Santa Fe Downtown » Art Galleries

Past as Presence: Joanne Lefrak at Box Gallery

Malissa Kullberg — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 22:53:48 +0000

Joanne Lefrak is lovely and charming, with a warmth and gentle spontaneity that disarms.

Given the potent mystique of the brooding artist, you might think niceness would be an occupational detriment, or at the least, irrelevant. But if you’re in the business of brokering relationships and gathering stories, it helps to be the sort of person who invites engagement the way a puppy invites touch.

Surely that effulgent loveliness serves her work at SITE Santa Fe, where she works as education and catalogue manager and runs the Young Curator’s Program. It also enabled her to entice ghost town raconteurs to unfurl the old family stories she pairs with the delicate drawings in her show, Past as Presence, currently on display at Box Gallery.

Like any good works of art, Lefrak’s pieces unveil in layers. The fact that she scratched her drawings onto plexiglass is an immediately appreciable neat trick, especially for anyone who has ever tried NOT to scratch plexi and knows just how touchy a medium it is. And it’s also quite cool that wall-mounting and front-lighting these scratched plexi panels reveals pallid but precise images in shadow. What follows is what you feel: the haunting resonance of powerful times past–at the Trinity Site, testing ground for atomic bombs, and in the faint, memory-bent remnants of a vigorous family life echoed in a present day ghost town.

Head down to Box Gallery, downtown in the Santa Fe Railyard, and spend a half an hour absorbing these etheric wonders. Slip on a set of headphones, and listen to the words of the ranchers Lefrak befriended. Share the fresh, direct sense of something not there made real and present by the humble, receptivity of this gentle artist.

Exhibition runs August 27 – October 2, 2010 at Box Gallery “[one of] a dozen galleries … that the serious collector and the discerning tourist would not want to miss.” — Mimi Avins, Los Angeles Times, Travel

Box Gallery is located at 1611-A Paseo de Peralta, across from SITE Santa Fe. Open Tuesday – Saturday 10 – 5; Tel: 505.989.4897

~*~*~*

Thriving Arts = Thriving Cities: Towards a Santa Fe + Albuquerque Arts Link

Malissa Kullberg — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 22:20:53 +0000

Egg Painting 4 by Halle Treanor

Great cities are defined by great art. We acknowledge the fact, profit from the spirit, but don’t necessarily involve ourselves with feeding our city’s vital arts character. Blessedly, in New Mexico, many do.

Last week, I took part in #abqtalk: a Twitter Talk show moderated by William C. Reichard, multi-talented communications pro and author of the blog Technoagita. Although the concept of any number of people simultaneously tweeting on a target topic sounds like a recipe for mayhem, it works. Reichard invites newcomers, thanks departers, adds missed links and repeats tweets to cohere and clarify the flow. Last week’s subject was the arts in Albuquerque; the “panel” three of the Duke City’s arts organizations: Popejoy, a performing arts venue seating 1985 patrons bringing in touring acts to New Mexico, Chroma Studios, “an art center with studios, gallery, performance space where creatives can work, play, show and perform their ideas” and The Harwood, “a community art center that focuses on promoting education and visibility for artists, would be and could be artists.”

Participants acknowledged the impact of the recession and their role in keeping interest alive. “When money is tight, said @ACiepielaBFT, sometimes people forget what a difference the arts can make in their life. In the words of @TheHarwood “to build the arts audience in abq, we also need to inspire it – show people how creativity & art are relevant.”

Some tweets spoke of perennial roadblocks–ego, snobbery and inadequate funding among them. What surprised me was to hear of the difficulty that these established, and fairly high-profile venues face in getting the word out.

Several organizations decried the lack of “a centralized email calendar”and lamented that with “so much going on we don’t always make the cut on [published] calendars.” One participant noted that Albuquerque arts venues also must acknowledge how they are perceived outside the state: locals know we are an arts locale, nationally, people think Santa Fe.”

I sense an opportunity.

My focus, here and with Changing Gallery, is to promote the arts, businesses, events and people of downtown Santa Fe. I am particularly committed to promoting independent and emerging artists who operate outside of the gallery system. The blog is one place where you can find out about the activities, news, culture and players of the Alt/Indie/Emerging Arts Scene. I intend my work to be complementary to, not opposed to, the efforts of local galleries who cannot fund, represent or support every creative that crosses their paths.

