June Issue 2000
Asheville Art Museum in Asheville, NC, Features
American Photography
The Asheville Art Museum is pleased to present Making Pictures,
an exploration of contemporary American photography. This exhibition
offers a unique opportunity to examine the continuously evolving
field of photography through the work of 13 exciting photographers.
Included are artists Pinky Bass, Blythe Bohnen, Kathleen Campbell,
James Casebere, Jim Dine, William Eggleston, Adam Fuss, John Pfahl,
Richard Ramsdell, Sandy Skoglund, Mike & Doug Starn, Caroline
Vaughan, and William Wegman. These artists, working in a variety
of techniques, deal with a range of subject matters. Together
they intelligently and entertainingly tell the story of the contemporary
photography scene in the United States.
While the photographers in Making Pictures use different techniques, one thing they share is an approach that emphasizes "creating" photographs, not just responding to the scenes and using photography to document events. Scenes created or manipulated to be photographed have existed from the beginning of photography, seldom has this mode of working achieved the dominance that it currently possesses and as is evident in this exhibition. Photographers such as Sandy Skoglund, Pinky Bass, and Mike and Doug Starns create work that relies more on interior thought than external objects. Caroline Vaughan's 20"x24" Polaroid prints refer back to the style of portraiture common in the late 19th century, however her subjects clearly belong to the end of the 20th century. James Casebere's images comment on the increasingly prevalent use of cameras-still, video, digital - in surveillance of all aspects of daily life. Kathleen Campbell creates allegorical portraits that have their roots in the work of 19th century photographers. The work by William Eggleston in this exhibition looks at the people of the South. Both Jim Dine and Richard Ramsdell have chosen to work in a way that emphasizes the role of the computer in their photography, despite the fact that manipulation of images in the computer can be done in a manner that is almost undetectable.
Photography in the last hundred years has gone through several distinct stages in its quest to be considered art, while at the same time asserting its superiority to other media because of its ability to capture the "truth." While images have been manipulated by photographers since the invention of photography, recent advances in computer technology that let National Geographic rearrange the pyramids to make a better cover, or Newsweek to give O.J. Simpson a "5 o'clock shadow," make it clear that the idea that photographs tell us the truth is a shaky proposition indeed. These contemporary artists and photographs indicate that the future for photography may lie in its ability to create a compelling image and not on its ability to document "truth."
The Asheville Art Museum Shop will feature books and other items related to the exhibition as well as current books on American art of the twentieth century. Museum members receive a 10% discount on all purchases. Proceeds from the Museum Shop support the Museum's public programs.
For further information check our NC Institutional
Gallery listings or call the museum at 828/253-3227.
Mailing Address: Carolina Arts, P.O. Drawer
427, Bonneau, SC 29431
Telephone, Answering Machine and FAX: 843/825-3408
E-Mail: carolinart@aol.com
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