Galleries: March 2005 Archives
2nd St. East & South Main St., Kalispell, Montana, August 22, 1974 by Stephen Shore
For about a year, my top Amazon recommendation - based on my wishlist - has been Stephen Shore's Uncommon Places: The Complete Works. If Amazon's computations are correct, then I should also love the current show of Shore's vintage prints currently at Edwynn Houk. And I probably will. I mention the vintage prints specifically, because the prototypical 70s quality to the color is a critical ingredient to the nostalgic feel of these photos, something that's missing from modern prints. "Uncommon Places" was created in a series of road trips across America and Shore's images are powerfully nostalgic for me as I was just a kid in the 70s, also making many trips across the West in my parents' stationwagon. The image above, though taken in Montana, reminds me of Lovelock, Nevada, the small town where my mother's parents lived, particuarly my remembered mind-picture of its whithering downtown.
If we want to talk about envy, Shore was the first living photographer to show at the Met - when he was 24 - and sold pictures to MoMA at 14. Completely unrelated, but there was a great interview with Shore in Blind Spot a couple of issues back.
Through April 16 at Edwynn Houk Gallery
745 5th Ave
(212) 750-7070
Urbanus #15, by Brian McKee
There must be a word for the grinding frustration I experience when confronted with the acheivment of those younger than me. It's a kind of reverse Schadenfreude. I experienced this feeling when looking at the photographs of Brian McKee, aged 27, currently showing at Mitchell-Innes & Nash. McKee works with deserted places and abandoned buildings, a genre that reaches back to the earliest photographic examples.
Through April 9 at Mitchell-Innes & Nash
1018 Madison Ave (between 78th and 79th)
(212) 744-7400
Here's early warning (for once) that Eliot Shepard will be showing at the Jen Bekman gallery starting next Wednesday. There'll be an opening on Tuesday evening from 6-8pm, which I plan to attend. Eliot's site, slower.net, is one of the more popular photoblogs out there and he continually does great work. I'm envious. And I'm not just saying that because he's reading this.
March 23 to April 30 at Jen Bekman
6 Spring St, between Elizabth St and Bowery
(212) 219-0166
Once again I've nearly let a great show slip away without mention. Closing on Saturday, Karine Laval's "Swimming Pool" series may seem like a great escape from the current deep freeze in New York, but the icy blue tones coupled with white-hot blown out lighting more accurately reflects winter weather than a summer paradise.
Bonni Benrubi's Web site is one of the few I've run across that lists prices for various editions. Laval's works come in two sizes, 20x20 and 30x30, and run from $1500 to $3500.
Through March 5 at Bonni Benrubi
41 East 57th St, 13th Floor
(212) 888-6007