According to a survey by the nonprofit group Americans for the Arts, over the last ten years the number of arts organizations increased rapidly at the same time that the percentage of people attending arts events declined. Too many hands are reaching out for pieces of a dwindling pie. The good news is that there are many people motivated to preserve a vigorous arts presence. The challenge: how do we work together to create strength for all?

I do not have immediate, definitive answers but I offer what I have: my brain, my heart, my snippet of time, and my blog.

North/Central New Mexico, let’s start with the longed for centralized calendar. We can use this informational meeting place to build a sturdy bridge between Santa Fe and Albuquerque: two vibrant arts communities whose proximity and complementarity are an open conduit for cooperative effort. Santa Fe: if you’ve never been to an ArtsCrawl, make an effort. Check out the offerings at Chroma Studios and The Harwood Art Center. Take a look at the full spectrum of activities provided by Popejoy Hall. And Albuquerque, don’t dismiss Santa Fe as snobby. Every been to a performance by WiseFoolNewMexico?

“Every thriving city I can think of has a visible, supported, and bustling art scene,” said @TheHarwood last week on Twitter. Let’s be that thriving Twin City.

I look forward to your commentary and shared energy.

~*~*~

THIS WEEK ON THE SANTA FE/ALBUQUERQUE ALT/EMERGING/INDIE CREATIVE SCENE

Chace Haynes’ show People, People! is still up at High Mayhem at 2811 Siler Lane in Santa Fe. Chace plans to be at the studio this Saturday and Sunday, from 1-4. Call him at: 505.670.6115 to confirm or arrange an appointment.

Check out the appealing abstract paintings on Halle Treanor’s Art Page We met Halle at an open house at our listings at 111 East Santa Fe Ave. Her blog includes a link to Halle’s site on Fine Art America which features more photography than painting.

Albuquerque based FractionMag is a photography site of distinction. Great people driving great work by emerging and independent photo talents.

Mark Frossard has the first of a new series on his website plus a new edition of his blog Duck Hunt Reviews Check them out.

Red Cell and Patricia Sautoff continue their admirable work at The End of Being : a guide to difficult and unusual art, music, film, people and ideas.

Jenna Gerbach’s still pumping out her humble brilliance at MyHungryEye

Finally, take a look at a sensitive, piercing collection of photos by KayLynn Deveney chronicling the daily life of a Welsh man by the name of Albert Hastings. Photographer Kaylynn Deveney happens to be William C. Reichard’s wife, but my endorsement is spontaneous and unsolicited. This is simple, powerful stuff.

This week on Santa Fe’s Emerging, Indie and Alt Creative Scene

Malissa Kullberg — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 22:19:54 +0000

Never underestimate the power of a cheeseball.

Forty some years ago, my southern-born mama started making cheeseballs for The Sorry Muthas: a Minneapolis based folk band. Before the band went off on tour, mom would fill doubled up paper sacks from the local Red Owl grocery store with oranges, crackers and other substantive snacks. Cheeseballs were her way of ensuring the band “got a little nutrition.” Overtime, she and my father opened their hearts and home to support their musical family, hiring them to play at parties, spotting them cash, even offering the fiddler, Bill Hinkley, a home in our basement, and the harmonica player, Soupy Schindler, space in our Chicago attic after we moved to the Windy City. Whatever the Muthas got, they gave back with interest, enriching our lives with their skills, intelligence, humor, and of course, their music.

Mom passed away more than 20 years ago, but I do my best to hold the spirit of the cheeseball aloft. For the past year, my business partner, Joshua Maes, and I have used our real estate listings in downtown Santa Fe to showcase the work of emerging and independent artists and musicians. 100% of the proceeds from any sale go to the artist. We’re happy to report at least 14 sales that took place at or following one of our Art Open Houses. I also use the forum of this blog to report on the people and events of Santa Fe’s alternative, independent and emerging arts scene, since, at this writing, there is no formal one-stop resource for such information. (I do commend The Santa Fe Reporter for its community calendar.) A couple of times, I’ve thrown in information on Albuquerque players, including photographer David Bram, Fraction Mag, and [AC]2

Up to now, I have been tucking alt arts info into the tail of my blogposts and rotating, somewhat awkwardly, between reviews of our openings, artists, local businesses and real estate, constantly worrying that if you came for one, you might not want to look at the other.

