Photography and Bronze Exhibits Open Sunday in the
(Unrestricted
release to area news outlets)
WILSON,
N.C. — Discover a different point of view through the lens of the camera, and
learn how the “Lost Wax” process relates to bronze at Barton College’s newest
art exhibits opening on Sunday, Oct. 15 in the Barton Museum.
The
Pictora Poesis Photography Exhibition by Gérard Lange will be on view in the
Virginia Thompson Graves Gallery. Also
on view in the Lula E. Rackley Gallery will be the Barton Egg Boat Exhibit by
the late Horace Farlowe, with a photographic display of the “Lost Wax” process.
An opening reception will be held from
Lange,
an assistant professor of art at Barton, earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in
Art and Design from
When asked about his involvement with photography, Lange said that he never
intended to become a maker of traditional images, but entered the medium to use
it as an interpretive process. “To say interpretative, I mean that my approach in photography is
not one where I accept the medium’s inherent qualities, but depart from those
qualities denying the accepted nature,” Lange explained.
Most
often, his examination involves the way a camera interprets light. Many of his
images are derived from hand-built or primitive cameras. “As I begin to make exposures, my hope is to
learn to see the way the camera does,” said Lange. “Since different cameras produce different
pictorial qualities, they tend to become suited for different kinds of subjects
or themes.” Much of Lange’s work deals
with the theme of imperfect memory. The
soft, out of focus images are visual manifestations of how his mind “sees”
images from his own past.
Strikingly
different from the soft subtle images in the exhibition are the sharply focused
images of produce. For this project, Lange wanted to interpret the photocopier
as a means of making photographs.
Experiments using a Xerox as a means to capture an image led me to use a
digital flatbed scanner as a camera,” continued Lange. “For these photographs, actual
three-dimensional items were placed on the scan-bed and captured at extremely
high resolution.”
The
act of acceptance and denial is a key proponent in Lange’s process. Regardless
of whether he is building a camera or lens, using a device’s controls properly
or incorrectly, or stretching the nature of what a photograph is by definition,
he is always on a quest to capture beauty in the image. “I enjoy all manners of
photography, but I personally enjoy creating images that are not totally
discernable and must involve some personal interaction and interpretation,”
said Lange.
The
title of the exhibition comes from the Latin phrase, “ut pictura poesis,’
meaning “as is painting so is poetry.”
This phrase is most often associated with Horace’s treatise on
poetics. It is said that Horace felt
that poetry in its broadest sense of “imaginative texts” deserved the same
level of respect and interpretation that was afforded and often reserved for
painting. Lange added that there is a
delicate harmony that can be created in an image much like that which can be
crafted in a poem. “My choice of title
for the exhibition is symbolic of photography’s struggle to be accepted in the
world of fine/high art and is also symbolic of my imperfect photographs being
accepted in the world of traditional photography.”
The
Barton Egg Boat Exhibition will feature the bronze sculpture created especially
for
Farlowe
graduated from
Farlowe's
work has been viewed in over 100 exhibitions across the
The
“Lost Wax” process, the same used to create the Barton Egg Boat, has been
captured on 10 photographic panels by Keith Tew. This 10-step process chronicles is the work
of artist Jodi Hollnagel-Jubran.
These
art exhibitions are on view in the
END
Questions?
Please contact Kathy Daughety, director of public relations, at
252-399-6529 or email: kdaugehty@barton.edu.