February Issue 2002
DownTownes in Greenville, SC, Features Works by Lanny Webb
DownTownes in Greenville, SC, welcomes back University of Georgia fine art professor, Lanny Webb. His timeless Southern landscapes hung for the ga1lery's debut exhibit in 1999. Webb's images have been admired by many with the strong emphasis on southern heritage and love of the landscape. The exhibit entitled, Southern Lights: Recent Works by Lanny Webb, will be on view Feb. 21 through Apr. 18, 2002.
Lanny Webb says of his work, "While my Southern childhood of the fifties leaves no illusions of this turbulent period of transition, I am nevertheless indebted to a heritage generous with colorful customs and genteel tradition. For me things Southern are based, in large part, on a devout respect and reverence for the land, a love of life, and a confirmed necessity for time to reflect.These quiet times for reflection and genteel relationships are perhaps by themselves inconsequential, but they create in unison what I feel is at the heart of our conscience. My images are born of these things, not so much from a sense of nostalgia, as from an attempt to somehow rekindle within the viewer the importance of this disappearing sentiment once native to the South."
Webb's subjects are almost universally outdoor images, some urban, mostly rural. In general his images have always sought to recreate more of the spirit of a place or occurrence than the actual place or occurrence itself. He often perceives an essence in things around him that is so apparent it becomes a tangible entity in itself. An old house, familiar place, or summer breeze can have a distinct presence. Webb relates to this presence at least passively, if not actively. A favorite old chair becomes a friend, and the rich scent of an oak fire consoling. Easily humbled by the power of a summer storm but at the same time Webb feels an odd reassurance in its omnipotent show of force. There seems to be a timeless quality about these things. We find solace in sunsets end ocean views perhaps because they are always different but always there. They are the constant; we are the transient element.
It is the relationship between man as temporal and his surroundings as continual that Webb finds intriguing. Man, or some indication of his presence, while not visually prominent, is generally a necessary component of each composition. It is the relationship of man to his environment that becomes the subject.
Webb feels the most important factor in determining the success of his work would be in its ability to exemplify this relationship. To help emphasize this temporal aspect man has on a particular setting, Webb has been subordinating his presence in the image to a greater and greater degree. He says, "I generally do not actually show people in my images but indicate their presence by showing a lit building or perhaps a well traveled road. The building or road, however, is again only important in its relationship to where it is. By showing more of the surrounding area, I can emphasize a sense of solitude and in turn perhaps peace which is necessary to the feeling of perception I am trying to create." One way he enhances this mood is by pulling the viewer back from the subject, which will naturally show more of the environment and less of the objects that indicate man's presence.
Webb's images do not try to factually represent a particular scene but attempt to recreate the essence or mood of a particular setting. To this end, he has found the use of light to be one of his most valuable tools, having always had a fascination, if not an obsession,with light and how it affects the spirit of a subject. Our perception of a subject is determined by its lighting, and yet we frequently are not aware of this ever present but subtle force. The essence at any subject can change poetically, dramatically, or mystically depending on the quality of light. Strong sunlight can have an oppressive, suffocatingly still heat or be viewed as a wash of bright purifying light. The rapidly changing light of a late afternoon summer storm often creates a simultaneous contrast of colors and moods, for example, splendor and gloom. The mystery of a silver moon can cast a quiet peace or create a crisp tension. A special magic can be felt during a dawn or dusk full of transient light. During these times there is a mixture of calm and constant slow change like the movement of the hand on a clock. You can't see it move, but every minute is new.
According to Webb the character of a particular setting, however, is often times very subtle. For this feeling, or unique quality, to be apparent, He focuses on its "essence" by deleting or adding information through digital imaging. In most instances, it is what Webb takes away, more than what he adds, that improves the image. The images, then, are not just attempts to faithfully record reality in the form of a photograph. They try to portray, in a photographic medium, an image which in reality never existed, but, through numerous manipulations, more clearly conveys the mood or character that attracted his attention to the subject initially.
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