December Issue 2000
Downtownes in Greenville, SC Offers Two Views on Nudes
Downtownes, a fine art gallery in Greenville, SC, is presenting the exhibit, Nudes: Two Views, featuring IRIS prints from large format Polaroinds by A. David Crosby and Polaroid/IRIS gel transfers by David M. Starzec. The exhibit begins on Dec. 14 and continues through Jan. 25, 2001.
A. David Crosby
With more than 20 years as a photographer, A. David Crosby has progressed from the gritty realism of photojournalism in the 80s to the wildly colored abstracts of current commercial projects. He started moving toward an abstract style in 1989 with a series of 35mm architectural details of Greenville buildings, then in 1991, Crosby did his first large format abstracts of public utilities for the Greer, SC, Commission of Public Works. That led to the colorful light painted abstracts of the textile industry for Mount Vernon Mills in 1995, taking ugly green machinery and finding the beauty in its function. Other commercial projects have followed, but it wasn't until the Nudes and Flowers series of 1998-99 that Crosby finally applied what he had learned to a personal project.
Polaroids have always been a prominent part of Crosby's commercial work, but they are used like a sketchbook, to refine the lighting and composition before it's committed to film. In the beginning of this project, he started with Polaroids, intending to shoot film once he had perfected the image. What Crosby found was that the image changed every time. The limited focus technique combined with the awkwardness of a view camera and the spontaneity of the models made each image a constantly changing thing, making each Polaroid a unique creation.
The images in Nudes: Two Views is a continuation of that discovery. With each slight movement the focus changes, the light bends and sometimes unexpected images result. They are captured on a Sinar 4x5 view camera using Polaroid Type 55 positive/negative film. The negatives are then scanned and printed on watercolor paper using an IRIS 3047 printer with archival inks.
"All of these images are a collaboration with the models. Each one is unique, and I thank them for the long hours of work that this technique demands, and for sharing these intimate views with me and with you," says Crosby.
In 1999, David M. Starzec's art work coupled traditional fine art skills with hi-end digital technology. His monoprint technique creates a strong impressionistic feel that he calls neuro-impressionism. These monoprints are very small which helps portray the intimacy of each scene. Unlike traditional Polaroid transfers Starzec's images are snapshots that are drawn, painted, scanned, printed and then transferred to create monoprints called Polaroid/IRIS gel transfers.
Starzec explains the process as follows, "All my monoprints start as Polaroid snapshots that are hand altered during their developing stages. After the image has been altered and has dried it is scanned at a hi-resolution and output on to a transfer plate using an IRIS 3047 printer with fine art archival inks. The plate is then transferred to an archival substrate using a coating of treated polymer."
For further information check our SC Commercial
Gallery listings or call the gallery at 864/232-4403 or check
out their web site at (http://wwwcrosbystills.com).
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