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October Issue 2005
Imaging Arts Opens Revitalizes Charleston, SC, Landmark
Imaging
Arts which owns and operates a gallery in Tappan, NY, has opened
its doors as Charleston, SC's newest photographic arts gallery.
A uniquely high tech approach is taken in its dedication to the
art and history of photography. In addition to providing exhibition
space, it contains an impressive display of photographic technology
reflecting progress in the field into the 21st century, and functions
as a laboratory for the preservation and respectful enhancement
of historic photographic processes. A courtyard sculpture exhibition
garden is planned for the future, provided logistic obstacles
can be favorably resolved.
Community service and awareness will also be an important component of operations for this unusual and exciting gallery. Public lectures and gallery talks on relevant topics will be a core segment of gallery activity.
Imaging Arts is located on lower King Street between Clifford and Queen in a newly renovated Reconstruction era building that was home for most of the 20th century to a Charleston landmark. Charlie's Grocery is fondly remembered by generations of Charlestonians as a source of staples for the family table, and sodas and treats for themselves, their children, and grandchildren. Beautiful geraniums decorated the window boxes at the entrance of the store. A cat curled lazily in the window and a pristine, if incongruous, art deco bar occupied the rear of the store.
The cat has been replaced by parrots, and the bar is no more. But once again beautiful flowers bloom at 175 King Street. The intricate detail and design of delicate petals, unseen by the naked eye, are captured and revealed through the lens and artistic eye of the gallery's currently featured exhibitor, Walter O. LeCroy. LeCroy has devoted his life to his passion for electronics and photography. An uncommon union of science and art has been made possible through the emergence of digital technology.
Since the Photo - Secession movement came into prominence during the first decade of the 20th century, photographers such as LeCroy have believed passionately in the possibilities of aesthetic communication through photography. Digital technology has revolutionized both the methods of capture and reproduction of the photographic image. This filmless technology utilizes ink rather than silver salts for transferring images to paper. It replaces a multitude of technologies developed and improved upon over the passed 160 years, including salt, albumen, platinum, dye transfer, and others.
Although the aim of the photographer remains the same, the tools have radically changed. Photographers have always gravitated to the technology that allowed them to best achieve their artistic ends. LeCroy's works establish conclusively that the digital revolution has not only preserved the traditional objectives of photography as an art form, but has vastly expanded its horizons.
A true artist finds beauty where it is unexpected, overlooked, denied and unappreciated. LeCroy's artistic eye transforms the mundane, the ordinary, and the commonplace into images of beauty. His images reflect a transition from a subject matter representable to the senses to one that is not.
LeCroy's larger than life botanicals reveal detail and design only accessible through the utilization of digital technology. He refers to these intricate works as "the world of the small" just outside the reach of the unaided eye. Remarkable brilliance of color, detail, texture, and design are contained in a single "petal" of a flower, a piece of wood, or a bit of thread. These are beautifully revealed in his photographs, whether printed on watercolor paper or canvas.
LeCroy also possesses a profound respect for the past. His work includes a collection of vintage photographic portraits which have also become the beneficiaries of digital technology. Small daguerreotypes and tintypes from the mid 1800's are scanned and marks of deterioration carefully and respectfully removed. The resulting prints reveal detail in artifact and character unseen for 150 years.
LeCroy has been a frequent exhibitor at galleries and shows in and around New York City since 1990. His exhibit, the first at Imaging Arts Gallery, should not be missed.
For further information check our SC Commercial Gallery listings, call Ginger Rosenberg at the gallery at 843/577-7501 or e-mail at (ginger.rosenberg@imagingarts.com).
Carolina Arts is published monthly by Shoestring Publishing
Company, a subsidiary of PSMG, Inc.
Copyright© 2005 by PSMG, Inc., which published Charleston
Arts from July 1987 - Dec. 1994 and South Carolina Arts
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