The City of Charleston Office of Cultural Affairs presents Altered Narratives at the City Gallery

The City of Charleston Office of Cultural Affairs presents Altered Narratives at the City Gallery, located at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Waterfront Park March 19 through May 1, 2016, featuring the works of 12 modern professional photographers from across the United States. The exhibition will open with a reception on Friday, March 18 from 5 to 7 p.m.; the event is free and open to the public.

 

Altered Narratives: 19^th-Century Techniques Merge with 21st-Century Visions explores historical photographic methods used today by contemporary photographers. Deemed “alternative processes,” these techniques have grown in popularity in recent years as photographers seek out the satisfaction which comes from the hands-on approach of crafting a photograph from start to finish.  In a world of digital technology that creates limitless photography, these artists – Christine Eadie, David N. Hyman, Diana Bloomfield, Doug Ethridge, Heidi Kirkpatrick, Karen A. Vournakis, Matt Larson, Maureen Delaney, Rebecca Sexton Larson, Sandy King, Bill Vaccaro, and Kenneth Jackson – choose to create their vision using antiquated methods, which bring a distinctive style to their art. Incorporating techniques such as tintype, palladium, gum bichromate, and ziatypes into their contemporary work not only involves skill and expertise, but also displays a rare talent for combining the new with the old.

 

About the Artists

 

Christine Eadie

A native of Sydney, Australia, Christine is primarily a self-taught photographer. Her artwork is based on the human figure and often exhibits elements of dark humor, symbolism, and the supernatural. Favoring a hands-on approach, she embraced the 19th century wet-plate collodion process as her medium of choice after attending an introductory workshop with Ellen Susan. In July, 2015 Christine was awarded an Artists’ Ventures Initiative Grant through the South Carolina Arts Commission. She currently resides in Charleston, SC.

 

David N. Hyman

David N. Hyman has been exhibiting photographic art since 1978. His platinum prints are in the permanent collections of the former Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. (now part of the National Gallery of Art), the Gregg Museum of Art and Design at North Carolina State University, and in many corporate and private collections. Hyman specializes in landscapes, seascapes, still life and architectural details.

 

Diana Bloomfield

Specializing in 19th century printing techniques, Diana Bloomfield’s images have been included in a number of books and journals. Diana also works as an independent curator and has organized and curated several pinhole and alternative process exhibitions. Her work is in a number of public and private collections, including the New Mexico History Museum, in Santa Fe, NM, and the Gregg Museum of North Carolina State University, in Raleigh, NC.

 

Doug Ethridge

Douglas Ethridge is a photographer and writer based in Seattle, Washington. His photography has been published byCameraArts, Hasselblad and B&W Magazine and shown in exhibitions in Bellingham, Carmel, Denver, Fort Collins, New York, Madrid, Portland, Santa Fe, Seattle and Tacoma. His work is owned by numerous private collectors throughout the US.

 

Heidi Kirkpatrick

Throughout Kirkpatrick’s career her work has explored the female figure, family narratives and contemporary issues of being a woman. Heidi’s intent is to create works of art that are approachable in form and content, are interactive, yet fragile. She has exhibited widely over the last fifteen years and her work is held in numerous private and public collections. Heidi’s work was also selected for LensCulture Emerging Talent Awards Top 50 in 2014.

 

Karen Vournakis

Karen Vournakis works out of her studio/gallery located in the heart of Charleston’s historic district, where she specializes in hand painted photography and mixed media art. With an avid interest in history, architecture and archaeology, she shoots her photographs in the environs of Charleston, South Carolina, Europe, and the Middle-East.  She then re-interpets the original images in her studio by adding mixed media tint and color directly on the black and white print, to create a finished image which is a blend of photography and painting.

 

Matt Larson

Matt Larson is co-founder of Boxfotos Airstream. He enjoys traveling with his wife to work, teach and exhibit photographic works out of their 23-foot, International Flying Cloud Airstream. The art couple is quickly creating a brand and national following as artists changing the traditional business model by “going mobile.” Larson’s toy camera works are in the permanent collections of the Tampa Museum of Art, the Polk Museum of Art and numerous corporate collections.

 

Maureen Delaney

A current theme running throughout Maureen Delaney’s work is her interest in nature and the human connection to our landscape. The tactility of working with alternative techniques supports the deep connection she feels with nature. Maureen has exhibited her fine art work coast to coast, ranging from New York to San Francisco and beyond.

 

Rebecca Sexton Larson

Rebecca Sexton Larson is a Tampa based studio artist working with historic photographic processes. Her photographs are in numerous major collections throughout the country, including: Polaroid, Progressive Corporate Art, Graham Nash (Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young), St. Petersburg Museum of Fine Arts, Poik Museum of Art, Tampa Museum of Art and New Mexico Historical Museum.

 

Sandy King

Sandy King is a photo historian and photographer of the landscape. He works in a beautiful and rare 19th century printing process called carbon transfer, molding a printing process of the early days of photography with contemporary tools of the digital age to create a unique vision of reality. Sandy’s work has been exhibited in Canada, China, Mexico and Turkey as well as the US, and has been published widely in magazines, including Photovision, Silvershotz and View Camera. He currently lives in Easley, South Carolina.

 

Bill Vaccaro

Bill Vaccaro is a fine art photographer who works in processes ranging from the 19th century to the present. His photographic interests range from studies on the way people express their faith and religion, architecture, personal loss, ghostly landscapes to a borderline obsession with fireworks. His photographs have been exhibited internationally, and his work has appeared inB&W Magazine, The Economist, SHOTS, Light Leaks, F-STOP, and BLUR.

 

Kenneth Jackson

Kenneth Jackson is a photographic artist who is largely self-educated in the craft, esthetics, and history of the medium. His subjects range widely and include natural and human environments, still life, portraits, and the nude – often quiet, poetic and even numinous visual meditations, and he often uses alternative photographic processes to create work in unique prints and small-editions.

 

About the City Gallery

The City Gallery, located at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Waterfront Park, is owned by the City of Charleston and operated by the City of Charleston Office of Cultural Affairs, presenting an annual program of exhibitions and events featuring the finest contemporary art from local, regional, national and international artists, with a focus on the Lowcountry. The City Gallery provides access to the visual arts for everyone in Charleston, SC, visitors and residents alike, by offering exhibits that are all admission-free. The City Gallery is located at 34 Prioleau St. in downtown Charleston, SC, and gallery hours of operation are Tuesday through Friday, 10 am until 6 pm,Saturday and Sunday, noon until 5 pm. For more information, visit www.charleston-sc.gov/citygallery.