“Of course, there will always be those who look only at technique, who ask ‘how’, while others of a more curious nature will ask ‘why’. Personally, I have always preferred inspiration to information.” May Ray Trip to Hammer Museum for the Robert Heinecken Exhibit Submitted by Howard Landau Those that went to the Hammer today were smitten with the Heinecken exhibition, but in different ways. When we discussed the exhibit each of us liked different work in the show for different reasons. That fact alone demonstrates the diversity and range of Heinecken’s work. It’s easy to dismiss Heinecken using the classic definition of what it means to “take pictures,” but you can’t dismiss him as a serious artist and as someone who has influenced a generation of both photographers and artists. The show demonstrates that he was very much a man of his time. He fits in the mold of Pop Art as well as Conceptual Art. His appropriated images are wonderful. They are visual achievements that also make important social commentary. You can see the twinkle in the artist’s eye as he juxtaposed sexually charged images from magazines with political text. He lets you in on the joke, you smile and you get the message loud and clear. Heinecken made a very diverse body of work including “photo sculptures” that were designed to allow people to arrange them in different ways to make a unique composition. There aren’t many photographers who involve their audience in such an active and provocative way. Trip to Leica Store and Gallery Our first trip to the Leica Store since it opened several months ago...beautiful store filled with all sorts of expensive Leica gear...most of which is beyond us mortals without trust funds. They have an upstairs gallery and library. The library is "curated" by Martin Parr...I guess he picked out the rare and not so rare photography books. The gallery had two exhibits. Susan Barnett "Not in Your Face" and Mathew Miller "Judy's Interruption." Both exhibits were pedestrian with Barnett's being the best of the two. Are they or the store worth the trip? Not really...lots of better exhibits around town A Visit with a Guatemalan Shaman Bill presented a short piece based on their recent visit to Guatemala...and the visits to several shamans. The complete PowerPoint presentation is 13MB and could not be placed on the blog. Instead it will be sent in a separate email. For those not viewing the presentation, here is a definition of shamanism... Shamanism is a practice that involves a practitioner reaching altered states of consciousness in order to encounter and interact with the spirit world and channel these transcendental energies into this world. Other things we saw today....
Paul showed some examples of Dye-Sub prints on aluminum... Richard showed proofs of his recent portraiture with his analog Rolliflex Rene showed a book he made of pictures taken by Wayne Hunt at a Neon Sign Graveyard outside of Las Vegas. Wayne is a graphic designer here in Pasadena.
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