4 X 14 Exhibition Announcement

4 X 14: Uncommon Imagery

An Exhibition of New Work from

14 Southern California Photographers 

March 20th- May 28th, 2010

Opening Reception: Saturday, March 20^th, 6-9 pm 

The Julia Dean Gallery

801 Ocean Front Walk, Studio 8

Venice, California 90291 

 

4 X 14: Uncommon Imagery is a group show featuring the work of Southern California photographers who have been developing their unique and personal visions in contemporary photography. Explorers, dreamers, perfectionists, voyeurs - photographers can be perceived in different ways, but passionate is perhaps the feature that characterizes them the best. Without passion their work could never see the light of success or have an unparalleled place in the contemporary art world. 

Members of the group have exhibited nationwide and have had work published in JPG, File, Silvershotz, PDN, Communication Arts, Eyemazing, Black and White, Light Leaks, Shots, and other magazines. These emerging photographers bring their unique sensibilities to this exhibition, each showcasing four connected images that reflect the broad range of photography today. 

Photographic mediums represented at 4 X 14: Uncommon Imagery range from digital color, Polaroid, photo illustration, color and black and white film. The diversity of styles and subject matter combine to create an exhibit that not only showcases the abilities of emerging artists, but also encourages audiences to interact with 56 new artistic visions. 

Work from the following artists will be featured in the show:

Judy Ann Hoffman likes to paint abstract and conceptual pieces with her camera. Her photographic series, Notes, is a whimsical exploration of color and light, shapes and shadows, curls and swirls, created entirely from Post-It notes.

Todd Stern's photography often focuses on different cultures, offering a unique view of a particular place. His perspective of the world reveals the eye of an outsider, but the heart of a trusted friend. In this exhibit, he will showcase images from Nepal. 

Nancy Baron's Vegas, I Do images give an intimate glimpse into the world of Las Vegas weddings. 

Michael Kirchoff's new series entitled Incognito looks at the use of
umbrella not merely as an accessory, but as a means of concealing the identity of its user and transforming him/her into a universally known graphic shape. Better than sunglasses, the umbrella has a way of hiding its user and creating a distraction from the prying eyes of daily life. 

Gerhard Clausing presents reflections and unexpected juxtapositions that invite the viewer to interpret what is shown and what is not.  

Gray Malin uses nine expired Polaroids that he merges together to create landscapes of specific places from all over the world. 

Laurie McCormick’s work is a visual presentation of her life growing up in Yonkers, NY. Her new series Chapters in Life features raw creations which she cooked up in her kitchen by mixing in her favorite ingredients: her miniatures.  

Linda Morrow’s work is from a series called The Reflective Lens; it  is comprised of self-portraits that explore aspects of personal history, memory, and the passage of time.   

In the series My Life in Pictures, Liz Huston reaches into the private world of repairing deep emotional wounds, through the medium of photomontage. She seamlessly blends antique photographs with her own modern images, bravely exploring the universal feelings of exposure, isolation, loss and ultimately, healing.

Aline Smithson's work explores Michael Apted’s notion that a child is fully formed by the age of seven in her series, Spring Fever. Using whimsical floral hats from the mid century, these portraits give a glimpse into the past, present, and future of contemporary girls. 

Cathy Immordino’s work navigates the world of Japanese artwork where Buddhas, bonsais and earthly objects are digitally manipulated together as one. Hand-gilded with 23-carat gold, each photograph represents the artist’s new cutting edge on photography. 

Zoran Milosavljevic’s work is from his portrait series on Wilshire Boulevard. The idea was to photograph one person per intersection for length of Wilshire from Downtown Los Angeles to the ocean in Santa Monica. 

Michael Butler has pointed his camera at the women of Rodeo Drive. His new series examines the private and surreal moments of some of our wealthiest people and the psychic spaces they inhabit.

Rebecca Gaal thinks it's easier to see the truth than hear it.  Her work examines universal issues of health, religion, and family.  It is her objective to seek out soul in everything she photographs.

