Visual Arts Briefs

Creating the “Tony Bennett: Portrait of An Artist” exhibition was a natural progression for photographers Josh Cheuse (BFA 1988 Photography) and Kelsey Bennett (Pre-College Program participant), granddaughter of Mr. Bennett. On view at the Morrison Hotel Gallery in SoHo, 124 Prince Street, until Sunday, October 9, the show documents the recording process of Tony Bennett’s new album DUETS II (RPM/Columbia Records) and features images of the legendary singer with the likes of k.d. lang, Amy Winehouse, Willie Nelson and Lady Gaga. All of the photos were taken by Kelsey Bennett and Cheuse, who began photographing bands when he was 16 years old and has worked for such publications as SPIN, Rolling Stone and Time Out. Kelsey Bennett has also been taking photos since she was an adolescent, and has since had the opportunity to intern for Danielle Levitt and Annie Leibovitz. The younger Bennett shared some thoughts about the exhibition and her photography via email with the Briefs recently.

How did the idea for this exhibition come about, and why did you decide to do it now?
My grandfather’s record DUETS II was released the same day as the gallery opening. As well as portraying Tony’s life as an artist, we also wanted to capture him with his DUETS partners to celebrate the record.

How did you team up with Josh?
In addition to being a photographer, Josh is also the art director at Sony. He designed the layout of the record. Throughout the years, Josh has become a close family friend.

How did your time at SVA contribute to your development as a photographer?
Being at SVA helped me use my sense of exploration to find what inspires me on the streets of New York. There used to be a punk club on Saint Marks Place called Coney Island High. I would go there every weekend. When I was at SVA, the club closed. I walked downtown and talked my way into the place. The guy originally wasn’t going to let me in but was swayed by the fact that I was shooting for school. Everything was left as I had remembered. I photographed the stage and the murals on the wall. I gained access into a place I never thought I’d see again. I still have those shots.

How does your photographic style differ from other photographers?
I am more concept driven. When I’m shooting, I keep an idea in my head that I want to later portray through the photograph. Josh loves to work with natural light. He waits for the light to create something beautiful, and he captures it. He has an incredible shot of my father and grandfather [Tony Bennett] on the roof of Capitol Records.

What do you want viewers to take away from this exhibition?
My grandfather is 85, and he has been working and living as an artist for most of his life and traveling the world to bring people his art. As well as being a singer, he paints and has just taken up sculpting. I want viewers to come away from the exhibit feeling inspired by how my grandfather has actively dedicated his life to his passion.

Images: Photo of Tony Bennett and Kelsey Bennett by Kyle Dean Reinford. Courtesy of Kelsey Bennett.

SVA’s “Art in the First Person” lecture series continues on September 22 with two events that are sure to generate some lively discussion. At 6:30pm in the SVA Amphitheater, 209 East 23 Street, the MFA Photography, Video and Related Media Department in partnership with Professional Women Photographers present “The Role of Women in Photography: Are We There Yet?” Moderator Elisabeth Bondi, former visuals editor for The New Yorker, will be joined by curator and writer Lyle Rexer; photography critic Vince Aletti; and photographers Martine Fougeron, Sarah Silver, and Lisa Kereszi.

Across town at 7 pm at the SVA Theatre, 333 West 23 Street, the MFA Art Criticism & Writing Department hosts “Making It Visible,” a talk by Robert Storr, critic, curator, artist, and Dean of the Yale University School of Art. Storr will reflect on Gerhard Richter’s painting September, a work that powerfully evokes 9/11, and compare it to Robert Ryman’s paintings, which pose alternatives to “realism.”

On October 12 at 7pm at the SVA Theatre, the BFA Photography Department presents “Unseen in The Unseen Eye” in conjunction with the release of author, curator, collector and SVA faculty member Bill Hunt’s new book The Unseen Eye: Photographs from the Unconscious. Hunt will discuss the book, his life as a collector, and his passion for photography with fellow author, curator, and faculty member Susan Bright. On October 13 at 7pm at the SVA Theatre, the MFA Art Criticism & Writing Department welcomes artist Carolee Schneemann as she explores the “Mysteries of the Iconographies” during what promises to be a stunning visual lecture.

As part of Performa 11, the BFA Fine Arts Department and the BFA Visual & Critical Studies Department present “I Feel Your Pain,” a new multimedia performance by artist Liz Magic Laser based on the idea of a “living newspaper.” Laser’s politically charged work will be performed at 8pm on Sunday, November 13 and at 8pm on Monday, November 14 at the SVA Theatre.