But here it is: I am an art lover, an ad hoc mentor, an enthusiast for entrepreneurial energy, a proud citizen of Santa Fe, and a real estate agent. In me, all those passions are reconciled. By offering emerging and independent artists and musicians a place to be seen and heard, I am attempting to support the people and activities that make my chosen home more interesting, vibrant and dimensional. I am also hoping these efforts will help attract and retain young people who are a vital component of our community. I support and showcase local businesses I know to be doing good work because I hope that you will use their goods and services and keep them in business. And, yes, I do talk about real estate because that’s my day job of choice and something I care to see done well.

So, when you visit my blog, you may find some words on real estate, an update on an emerging artist, a restaurant review or interview with a business owner. You can focus on just one subject using the tabs. But my hope is that you will take a look at whatever befalls you. It’s just my cheeseball, but never discount the collective power of small acts; witness the enormous grassroots response to the quake in Haiti. Hope to hear from you.

~*~*~

Didn’t get word on much this week, but a shoutout to Alt Curator Red Cell and The End of Being, a news magazine and Esoteric Guide to Difficult and Unusual Art, Music, Film, People and Ideas he cohosts with Patricia Sauthoff, former Arts and Entertainment editor of the Santa Fe Reporter. Good things starting in March through The Process, Red Cell’s alternative curatorial wing.

Art + Green on the Santa Fe Creative Scene

Malissa Kullberg — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:27:27 +0000

Photo by Caity Kennedy

As Nature digs into her annual cycle of reduction, reuse and recycling, Santa Fe is celebrating its own happy mash of Green and artistic sensibilities through several shows that reanimate the material dead. October 30th marked Meow Wolf‘s opening for GEODEcedant, a massive, riveting installation of found objects hung in a delicate midair dance, as if the 20th century had done Spring cleaning and gleefully hurled its contents out the window into a passing tornado. On Halloween, Erika Wanenmacher opened her Ditch Witch store featuring, among other delights, amulets and talisman’s cobbled together of acequia discards (“These things tell stories; I just round ‘em up.”).

In THE magazine’s November issue, Diane Armitage suggested that Meow Wolf could be viewed as Wanenmacher’s progeny. “Their savvy, sassy, and socially conscious messages spin off nicely from Wanemacher’s decades-long meditations about a society that wastes itself, not to mention the natural world.” It’s a friendly thought: Erika’s hip, perspicacious, generous and kindly spirit born again through brilliant, healthy kids who give momma a warm kiss on the cheek before toddling off to fresh imaginative generations.

Capping the week is the Recycle Santa Fe Art Festival at El Museo Cultural de Santa Fe. The popular “Trash Fashion and Costume Contest” starts at 7PM, Friday. The art market and exhibition run through Sunday at 5 PM. If you’ve never seen this conversion of waste to wonder, lay down your money ($5 general admission plus another $5 for the show) and prepare to be delighted. Meantime, check out local talent Recycle Runway‘s range of trash couture.

Stretching the recycling concept to cover other current events in the art world on the theory that “any creator owes a debt to past creation” (thank you, Lukas Foss), the following current creative efforts are noted:

The Process presents, NO BALANCE: a 5th Deathiversary Tribute to Coil’s Jhonn Balance. November 13th, 7-10 at the Santa Fe Complex.

Michael Tait Tafoya plays original music at Vino del Corazon at the corner of Alameda and Don Gaspar

Noteworthy in the Duke City: Albuquerque Contemporary Art Center [AC]2 is wrapping up “Entanglement”, an exhibition of recycled art by J.Zona that had a mid-October debut. Zona reworks discarded wool “to expand and render more fluid the boundaries of what is still generally classified as women’s work.”

Photography by Bert Norgorden will be on display at Horny Toad Gallery, Sunday, November 15th, 2-7 PM, 2820 Broadbent, NE. Call: 505.345.9132 for details.

~*~*~

Real estate agents Malissa Kullberg and Joshua Maes, AKA Changing Gallery, use their listings, where appropriate, to showcase the art, photography, sculpture and other creations of emerging and independent talents. Artists receive 100% of the proceeds from any sale. Currently displaying work by Carlo Armendariz and Mark Frossard at the Bella Donna, 111 East Santa Fe Ave. in downtown Santa Fe. To schedule an appointment, call: 231.7598. For up-to-date market info and full access to the MLS, visit: Santa Fe Real Estate Downtown.

