In Good Company – August 21 - Oct. 2, 2021
In Good Company is a site-specific exhibition at The Nancy Willard and Eric Lindbloom Artist-Run Project Space curated by Christine Callahan and Sasha Louis Bush.
In Good Company is a celebration of the physical coming together of our online group, Tuesday Night Critique. These 13 artists have bonded through their love of making work, looking at work and seeking a creative community to further push their artistic vision. We began our photo-based group in October 2020. We are thankful to have launched a positive, monthly forum during this difficult pandemic. This in-person exhibition is a testament to our commitment to our individual work. It demonstrates the power of sharing ideas and resources. It confirms our belief that a supportive environment nurtures our creative process. In our critique group, we value our feedback dialog; it challenges us and propels our work to grow. We see this exhibition as a milestone and plan to create further opportunities to cultivate our projects.
Artists
Catalina Aranguren
Sasha Louis Bush
Christine Callahan
Beth Chucker
Eamon Dolan
Jules Herbert
Justin Hoch
Chaska Jurado
Danny R. Peralta
Matthew Pritchard
Jean Ross
Francis Smith
Joe Ziolkowski
(Click on artists names below to see their websites)
ARTISTS
Catalina Aranguren
Looking at Catalina’s photographs, I’m prompted to think about daydreaming. Is the figure, with their back to the window waiting for someone? Or have they found themselves in a pocket of time – between to-do lists and jobs – with a few minutes to spare for quiet reflection. Why do they not turn to the brilliant blue sky filled with patches of iridescent clouds behind them? The answer is unclear. Still, Catalina’s mysterious photograph holds my attention with these and many other questions.
-Text by Sasha Louis Bush
Sasha’s glassine packets surprise me. They are a combination of handmade care and photographic structure. The construction of these small parcels allow me to experience building blocks of a photograph. Bold geometric shapes pierce through the translucent envelopes. Once opened, details of architecture, light formations and slices of street scenes emerge. I love how these gems live two lives, concealed and revealed. They are small enough to fit in your pocket but hold a large significance.
-Text by Christine Callahan
What role do rituals play in our lives? Does faith have a place in that conversation? Look closely at the church sparkling in the sun's evening rays or the wooden fence leading your eye to the peach blank facade. Christine Callahan observes these moments, made on her solitary walks, with an attentive eye. And in that attention, her work – the process by which she carefully composes and takes photographs – serves as an act of renewed faith in the ritual of close observation and the richly mysterious pictures these rituals yield.
- Text by Sasha Louis Bush
Sometimes I don’t know why I’m drawn to a photograph at first. I follow my gut, which tells me, ‘don’t move on yet, look a little closer and keep looking.’ And returning to Beth Chucker’s photograph gives me the chance to hone in and better understand what exactly I’m looking at.
The composition’s energy begins at the bottom of the frame and with electric intensity bursts into the middle and top of the frame. Enjoy the subtle gradation of reds contrasted against the bright blue sky. And notice how her photograph might just fill you with a sense of air, lightness and spaciousness.
-Text by Sasha Louis Bush
Eamon Dolan
Eamon’s love for NYC is evident. He achieves nostalgic vibes with his keen observations, muted tones and straightforward approach. Our beloved city has been through a lot these days. I feel emotional when I look at them. The crystal clear drops tug at my heart strings. The view of overlapping water towers reminds me that New York is jam packed as it is beautiful. I feast my eyes on a subway memory, a good-looking commuter reading literature on a crowded train without a mask. Wow, the before times are really gone. I’m grateful for Eamon’s time capsule, it makes me love New York even more.
-Text by Christine Callahan
Jules Herbert
Jules Herbert’s photographs shine. He explores his personal landmarks with ominous shadows and luminous color. His meaningful focus decisions serve as spotlights, pointing to sharp lines, rich texture and colorful blur. I love how he plays with scale by altering the camera’s distance. He obscures the context of these structures but is generous with revealing architectural character and striking atmosphere.
– Text by Christine Callahan
Justin’s use of dramatic light in his photographs – a winter sun sparkling across a river or the vivid purples and oranges of floodlights sifting through a fog – draws you in immediately. Look closer and what emerges is the curious mix of stillness and movement.
-Text by Sasha Louis Bush
Chaska Jurado’s mesmerizing images invites the viewer to get pleasurably lost. She plays with vivid color hues, prominent lighting and unique vantage points to successfully distort perspective.
– Text by Christine Callahan
Think of your ancestors and elders, as Danny R. Peralta does with his intimate works, some in recognizable shapes such as bottles and cups, and you are brought to a question: how do your elders’ stories impact your life today?
Familiarity with your materials relies in part on time spent with them. Look closely at the layered strips of paper, made from reprinted family photographs, and you can begin to imagine the hours that Danny spent carefully shaping and caring for his works. Imagine that process of making, thinking and remaking, and you might understand how immediately present and palpable their stories are.
-Text by Sasha Louis Bush
Matthew’s photographs are full of coiled energy: crisp diagonal lines and sharply angled light direct my eye throughout his compositions. Several questions stay with me. What is the relationship between New Yorkers and their city? Can the organic shapes of a human form – a woman mid-stride on her morning commute – shift the energy of the angular inorganic lines of a building on an otherwise quiet street in Queens? I’m not sure. But I’m certainly drawn to the robin’s egg blue and egg yolk yellow behind her, lost in her phone, and in the day’s to-do lists.
-Text by Sasha Louis Bush
As a native New Yorker, Coney Island has a special place in my heart. I enjoy the vibe Jean Ross has captured. She has taken on this historical seaside by depicting lounging sun worshippers and eager swimmers. I feel a restful and lazy atmosphere shining through the crisp details surrounding her silver heroes. The heat burns into the sand and I am left contemplating the waves and sky.
-Text by Christine Callahan
Francis Smith uses color as a narrative tool. He vividly captures distinct environments. He shifts between interior/exterior and private/public spaces. He alternates between cool and warm colors along with saturated and muted tones. Neon spray paint, wood panel walls, hand-drawn signs and a lush museum setting serve as cultural signposts. These ingredients create frames of reference for the locations and its’ inhabitants. When contemplating his work, I think about how geography, history, socioeconomics and spatial relationships intersect.
-Text by Christine Callahan
Joe Ziolkowski
The titles of Joe Z’s photographs are factual and seemingly straightforward, noting the year, month, day and location the pictures were made. Reread them. And notice between them, a silence that carries the darkness, uncertainty and anxiety that he, and many of us experienced throughout the global pandemic. With a moving sense of care, for himself and his viewers, Joe Z’s photographs invite us to share a space of quiet introspection where we can reflect and process without the need to offer an immediate reaction. And then, ‘Social Distancing in 46° Waters…’ snaps us immediately back to the body, to his legs, braced against the freezing waters in Lake Ontario as he stands for another exposure of his 4 x 5 pinhole camera.
-Text by Sasha Louis Bush
