Some old and some new...

Here is some information on artists I have brought up in our meetings, as well as a few new artists I would like to have considered. The first is an artists named Susanna Majuri, a young Finnish photographer who is represented by Galerie Adler (547 W. 27th) in Chelsea (http://www.galerieadler.com/). I was drawn to her work mainly due to the mystery of it. Most of her photographs are of figures (usually young women) whose faces are concealed, generally standing in or near water. I want to know what they are doing, why they are in the situations (predicaments, maybe?) they are in, what is the story being told by their actions. The colors used by the artist are concurrently vibrant and intensely sad. There is something hauntingly bleak about most of the photographs. Here are a few I found especially interesting...

Gro, 2008



Liv, 2008

Salme, 2007

Insulin, 2007.

Of Majuri, ChelseaArtGalleries.com wrote: In her photographs, Susanna Majuri captures short narrative scenes as though they were film stills of a story yet to be told. Her main characters, young women mostly, their faces hidden, give a distinct impression of being lost, seeking for something they would just no find, dissolved in profound loneliness, yet somehow determined or rather resigned to this beautifully sad fate of theirs. The surrounding nature acts as complementary character, working as an emotional conduit both familiar and antagonistic. The ever changing surface of the water, once smooth as a veil of silk, once rippled though by a secret storm raging underneath, provide scenes of oscillating atmosphere ranging from quiet solitude to immediate danger. The vivid coloring of Majuri’s works the harsh contrast between bright shades of red or blue against the soft earth tones of the background mirrors her innermost feelings: "I need color to exist. I need this person, the place, the water, this touch."

With this intimate confession, Susanna Majuri creates peculiar, bizarre or even surreal atmospheres and situations for her characters. Her images are charged with what might be, ambiguous in that the viewer can only imagine that which remains outside of the frame and give the impression that we only get parts of what must be a bigger story. Susanna Majuri suggests multiple psychological and symbolically charged scenarios: “I want to show that one can find fantastic from nearby. Fiction blends into our life. The imaginary is in fact actual.”

Majuri was recognized in the ArtNet database, yet no information was available on any works that had been sold.


Julee Holcombe, represented by Conner Contemporary Art (DC), composes interesting photographs and is influenced/inspired by the Old Masters, such as Pieter Breugel the Elder, Caravaggio, and Francisco de Zubaran, as well as John Singer Sargent and Grant Wood. I spoke about Holcombe's work last meeting. Several piece should be considered, including:

Babel at Night (2007)
Babel Revisited (2004)
Homo Bulla (2005)

http://www.connercontemporary.com/artists/julee-holcombe/?view=images.


An interesting gallery: Yvon Lambert Gallery (NYC) represents many artists and has a general focus of installation art. There were several interesting pieces on the site. However, we would have to see them in person in order to get a sense of what they are like (many of them are video installations with only stills on the website). It might be a place to visit.

Ralph Helmick and Stu Schechter, former artistic partners, create unique hanging installations but have since gone their separate ways. I really feel that we should have some sort of installation piece, especially for the large space either over the eating area at Stamp, or over the study space where we have our meetings. Prices were not available for their work, but examples of it follows:


Jurisprudence

Ralph Helmick is now working out of a studio in Massachusetts. I was unable to find any galleries that represent him in NY or elsewhere, but if this were something we were considering pursuing, we would contact him directly. It would have to be a site specific piece, which may or may not be out of our price range.