Santa Fe Art Scene: Substance over Style

Malissa Kullberg — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 18:37:15 +0000

"Suppertime"-Mark Frossard

Sure, Santa Fe was crowned a UNESCO Creative City in 2005 (for folk art and design) and has apparent squatter’s right in the Small Cities category of American Style’s annual poll on the top 25 arts destinations. We’re known for the Canyon Road art galleries, the opera, Indian Market, Spanish Market and most recently, the International Folk Art Market. We’ve got SOFA, SITE Santa Fe, The Santa Fe Film Festival, The Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, not to mention the smorgasbord of dance, music, performance and film laid out at The Lensic. Photographers flock here for the light, the galleries and the excellent workshops. “In no other state of this union is the trend of life so clearly shaped by art as in New Mexico.” Edgar Lee Hewett, first director of the Museum of New Mexico, said this 100 years ago, and it may still be true. But to my mind, the real measure of our civic creativity lies not in our institutions, but in our individual creative drive, the ingenuity and I’m-an-artist-if-I-say-so moxie of the denizens of the City Different.

You’ll find plenty to do just by checking out the Santa Fe Arts and Culture Calendar, the website for the Santa Fe Gallery Association, the Pasatiempo calendar , or the SFR Picks page in the Arts and Culture section of the Santa Fe Reporter. But to tap the depths of Santa Fe’s creative soul, take a chance on something new. There’s a goldsteam of cultural riches that ride under the radar of many visitors and residents.

Tonight, October 30th, from 5-9 PM, Meow Wolf, a collective of multimedia artists who pool their talents to create dynamic, “must see”, installation events, has an opening for “GEODEcedant” at their home on Second Street. Also on Second Street, from 6-9 PM, is the opening for “Inner Demons” at Ahalenia Studios. On Saturday night, starting at 5 PM, Baca Street Studios is having a Halloween Party, featuring the music of Sean Helean, the grand opening of Erika Wanenmacher‘s Ditch Witch Store, “fire dancers, and other spectacular wonders.”

"Chicano on Alto St"-Carlo Armendariz

People sometimes lament Santa Fe’s limits. The music scene has seen its ebbs and swells and more than one fine musical venue has washed out on a mysterious tide. But while one kid complains of a lack of toys, another kid builds castles in the sand. Like Meow Wolf, local alt curator Red Cell, is working “to bring audience and artists together in a unique way” through his non-profit group, The Process, which pulls together a distinct mix of music, art, film, spoken word and performance art.

I’ll close with a shameless plug for a few of our favorite indie and up-and-coming arts: Mark Frossard (artist and blogger) showing in downtown Santa Fe at 111 East Santa Fe Ave., sculptor Laird Hovland, photographer and musician Carlo Armendariz, photographer Jonathan Tercero, whose work currently hangs at Java Joe’s DeVargas location, and Michael Tait Tafoya (playing tonight, and most Fridays, at Vino del Corazon at the corner of Alameda and Don Gaspar). This weekend, step out of the mainstream and treat yourself to something different in the City Different.

*~*~

Emerging artist Phillip Vigil lands new home at downtown Santa Fe Gallery

Malissa Kullberg — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 23:34:14 +0000

Phillip Vigil swept into our lives last Spring via Facebook. Focused and prolific, Phillip has been a one-man band of production and promotion, furiously churning out work all the while gathering its audience. Less than a year later–three years since he began his career in earnest, he has scored the big score: a new home in a downtown gallery smack on Santa Fe’s historic Plaza. And what a nice home it is, with tall ceilings, wood floors, and a bounty of fine creative work, from paintings, to sculpture to jewelry, rugs, pottery and more: a good nest for a fourth generation artist whose childhood home walls were lined with family generated art.

Self-taught, but not uneducated, Phillip has studied the words and works of numerous artists before him. His pieces are riffs spun of many influences: twenty century modernists, admired contemporaries, current events–personal and public–and his own internal instincts and ideas. But although he’s long been an artist in heart and mind, it wasn’t until he began to believe himself that his career gained traction.