Most “Art in the First Person” events are free and open to the public. For more information on the more than 20 events, visit sva.edu/artinthefirstperson.

Images: (top) Photo of Robert Storr by Lyle Ashton Harris. (bottom) A still from “I Feel Your Pain” by Liz Magic Laser.

Amy Elkins (BFA 2007 Photography) turns her lens on college Rugby players in her latest show “Elegant Violence,” which continues her exploration of masculine identity. The subjects of Elkins’ portraits were photographed immediately following a match, many with fresh battle wounds on full display. On view at Yancey Richardson Gallery, 535 West 22 Street, through October 22.

For his first solo show in New York in over five years, Tim Okamura (MFA 1993 Illustration as Visual Essay) returns with a new exhibition called “Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens.” Okamura’s life-sized paintings examine the “complexity of the soulful New York City woman,” juxtaposing the natural beauty of his muses against gritty urban landscapes and ultimately elevating them to “royal” status. On view at Lyons Wier Gallery, 542 West 24 Street, through October 8.

“Fallen Empires” is the name of a new book and exhibition by SVA alumnus Shai Kremer (MFA 2006 Photography, Video & Related Media). Expanding on his previous body of work Infected Landscape, Kremer’s latest photo project further explores the political history of Israel, capturing images that bring to mind issues of transience as well as the area’s complex military past and present. On view at Julie Saul Gallery, 535 West 22 Street, 6th floor, through October 15.

Image: Amy Elkins, Zak (Second Row, University Team Captain), Princeton, NJ, 2010, archival ink jet print © Amy Elkins, courtesy of the artist and the Yancey Richardson Gallery, New York.

Iron Fists: Branding the 20th Century Totalitarian State (Phaidon Press, 2011) by Steven Heller (MFA Design Department Co-chair): Recently released in paperback, Heller’s book explores how the dictatorships of Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, Communist China, and Soviet Russia all used graphic design to sell their messages to the public. Iron Fists also draws comparisons between those tactics and the branding strategies used by many modern corporations.

Helvetica and the New York City Subway System: The True (Maybe) Story, by Paul Shaw (faculty, Art History and BFA Advertising and Graphic Design Departments): Newly redesigned to accommodate 15 additional photographs and republished by The MIT Press, this limited-edition book traces the history of Helvetica as the official typeface of the NYC subways. To listen to a recent interview with Shaw about the book on The Leonard Lopate Show, visit WNYC.

Los Jardines de México, photographs by Janelle Lynch (MFA 1999 Photography) with texts by José Antonio Aldrete-Haas and Mario Bellatín. This collection brings together four series of photos shot in Mexico City and Chiapas between 2002 and 2007. Both sad and celebratory, all of the photographs in this book examine loss as an impetus for growth.

BFA Photography Department faculty member Abby Robinson, who was recently interviewed by NYFA, has been blogging for Photo District News since late May about this year’s Digital Photography in Shanghai Arts Abroad program. Her first post discussed her preparation for the trip as well as a glimpse into previous projects that resulted from the program. You can find all of her posts here.

Robinson was joined in her travels by seven students and a student translator. The program ends on July 2 and allows participants to explore Shanghai culture with opportunities for portfolio reviews by some of the top members of the Chinese art community. For more details about Robinson and the group’s journey, visit the Shanghai Digital Photography Residency blog.

Image: (top) Giant Buddha at the Jade Buddha Temple; (middle) dumpling stuffing lesson; (bottom) Yuan Gong’s Installation at the Zendai Museum. Photos © Abby Robinson

• BFA Fine Arts Department Chair Suzanne Anker’s pioneering work in the field of bio-art is featured in the journal Social Text: Interspecies (Duke University Press, 2011). In “Specimens as Spectacles: Reframing Fetal Remains,” Anker is interviewed by feminist science studies scholar Sarah Franklin about the visual culture of specimen display and its significance to both art and social theory. In addition, Anker’s artwork appears on the volume’s cover.
• Now available for download at the iTunes store, the BFA Advertising and Graphic Design Department has a dynamic new iPhone and iPad app featuring work by 2011 graduates. This free app features a whopping 130 portfolios, which are updated via Flickr and Vimeo, and links to student Web sites for even more work. The brainchild of motion graphics instructor Ori Kleiner, the app was developed by Red Foundry and built by student Allan Wong (BFA 2011 Graphic Design) to provide the kind of “immediate gratification” more and more employers and recruiters are looking for, says Kleiner. With more than 1,000 downloads so far, the app seems to have gotten it right. To download, click here.
• Alumnus Marc McAndrews (BFA 1998 Photography) has a new book out dealing with one of America’s oldest taboos. Nevada Rose (Umbrage Editions, 2011) illustrates Nevada’s prostitution industry through intimate portraits of brothels, from their owners, managers and the women in their employ to bartenders, cashiers and kitchen staff. In a starred review, Publishers Weekly says the book “reveals a wide cross-section of humanity, Americana, and femininity while eschewing a sensational perspective on sex work.” The book is available now from Amazon.com and retailers.

