years, Michael Light has been flying his own small plane over the American west investigating how both man and nature make their mark on the landscape. Not looking for pretty shapes, Light documents the impact of industry and development while not being immune to the sublime attraction of light itself.
Jim Krantz occupies a unique place in the history of contemporary art and photography. His pictures of cowboys were re-photographed by Richard Prince and became not only the highest selling images to be auctioned but were used by the Guggenheim Museum when they held their Prince retrospective. Focusing largely on the American West, Krantz is known for combination of technical skill and the emotive resonance of his imagery.
Andrew Moore is best known for his richly colored images of architectural and urban scenes. Using a large format camera, Moore’s work blends the formal vocabulary of fine art photography with the narrative approach of the documentary. Most recently Moore has been photographing the American High Plains.
David Benjamin Sherry’s mono-color landscapes come from a series of analog photographs taken as the artist traveled through the Western and Southwestern states. Seeing the world in both a heartfelt and postmodern way, Sherry’s pictures are vividly colored renditions of the American wilderness, transforming iconic vistas and familiar panoramas into large-scale color fields.