“No one really took me seriously….I had to believe before everyone would.” Then, like the eponymous protagonist of Billy Elliot–a character Phillip calls a “true inspiration”–Phillip faced down all doubts with his dance: a fury of pastels, charcoal, paint and collage. With mind, heart and muscle, Phillip has earned his place in the Santa Fe Art Scene.

If you’re in Santa Fe, step over to Shiprock Gallery, AKA Shiprock Trading Post, and check out Phillip’s new work. You’ll enjoy the venue and a chance to witness the arc of a strong and generous talent.

*~*

UPDATE:

On August 14th, 2010, from 6-8:30 PM, head over to Shiprock Gallery, on the Plaza for an Opening Exhibition of Phillip Vigil’s work. Look for experiments and vectors of future directions.

See and Be Scene

Malissa Kullberg — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 23:29:01 +0000

: ‘The Armageddon Super Meal’ or ‘Google Boogle’, 9ft. x 12ft., enamel on canvas, 2009–Todd Scalise

A little over a year ago, my business partner and I held our first art opening at our listing at 123 West Santa Fe Avenue. We knew a few artists without gallery representation in Santa Fe; I’d been the co-director of a contemporary art gallery in Santa Fe; we had open walls and a killer location–made sense. We decided to give 100% of the proceeds of any sale to the artists themselves: a gift through which we have gained immeasurably.

Since our first show, we have held three more events, showcased the work of 17 artists in total, and are proud to report a total of seven sales. Over 100 people have seen the listings who might not otherwise have known they existed. And we’ve met scores of terrific, creative talents.

Take Mark Frossard, a painter who stopped by to see Phillip Vigil’s drawings and will be featured in our upcoming show. Mark’s soothing southwestern palette and cartoon-like representations belie their emotional power.

Or Keiko Ohnuma, also in the upcoming show, who described her style as “elevated kitch” and said that she was finding that she was even less well-understood here than in Honolulu. I confess I was a bit taken aback when I opened the first jpeg. But it didn’t take long to decide that was exactly why we should give her a venue. Not every piece needs to challenge the viewer, but challenge is definitely an important aspect of art.

Then there’s Todd Scalise: painter, designer, textile artist, muralist, and more whom we met, again, through artist and social media’s man-about-town, Phillip Vigil. Todd has terrific ideas for public art in Santa Fe and is looking for a wall to paint. Driven by the look of his latest piece, and excited by the possibilities, we are working to find him a wall.

Todd graces every visitor to his studio with the opportunity to select a drawing to take home. Four of us stood over a pile of drawings like a pack of kids eyeing the Halloween basket. With art, you don’t just acquire a pretty or interesting thing; you connect with the creator. As artist and gallery owner, Anthony Corso recently shared on his FB Wall,

Every artist dips his brush in his own soul, and paints his own nature into his pictures.” ~ Henry Ward Beecher

Buy a piece of art, and get a side of soul.

~*~*~

As I’ve said elsewhere, I’m not entirely sure what I am doing, but I am absolutely positive it’s the right thing to do. Santa Fe ranks among the top three art markets in the country with over 300 galleries that enjoy enviable walk-in traffic. Yet there are holes in the Santa Fe art scene. With rents so high, gallery owners are often forced to choose art that will sell and sell for the highest price over showcasing a emerging talent or mid-career artist in flux. Many a fine painter, sculptor or photographer lacks a regular venue. I’ve also heard artists and art brokers alike complaining about the lack of dynamism, risk and interplay on the local scene. Yet the talent is there as Meow Wolf, the former Bang Gallery, and scads of individual creatives attest.

As a REALTOR involved in the sale and purchase of homes, I feel a duty to support and enrich my community, indeed, to do my part to build the healthiest, happiest most economically and socially vibrant community I can. Showcasing art is one way I choose to do it. Some may see these realms as unmixable. But I look for common ground. Artists want an audience for their art. People selling property similarly want people to come see it. Putting art into homes puts a simultaneous spotlight on both.

On June 26th, take the opportunity to see and be seen at one of the hottest, new, whatever-it-is-art events in the city: Changing Gallery’s latest show at the Bella Donna– our listings and ad hoc galleries at 111 East Santa Fe Avenue, Santa Fe, New Mexico. Alt gallery PennBrick will be beaming its brilliance from a garage a block away. Bundobeats will be spinning the tunes.