Image: Cover of Social Text: Interspecies (Duke University Press, 2011) featuring Suzanne Anker, Golden Boy (Stem Cells), digital prints on watercolor paper, 2004-2006.

AnOther magazine recently interviewed Dutch photographer Anouk Kruithof, winner of the PhotoGlobal prize. The prize was awarded at the Hyères International Festival of Fashion and Photography by Stephen Frailey, chair of the BFA Photography Department and co-chair of the MPS Fashion Photography Department, and covers the cost of tuition for the 2011 – 2012 academic year. In addition to winning the PhotoGlobal prize, the Berlin-based photographer also won the grand prix du jury at Hyères for her work “The Daily Exhaustion,” a booklet of 23 self-portraits of the artist in various states of fatigue following intense physical activity. Kruithof explains, “The resulting sweaty state is real, but more importantly, the work is a metaphor for an emotional state of mental exhaustion.”

The SVA community is well represented in the latest Photo District News’ (PDN) Photo Annual 2011 with winners in several categories. MPS Fashion Photography Department faculty member Sølve Sundsbø was honored in the Magazine/Editorial category; alumnus Jonathan Torgovnik’s work (BFA 1996 Photography) was selected in the Photojournalism/Sports/Documentary category; and in the Personal category, works by alumnus Thomas Prior (BFA 2002 Photography), alumnus Natan Dvir (MFA 2010 Photography, Video and Related Media) and BFA Photography Department faculty member Abby Robinson were chosen. SVA had two winners in the Student Work category: Tim Melideo (MFA 2011 Photography), for his series “Anonymous Collaborations”; and Jessica Miller (current student, MFA Photography, Video and Related Media Department), for her project “So Much Water So Close to Home.”

Image: Cover of Photo District News, June 2011 issue.

BFA Photography Department faculty member Josef “Birdman” Astor’s new documentary film Lost Bohemia recently opened in New York City to critical acclaim.

Described by The New York Times as “a sad and spirited elegy,” the film chronicles the struggle surrounding the apartments above Carnegie Hall, which have long been home to artists, writers, musicians and dancers, who are now facing eviction as the space is converted to offices. Astor, himself a 20-year resident of the building, made the film to preserve the rich heritage of the apartments and the personal stories of his neighbors.

Time Out New York says, “Considering the high cost of living in NYC, it can be easy to dismiss the hardships of rent-controlled bohemians, but as seen from the inside, it’s clear that something much bigger was at stake: the very heart of a city that prides itself on art, but habitually privileges the bottom line.”

Lost Bohemia is playing at IFC Center, 323 Sixth Avenue, New York.

Images: (top) production still from Lost Bohemia; (bottom) official trailer for Lost Bohemia.

Presented in conjunction with this year’s New York Photo Festival, “Photo Global: New Releases 2011,” is an exhibition of selected work by the six international photographers who participated in the 2010 – 2011 Photo Global program, a one-year residency offered by the BFA Photography Department.

The exhibition, which is on view through May 15 at Front Street Galleries, located at 111 Front Street, Suite 226, in the DUMBO section of Brooklyn, features works by Jean Bettingen, Luxembourg; Simon Lewis, Australia; Monica Lozano, Mexico; Dhruv Malhotra, India; Maciej Markowicz, Poland; and Marco Scozzaro, Italy.

Looking ahead to next year, Stephen Frailey, chair of the BFA Photography Department and co-chair of the MPS Fashion Photography Department, recently awarded a Photo Global prize to Dutch photographer Anouk Kruithof at the Hyères International Festival of Fashion and Photography in Villa Noailles, France. He will award a second Photo Global prize at the ITS#TEN Festival held in Trieste, Italy in July.

Image: Monica Lozano, Untitled, 2011.