JTF (just the facts): A total of 10 color images, framed in white with no mat, and hung in the one room basement gallery (down the stairs from the street level). The prints are either 37×30 or 24×20 in size, and all of the images were taken in 2009. (Installation shots at right.)
Comments/Context: I’m generally a fan of fragmented city scenes, and so I decided to take a chance on a show by Mark Woods (a photographer previously unknown to me) now on view at Newman Popiashvili. It seems these pictures were taken in the hours after Woods visited with his therapist, but this background information didn’t add any important context for my understanding of the work. Generally, these are formalist pictures of grates, stairs, steel covers, windows, and store fronts (without people) with well conceived color and texture contrasts. Line, form, and curve drive the crafting of the compositions.
As an aside, the press release text for this show is memorably obtuse. Catch phrases include “these pictures are allegories of their own viewing” and “this exhibition studies the tension between tensions”.
Collector’s POV: The images in the show are priced between $2000 and $4500. If deadpan city and architectural details are your thing, then this show is worth a quick flyby. I particularly enjoyed the image of the tape encrusted car hood.
Rating: * (one star) GOOD (rating system described here)
Through April 25th
Newman Popiashvili Gallery
504 West 22nd Street
504 West 22nd Street
New York, NY 10011