Are you an artist looking for a place to show? Introduce yourself. No promises, but let’s connect. Are you a homeowner wanting to list and find a novel way to get buyers to see your home in a market chock-a-block with listings? Let us put our experience to work for you. Or are you new to town, interested in unearthing the richness Santa Fe has to offer? Stop by the Bella Donna, give us a little time and attention. The return on your investment might surprise you.

Malissa Kullberg and Joshua Maes, AKA Changing Gallery, use their real estate listings, where appropriate, to showcase the work of emerging and independent artists. Their current location is the Bella Donna, nine beautifully restored condominiums located on East Santa Fe Avenue, just one block from the State Capitol. Check out our website at SantaFeDowntownRealEstate.com

Sights and Sounds: Changing Gallery's May 2 Event

Malissa Kullberg — Mon, 04 May 2009 19:16:24 +0000

By the time the evening was over, we could see our breath, but hours of damp and chill didn’t quench the warm afterglow from Sights and Sounds, Changing Gallery’s recent mix of art and music. Rising talent, Phillip Vigil, plastered Unit Seven with his energetic pastels. Jennifer Joseph had two paintings in Unit Six and Elizabeth Mesh displayed her richly dyed eggs in Unit Eight. Enveloping all, from the shelter of a garage under Unit Four, were the sounds of Bundobeats, whose free flowing musical blend gave the event cohesion and flow.

This past Saturday, May 2nd, marked the fourth art opening of Changing Gallery, a locus of emerging and independent creative talent being shown at the real estate listings of Malissa Kullberg and Joshua Maes. Its driving spirit is the desire to unite community through the creation of a sort of Stone Soup where each diner puts what s/he can comfortably spare into a common pot from which all may feast. Unrepresented artists get a free venue and all proceeds; the real estate gets viewed by fresh eyes; and those who love art get to see something they probably would not otherwise have a chance to see: in some cases, breaking talent; e.g., Phillip Vigil.

Since he first reached out to me on Facebook, I’ve been fascinated by this earnest young artist and the dynamic pastels that pour from his heart and hands. “Vigil’s bold pastels on paper are a treat to those who hunger for something new and powerful from young ndn artists…Fresh and original, Phillip Vigil is an artist to watch” says artist Charleen Touchette in her One Earth blog. Vigil’s heroes are William de Kooning, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Andy Warhol, Elizabeth Murray and Diane Arbus, among others. His work shows these influences and an assemblage of images from his daily life, community and mental divings. The well is deep. This is a kid who knows art history and is poised to make his mark.

In the April 29th-May 5th issue of the Santa Fe Reporter, Zane Fischer spoke about the disjunct between the results of the city’s recent poster contest representing ” a generalized, gauzy impression of an unremarkable place” and Santa Fe’s actual creative character. “…what makes Santa Fe an engaging community for those of us invested in it…is everything that lies beneath that surface. The soul of the city–and its enduring attractiveness–lies in the real activities of its people.”

With the occasionally awkward gait of a newborn, these events intend to be soapbox and megaphone for real activities of a sector of the city’s people: emerging and independent artists. Here’s to the creation of a real and relevant space and voice for an ever expanding chorus of creatives.

Changing Gallery is currently located at the Bella Donna condominiums: seven beautifully restored units, including a 1912 Pueblo Deco style dwelling, located at 111 East Santa Fe Avenue, in the South Capitol area of downtown Santa Fe, New Mexico. Real estate agents Malissa Kullberg and Joshua Maes, use their listings, where appropriate, to showcase the art, photography, sculpture and other creations of emerging and independent talents. To learn more about the condominiums, and for full access to the MLS, visit: www.santafedowntownrealestate.com. **Access the MLS from your smartphone: www.santafedowntownrealestate.com/m

In the Middle: Reflections on the Soul of Photography

Malissa Kullberg — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 06:10:37 +0000

Some concepts are pretty tough to capture in words. Unless you’re talking about the music of Marvin Gaye or the immaterial essence said to survive a body, the notion of “soul” is a murky, often sentimentalized abstraction; e.g.: soul gaze, soul search, soul nature….

