Last Day for In the Eye of the Whale
Please join us for the last day of Bryant Austin's exhibition: In the Eye of the Whale. The show has received a lot of attention, including an excellent article in the New York Times, which you can read by clicking here or on the below graphic.
Bryant Austin: In the Eye of the Whale
April 1—May 7
Bryant Austin, Humpback Whale Calf One, 2006. 43" x 75"
Electric Works is pleased to welcome the work of Bryant Austin to the gallery for an epic-sized exhibition of his photographs of whales. The power of these photographs rests in the fact that they always picture the whales in life size: some of the prints measure larger than 5 x 20 feet.
Working intimately with his seven- to 50-ton subjects is a delicate process dictated by the terms set by the whale. Entire seasons—up to three months—are invested annually with specific populations. Using snorkel only, he first floats motionless and observes. He provides whales with the space and time to come to know him as an individual.
The process depends on the artist’s complete trust of his whale subjects not to bring him accidental or intentional harm. His photographs become possible only when they choose to inspect him at distances less than six feet. During these rare and special moments Austin has experienced the whale’s precision movements around his body, gently repositioning their pectoral fins and flukes where they would have otherwise caused injury.
When these exceptional encounters occur, the artist composes a series of vertically oriented photographs along the whale’s body later to be made into a life-size composite photograph.
Realizing that less than one millionth of one percent of the human population will experience what he has with these creatures, his vision is to exhibit his resulting body of work to provide humanity with a profound and intimate glimpse of these creatures in a way never before explored or shared on such a scale.
His body of work, which represents the largest, most detailed photographs of whales ever composed, has been shown in shown in Norway, the United States, Chile, Spain, and most recently in Tokyo.
Upcoming Exhibition
Bob Van Breda: Pencil Me In!
May 13- June 24, 2011
Artist Reception: Friday, May 13, 6-8 PM
Electric Works presents Pencil Me In by Bob Van Breda featuring numerous sculptural objects all based on unnerving balancing acts with pencils. Transforming a simple pencil into metaphors of a culture past—how we have, with our laptop, iPhone and Blackberry’s, abandoned these practical once-ubiquitous tools. Using a physics theory called 'The Moment of Inertia' Van Breda considers motion, direction and volume in his sculpture and constructs without any limitations of length, color and graphics.
Van Breda considers every detail in expressing his feelings for the brilliant color in Passion, a 15 foot Eros-red pencil. Even the numbers 3645 numerologically spell out “love.” In Attitude, five colorful pencils: happy yellow, mellow yellow, grumpy green, greedy green and angry orange, balance in an aggressive-passive arrangement.
Van Breda is an avid collector of all things related to pencils. In our Project Space, vitrines full of special pencils, erasers, sharpeners will be on display.
Van Breda is currently working on a large-scale public sculpture for Cypress College in Southern California. Eleven 15’ pencils will be presented in this monumental site-specific work. |
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