2col march6,…

Ion Zupcu, “March 6, 2004,” 2004, sepia-toned silver gelatin print, approximately 14 by 14 inches.

 

FOR 6/20 The Camera Always Lies at Center for Photography w/1 cut

AVV/cd #741995

WOODSTOCK, N.Y. — The Center for Photography at Woodstock presents the 2008 edition of its regional triennial of the photographic arts exhibition, “The Camera Always Lies,” on view to August 17.

Established in 2005, the triennial highlights the talent of those artists living and working in the extended Hudson Valley region. Following upon the success of the first triennial, which featured nine artists who were nominated by nine leading figures in the field who also work and live in the region, CPW has invited curator, critic, and historian Beth Wilson to curate the 2008 Triennial.

Wilson has assembled nine artists from the extended Hudson Valley whose current photographic and video-based works revolve around the central theme that “the camera always lies.”

In entitling the exhibition “The Camera Always Lies,” Wilson declares her curatorial intention as well as that of the artists featured, to provoke. In a time where so much of one’s understanding of the world at large and approach to it is conveyed through imagery, such a topic of exploration could not be more pertinent. The exhibition’s central theme is evident through the wide array of strategies and processes practiced by the artists in “The Camera Always Lies.”

John Dugdale whose work reveals his ongoing enchantment with the aura and the aesthetic of Nineteenth Century photography accepts the medium’s dishonest nature, but prefers to see its aims leaning to that of tantalizing, charming and seducing the viewer.

Joan Barker’s assembled grid banners reveal images within the landscape, themselves banners, specifically those at construction sites that attempt to distract one’s attention with idealized imagery that ultimately contradicts with that which is actually being built.

Jaanika Peerna’s four-part video Ensori juxtaposes footage from Thailand, England, Florida and New York State to create a churning investigation of the ever-changing relationships between places and time.

Rob Penner’s photographs of found objects littered around constructions sites evoke the sense of evidentiary discovery. Using an artificial framing device in which he “vignettes” each object that has been placed within the center of the frame, Penner’s photographs imply the sense of narrative in spite of its absence.

Sam Sebren introduces the elements of chance and subversion to the exhibition through his unofficial collaboration with the drug store discount chain, Rite Aid.

Julianne Swartz creates situations in which the wondrous and the mundane can occur simultaneously. In her series “Placements,” which is a reference to the seminal earthworks artist Robert Smithson’s “Displacements” work begun in 1968, Swartz fractures each setting with her own hand to reveal magical moments that expand the viewer’s perception. Using low-tech means, she tricks the lens to reveal simultaneous views.

The gallery is at 59 Tinker Street. For information, 845-679-9957 or www.cpw.org.