As for using dialogue to describe pictures, do your mighty best and you simply can’t–with words alone–do justice to the visual poetry of a well-executed photo. So, just to be willing to talk about the “soul” of image is an act of mad courage. Kudos to Dan Milnor, who, this past Sunday night, put his fine mind and rich experience to the task.

Dan spoke for about 40 minutes, addressing the experiences behind some of his photographs and offering a loose road map as to how to arrive at an authentic product.

His central point: that the soul of photography is more a function of what’s going on inside the photographer than what is out there to be shot. Attitude, approach, interaction–these are the elements that count, not the fancy equipment, spectacular vistas or celebrity subjects.

The key: to be present and yet invisible. “This might sound odd, but when I make pictures, sometimes I feel like I can disappear,” said Dan. I’ve had many clients say to me, while looking at my images, “I didn’t even see you there, didn’t even know you were there, next to me…..I think the soul of photography relates to the experience or the transition that happens when a photographer shelves every extra detail in his or her life and descends into the project.”

“When I work in the field, or anywhere else for that matter, much of what happens is based on trust, which as we know is harder and harder to come by. You don’t need to speak the language, or even speak at all, as the idea of who you are and what you do is either accepted or not.You can not only see this when working , you can feel it….”

Back to the folly of pursuing images with a net of speech. In the case of the good photo, the one that arises from and expresses soul, you may not be able to define or describe it, but like Potter Stewart, you “know it when you see it.” When Dan put the question to his friend, photographer Karen Kuehn, her matter-of-fact response was: “It’s in the middle.”

The middle: the tension between the photographer’s intention and the parameters of the shoot? The relationship between photographer and subject? You tell me.

The Soul of Photography, an exhibit of the work of eight locally affiliated photographers, runs through mid-April at the Bella Donna: seven condominiums located at 111 E. Santa Fe Avenue, listed by Joshua Maes and Malissa Kullberg. Artists receive 100% of the proceeds. For more information on these listings and full access to the MLS, visit our website at: SantaFeRealEstateDowntown.com.

Contemporary. Spontaneous. Real. (with apologies to Dan Milnor)

Malissa Kullberg — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 17:50:50 +0000

Soul of Photography

About a month ago, while grappling for ideas for the next show, I called upon an acquaintance with a PhD in Art History for wise words on the nature of art or artists. Although she supplied me with grave quotes from some of art’s historical heavy hitters, the smartest words were hers: “the quality of art lies somehow in the conviction of its producer. The audience has to believe that they aren’t being fooled with, even if the work looks inept or is disturbing at first encounter. The object has to reward our taking it seriously.”

I call that a pretty-dang-good cut-to-the-chase assessment. Thank-you, Margo Hobbs Thompson, Assistant Professor of Art History, Muhlenberg College.

Every now and then, my biz partner will ask me whether a particular piece is “art.” This is a loaded question, stemming from an indiscreet observation on my part about some paintings we saw at an open house-work (featured in one of the world’s most prestigious museums, mind you) that I claimed was “not really art, but more like decoration.”

I may never live this down.

Just as I love a range and variety of people, I also love a range and variety of art. And, just as I do not warm to all people, I am not keen on every piece of art that crosses my path. But what I need in order to call something “art” is a sense of that conviction.

On the 15^th of March, at 7 PM, we’ll be hosting a Lecture and Exhibition at our listings at 111 East Santa Fe Ave. The speaker, Dan Milnor, is a photographer who’s made a name for himself shooting weddings and kids, although he’d rather you didn’t know that. Especially the wedding part. Why? Because people get certain notions about wedding photography, and by extension, wedding photographers, and those notions incline them not to take such work, or its author, seriously.

Go to Dan’s website http://www.milnorpictures.com. Well, you won’t see any weddings, but you will see kids and you will see Dan’s documentary style, and his tagline: Contemporary. Spontaneous. Real. The pics will convince you. Conviction.

Dan’s lecture will kickstart our next exhibition featuring the photography of a range of earnest talents, held once again at the Belladonna: Seven Condos and Townhomes on East Santa Fe Ave. Come by and support the good work of great creative lights.

We use the vehicle of our real estate listings to showcase the work of emerging and independent artists. Artists receive 100% of the proceeds of all sales. For full access to the Santa Fe MLS, visit our website at: http://santafedowntownrealestate.com