New Show – Diverging Mediums: Photography versus iPhoneography
The Torpedo Factory Art Center’s Target Gallery presents Diverging Mediums: Photography versus iPhoneography, which opens on May 10 and runs through May 31, 2012. The exhibition examines the shifting role of iPhoneography in our culture and its impact on the nature and definition of art. The nineteen selected artists include photographers from the Torpedo Factory Artists’ Association, Multiple Exposures Gallery, and P1xels, an iPhone-photography group based in Berkeley, California: Jim Sterling, Maureen Minehan, Min Enghauser, Craig Steele, Michael Borek, Pete McCutchen, Karen Keating, Fran Livaditis, Elodie Hunting, Hans Borghorst, Paul Moore, Maia Panos, Therese Brown, Butow Maler, Jose Chavarry, Glenn Homann, Ramona Gillentine, James Clarke, and Knox Bronson.
When: May 10 – May 31, 2012; Reception: May 10, 6-8PM
Where: Torpedo Factory Art Center, 105 N. Union Street, Alexandria, VA 22314
Objective
The show aims to raise discussion on iPhoneography, a movement that, some would argue, is transitioning from solely a social media into a fine-art form of its own right. The show juxtaposes fifteen digital or film photographs of established fine-art photographers with fifteen iPhoneographs, the majority of which comes from P1xels, a photo group based in California that is using the iPhone as their chosen vehicle of self-expression and creation. The pieces from the two groups were chosen to either highlight the strengths of its medium or to demonstrate the lingering overlap between them. The future for iPhoneography, however, seems to hinge not upon attempting to mimic classical photography, but on introducing and establishing the medium’s unique offerings to the art world.
Curatorial Statement
This exhibition was curated by Hiji Nam, as part of her internship project for the Target Gallery. Ms. Nam is an undergraduate student from the University of Maryland, College Park, majoring in art history and government and politics. The inspiration for the exhibit stemmed from the contemporary phenomenon of artistic democracy, part of which stems from smart phones and the multitude of photo-enhancement applications. For Ms. Nam, this modern phenomenon calls into question what one can and cannot call “art.” Are the people behind the “Capture” button on iPhones “artists”? What does the advent of technology and the resulting influx of images mean for photography and art? Does the fact that they are so easily created, recreated, copied, distributed, and discarded take away from their beauty or impact? How relevant is the process of creation to the quality of the final product? What is the distinction between “picture” and “fine-art photography,” and if we cannot agree upon a fixed definition and jurisdiction for each, does such a distinction exist at all? Ms. Nam hopes the exhibit will raise these questions and discussions to its visitors, who will observe the images presented and render their own verdicts on iPhoneography.
Joanne Carter
Joanne Carter, creator of the world’s most popular mobile photography and art website— TheAppWhisperer.com— TheAppWhisperer platform has been a pivotal cyberspace for mobile artists of all abilities to learn about, to explore, to celebrate and to share mobile artworks. Joanne’s compassion, inclusivity, and humility are hallmarks in all that she does, and is particularly evident in the platform she has built. In her words, “We all have the potential to remove ourselves from the centre of any circle and to expand a sphere of compassion outward; to include everyone interested in mobile art, ensuring every artist is within reach”, she has said. Promotion of mobile artists and the art form as a primary medium in today’s art world, has become her life’s focus. She has presented lectures bolstering mobile artists and their art from as far away as the Museum of Art in Seoul, South Korea to closer to her home in the UK at Focus on Imaging. Her experience as a jurist for mobile art competitions includes: Portugal, Canada, US, S Korea, UK and Italy. And her travels pioneering the breadth of mobile art includes key events in: Frankfurt, Naples, Amalfi Coast, Paris, Brazil, London. Pioneering the world’s first mobile art online gallery - TheAppWhispererPrintSales.com has extended her reach even further, shipping from London, UK to clients in the US, Europe and The Far East to a global group of collectors looking for exclusive art to hang in their homes and offices. The online gallery specialises in prints for discerning collectors of unique, previously unseen signed limited edition art. Her journey towards becoming The App Whisperer, includes (but is not limited to) working for a paparazzi photo agency for several years and as a deputy editor for a photo print magazine. Her own freelance photographic journalistic work is also widely acclaimed. She has been published extensively both within the UK and the US in national and international titles. These include The Times, The Sunday Times, The Guardian, Popular Photography & Imaging, dpreview, NikonPro, Which? and more recently with the BBC as a Contributor, Columnist at Vogue Italia and Contributing Editor at LensCulture. Her professional photography has also been widely exhibited throughout Europe, including Italy, Portugal and the UK. She is currently writing several books, all related to mobile art and is always open to requests for new commissions for either writing or photography projects or a combination of both. Please contact her at: [email protected]
2 Comments
melia
thank you for spotlighting this show. it’s in my area. i will definitely go check it out
Rebecca Lasky
Corrected Artist List
Selected Artists: Jim Steele, Maureen Minehan, Min Enghauser, Craig Sterling, Michael Borek, Pete McCutchen, Karen Keating, Fran Livaditis, Elodie Hunting, Hans Borghorst, Paul Moore, Maia Panos, Therese Brown, Butow Maler, Jose Chavarry, Glenn Homann, Ramona Gillentine, James Clarke and Knox Bronson.