For Immediate Release
Coming This Summer!
UPS Driver Helps Curate
SF Camerawork Exhibit
June 4 - August 22, 2009
Opening Reception: Thursday, June 4th
For More Exhibit Information or Images Contact:
Wendy Norris, Norris Communications
(415) 307-3853
wendy@norriscommunications.biz
San Francisco, May 2009 - This upcoming summer San Francisco's favorite UPS driver, Dennis D'Ambrogio, will co-curate the Ersatz Group Exhibition, one of three featured summer exhibitions at SF Camerawork opening on Thursday, June 4th through August 22nd.
Summer Exhibitions:
o Ersatz Group Exhibition
o 2009 James D. Phelan Art Award in Photography: Doris Jew Conrath and Jim Stone
o Leaving a Mark: Cutter Photozine
In advance of their 35th anniversary celebration this upcoming autumn, SF Camerawork is taking the time during the summer months to focus in on California's artistic talents. From your neighbors and members of SF Camerawork to nationally recognized photographers and honored artists, June, July, and August comprise three months of three diverse exhibits, and a brief look into the multitude of photographic arts supported by SF Camerawork. Whether you're interested in mail art, two of California's best new contemporary photographers, or the art of the photozine, SF Camerawork is teeming with creativity this summer.
Ersatz Group Exhibition
In advance of this summer exhibition, SF Camerawork extended an invitation to its member base to participate in an all inclusive group mail art show.
Ersatz Group Exhibition uses the aesthetics and mechanisms of the postal service as means for an exhibition of artwork created by mail. Mail art has evolved as an artistic genre since the mid 20th century and remains a popular form of expression due to its egalitarian, free form structure. Keeping within an egalitarian framework, the exhibition is co-curated by UPS professional Dennis D'Ambrogio, with assistance from co-curators Chris Fitzpatrick and Chuck Mobley.
Curators Larry Rinder and Evelyne Jouanno have been invited to tour the exhibition in advance of the opening and respond to the work in the exhibition catalog that will accompany the show. The catalog will serve as a directory of international artists, and beginning in July will be available in book form from print-on-demand company Blurb, as well as a downloadable PDF on SF Camerawork's website.
In the spirit of a creative exchange economy, once the exhibition closes all participants will receive a piece of original work from the exhibition that will be redistributed randomly alongside SF Camerawork's publication, Camerawork: A Journal of Photographic Arts, in September 2009. One work from the exhibition will be chosen for the cover of this special issue.
2009 James D. Phelan Art Award in Photography
Doris Jew Conrath and Jim Stone
Doris Jew Conrath
The James D. Phelan Art Award in Photography is administered annually by SF Camerawork for The San Francisco Foundation, and is given in recognition of artistic achievements by California-born artists. The 2009 award recipients are Doris Jew Conrath and Jim Stone. Jurors for this year's award were: Allan deSouza, artist and SFAI professor, and Cathy Kimball, executive director of San Jose Institute for Contemporary Art.
Award recipient Doris Jew Conrath's panoramic images are created out of several photographs. The artist explains, “Instead of wide views of a physical space taken by pivoting from one point, I record while walking around a structure and unfold the space in a manner similar to a world map created by using a cylindrical projection method. The individual photographs are then digitally stitched together, forming a new space that shows all sides, allowing the viewer to take in multi facets at once.”
The photography of Jim Stone explores facets of America's unusual and complex character, including such sub-themes as obsession and its public display, the mixing of religious and military iconography in a peaceable secular society, and the ironic difference between intent and achievement. Ultimately the artist sees his work as framing “an organized set of graphic and sociological concerns.” - Jim Stone
Leaving a Mark: Cutter Photozine
Cutter Photozine is a Bay Area-based documentary photo magazine dedicated to featuring people telling their own stories and documenting their own existence. Cutter seeks to undo a traditional voyeurism of the "other" and place the power of sight in the focused home of the author. This special exhibition celebrates the launch of the second issue: Leaving a Mark with more than 25 artists featured. The exhibition Leaving a Mark: Cutter Photozine is organized by Cutter editors, Jesse Rose Roberts, Heather Renee Russ and, Rachel Styer.
-end-
All exhibitions are on view Tuesday – Saturday, 12-5 pm at SF Camerawork, 657 Mission St., Second Floor. Admission to the gallery is $5; $2 for students and seniors; free to Camerawork members. For more information, please call 415.512.2020.
For more exhibit information or images contact: Wendy Norris, Norris Communications, 415.307.3853 or wendy@norriscommunications.biz.
Founded in 1974, SF Camerawork encourages emerging and mid-career artists to explore new directions in photography and related media by fostering creative forms of expression that push existing boundaries. Throughout its history, SF Camerawork has nurtured artists, mentored youth and helped make San Francisco a destination for the exploration of photography as an artist’s medium. Its exhibitions are nationally recognized as a focal point for innovation, a pacesetter for new trends in the medium and a launching pad for the careers of young artists. With three galleries and an education center at its new centrally located facility, SF Camerawork is the only non-profit organization in the Bay Area with an exhibition space and educational programs focused exclusively on contemporary photography and related visual image media. It is an accessible venue for people to view exhibitions, meet artists, participate in educational programs, peruse photographic publications, and gather for lectures, screenings, portfolio reviews, and discussions.