Gray Malin

With a name like Gray Malin it comes as no surprise that art is his passion. Growing up in Texas, Gray was fascinated by traveling and knew he one day had to get out. As he got older his passion for the arts grew and he knew that expressing his creative interests was something that later in life would hopefully become his career.

At the young age of 23 Gray’s dreams have come true. Gray attended Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts. In addition to studying photography and majoring in marketing, Gray was known around campus as having the “best internships”, which included stints at Bergdorf Goodman, Terry Hines & Associates, and Paramount Vantage. Upon graduation Gray moved to Los Angeles where he quickly found work at Paramount Pictures in the office of the president. After a few short months as an intern, Gray became the youngest assistant to the president of Paramount Vantage in the company’s history. As great as an experience as this was, Gray realized that he needed to follow his heart. In the fall of 2008 Gray launched Gray Malin photography. He devoted the next few months to honing his craft by traveling around the world adding to his already extensive portfolio. Later that same year, Gray opened his own photography studio.

The turning point in his career was when Gray was selected to become a vendor at the world famous Fairfax Flea Market in Los Angeles and caught the attention of interior designers, celebrities, gallery owners, tourists and every day Anglenos. Gray continues to create new and exciting photographic series by both traveling and capturing special moments that he finds in his everyday world. 

Judy Ann Hoffman

Judy Ann Hoffman grew up in Anaheim, CA and has fond memories of her camera-toting relatives from far away visiting on their way Disneyland. When she received her first camera, a Kodak Instamatic (with four full power flashes in one cool flash cube) as a gift from her parents for her eighth birthday, she began toting a camera, too. Without further ado she was out photographing the bunnies in the backyard, her brother’s snake and the neighbor’s tree house. Her first photo montage: San Juan Capistrano Mission was presented to her third grade class at Benito Juarez Elementary School on a Bell and Howell TeleSonic Slide Projector when bell bottoms and Nehru jackets were first in style. 

Years later, while working as an elementary school teacher in Southern California, Ms. Hoffman discovered the power of images as a learning tool. This led to many photographic adventures across Southern California capturing photographs of weekly vocabulary words for her students. As her eye and skill developed, she was asked to manage and photograph the image galleries for her school website. This led to archival and documentary work for educational institutions including The Eugene Weiner Institute for Experiential Learning in Israel, Morocco, Greece and Turkey. Recent photographic projects include location work for Michael Saul Productions, Tone Quest Inc., and McGinnty Music. In addition, Ms. Hoffman leads digital photography workshops for children several afternoons a week in Los Angeles.

George Logan

Gerhard Clausing

It’s been a long journey, from GERHARD CLAUSING's childhood “Bilora Boy” camera to the world of high-quality rangefinders, SLRs, and digital capture. The fascination of “capturing the light” has remained. Along the way Gerhard was an educator and writer of college textbooks, and used images in his publications and in the courses he taught. Gerhard's images gradually found their audiences.

Gerhard studied photography at Otis Art Institute, Brooks Institute, and Julia Dean Photo Workshops, completing the certified course of studies. Now he is a fine arts and documentary photographer, creating images that show the viewer alternate realities that reflect inner states and global conditions. Gerhard has been particularly inspired and encouraged by Douglas Kirkland, Gerd Ludwig, Joel Sartore, Phil Borges, Mary Ellen Mark, and above all, by his mentors, Ken Merfeld

and Aline Smithson.

Marc Ward

Marc Ward left his native Central Florida after the apparent invasion of a large, three-fingered, cartoon rodent named "Mickey". East Tennessee was the destination where he earned the much prized and always lucrative, Bachelor of Studio Art degree. During this time and between painting, printmaking, and pottery, Marc became the photographer for the college newspaper and the darkroom became a second home.

Chemical trays to digital files...film to computers. The "how" of photography has vastly changed over the decades for all of us, but the love of capturing the color, line, and beauty of the world around us hasn't. The water, waves, sky, and simple beauty of Florida still inspire Marc's view of the world wherever he might be.

I personally love to look at these images and being transported to a far away alternate Universe where live is full of art and passion and politicians are dead. These still photographs should be made into movies and inspire the creative minds of the entire sci-fi film Industry.

Enjoy!