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Thoughts on UPSHOT! from the Juror, Juliette Cook

Jun 17 2021 | By: Juliette Cook

From Above by Parvathi Kumar, 12 x 16 print

The images in this exhibition are not overtly describing our pandemic times but share an overarching sense of isolation.  There are few figurative images and those that include the human body show it at a distance or facing away from the viewer. Many reflect on our built environment as it relates to nature and the human condition in this time of crisis.

Art does not exist fully formed in an image or object, but in the effect it has on the viewer - how it changes us.  It happens in the transmission from artist to audience and can tell us more about our fellow human being behind the camera than it does about the captured scene.  It is often oblique it its approach. Complex or even problematic images keep us looking and asking questions. The word ‘transformative’ is often used when describing the impact of a great work of art, and many of these works achieve that in how they affect the viewer. They keep us thinking, even hours or days later.  They convey the mystery and ambiguity of this moment in history.

The melancholy and isolation that pervades many of the included images is in part what makes Will Thompson’s photograph so satisfying as an outlier.  It is as though we attended a regional gymnastics competition and someone walked out and did a stand-up comedy routine. In its irreverence, it is kind of brilliant and offers levity in these unprecedented times.

Traffic Circle by Will Thompson, 16 x 24 borderless aluminum print

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2 Comments

Nov 16, 2021, 8:47:15 PM

Dalissa McEwen Reeder - Thanks, Carol!

Nov 7, 2021, 3:32:17 PM

Carol Del Guidice - just browsing! Keep up the good work

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