The Little Red Umbrella: photographers you should know

Artists You Should Know: Kara Walker by Eugen Sakhnenko

I was first introduced to the work of Kara Walker in university while watching PBS’s great series Art:21. She immediately stood out from the many other artists because of her medium and scale – large silhouette cut-outs – and the sublime imagery with which she explored her subject matter – power struggle involving race and gender.

The Big Deal: Kara Walker’s unique approach to her subject catches viewers off guard. Drawn in through the silhouette cut-outs – a medium which is usually reserved crafts done by children is turned on its head when applied to the serious topics of racism and sexism. Like stereotypes themselves, cut-outs simplify complex imagery while at the same time making bold statements. In this way Walker ropes viewers in and then confronts them with rich, often contradictory, imagery of good and evil.

Because of her evocative work, Walker showed at the Whitney Museum when she was just 27 years old and became a MacArthur Foundation fellow – one of the youngest ever. In 2007, at the age of 37, she was named one of Time Magazines 100 Most Influential People in The World.

Life in Brief: Kara Walker was born in 1969 in Stocton, California and moved to Atlanta, Georgia when she was thirteen. Her father – Larry Walker – was an artist and the art department’s chair at the University of the Pacific. It was her father who inspired her to be an artist at a very young age when she would watch in draw in his studio. With a focus on painting and printmaking she reviewed a BFA from the Atlanta College of Art in 1991 and then an MFA in 1994 from the Rhode Island School of Design. In 2002 she represented the U.S. at the Sao Paulo Biennele. Currently, Walker is lives and works in New York – she is the professor of visual arts at Columbia University’s MFA program.

For More:

Art:21 Stories – Kara Walker
The Art of Kara Walker
Wikipedia

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Read the rest of our Photographers You Should Know posts here.

Eugen Sakhnenko is a Toronto-based freelance photographer and the co-creator of the Knock Twice blog, which is where a version of this post originally appeared. It's is an online resource to assist and inform budding creative professionals. You can visit Knock Twice here.

Artists You Should Know: Gerhard Richter by Erika Jacobs

Today we feature the work of our first non-photographer. However, the work of German artist Gerhard Richter is so technically perfect, one could often mistake his paintings for photographs. Richter’s paintings are based on photographs, and the detail is blurred through his painting technique.

The Big Deal: Using print media and photographs as his source material, he explores the idea of “the image rather than the reference, the visual rather than the statement.” They evoke the idea of memory, where one can struggle to bring details into focus. He has exhibited internationally for nearly five decades, and is one of the most sought-after artists in the world.

Life In Brief: Born in Dresden, Germany in 1932. Encouraged by his mother to become an artist, trains classically at Dresden Art Academy in Communist East Germany. Flees to West Germany before Berlin wall is erected, and continues studying art, now at Düsseldorf Art Academy. Has first solo exhibition of photo-realist paintings in Düsseldorf in 1963.

Quotes:

“Picturing things, taking a view, is what makes us human; art is making sense and giving shape to that sense. It is like the religious search for God.”

“I like everything that has no style: dictionaries, photographs, nature, myself and my paintings. (Because style is violent, and I am not violent.)”

“I’ve never found anything to be lacking in a blurry canvas. Quite the contrary: you can see many more things in it than in a sharply focused image. A landscape painted with exactness forces you to see a determined number of clearly differentiated trees, while in a blurry canvas you can perceive as many trees as you want. The painting is more open.”

For More:

http://www.gerhard-richter.com (Source of all the quotes above. A really great, comprehensive site.)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerhard_Richter

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Read the rest of our Photographers You Should Know posts here.

Erika Jacobs is a Toronto-based freelance photographer and the co-creator of the Knock Twice blog, which is where a version of this post originally appeared. It's is an online resource to assist and inform budding creative professionals. You can visit Knock Twice here.

Photographers You Should Know: John Szarkowski by Eugen Sakhnenko

In a Photographers You Should Know post last year, I mentioned that Edward Steichen appointed John Szarkowski as his replacement as the Director of Photography at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Szarkowski held that post for 29 years and in the process helped elevate photography’s status in the art world to unprecedented heights. He also wrote about photography at length with several highly influential books to his name.

The Big Deal: When Szarkowski took on his post at MoMA in 1962, the notion of photography as a collectible art item was nearly non-existent. He pushed modern photography and was able to spot talent early on giving many great photographers we know today their initial breaks. Among them were Dianne Arbus, Lee Friedlander, Garry Winogrand, Walker Evans, Edward Weston, and William Eggleston. He was also a critic and writer, his books Mirrors and Windows, Looking at Photographs, and The Photographer’s Eye are often studied in art school.

Life in Brief: Born in Wisconsin in 1925, Szarkowski started taking photos when he was eleven. He served in the US Army during World War 2 and then received a degree in Art History from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1947. Szarkowski then started working as a museum photographer at the Walker Art Center, which is where he had his first solo show in 1949. In 1954 and then again in 1961, Szarkowski received Guggenheim Fellowships. In 1961 he was picked to replace Edward Steichen at MoMA. He wrote The Photographer’s Eye in 1966, Looking at Photographs in 1974, and Mirrors and Windows in 1978. While at MoMA, he also taught at Harvard, Yale, Cornell, and New York University. In 1991, Szarkowski retired from his post at MoMA and returned to making his own photographs. Szarkowski died at the age of 81 in 2007.

Trivia Tidbit: When Szarkowski curated William Eggleston’s solo show “William Eggleston’s Guide”, many considered it the worst photography show of the year.

For More:
John Szarkowski, Curator of Photography, Dies at 81
Wikipedia

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Eugen Sakhnenko is a Toronto-based freelance photographer and the co-creator of the Knock Twice blog, which is where a version of this post originally appeared. It's is an online resource to assist and inform budding creative professionals. You can visit Knock Twice here.

Photographers You Should Know: Bernard Faucon by Erika Jacobs

I first became aware of Bernard Faucon’s work while I was still a student. We were looking at ways text and image can coexist, and this guy took it farther than you’d probably imagine: He had large words cut out of wood, then covered them in reflective tape so they would bounce back his flash light when positioned in the landscape. The results are seemingly simple, natural images with what appear to be handwritten phrases. (You may have to see them to get it.) Faucon is a French surrealist, and master of the constructed image.

The Big Deal: Faucon produces work at a prolific rate. He has seven major bodies of work, most of which span years. From staging fantastic childhood scenes with old mannequins, to transforming rooms with goldleaf and fire, most of his work creates elaborately surreal environments. (Check out his Chambres d’Amour portfolio – they’re such lovely images.)

Life in Brief: Born in Provence, France in 1950. From 1969-1973 he studies at the Sorbonne in Paris; earns a Master’s degree in philosophy. Though originally a painter, he transitions to photography in 1977. Since then, has had more than 350 international exhibitions. Decides to end his photographic work in 1997. Retrospective of his work shows in Paris in 2004-2005.

For More: http://www.bernardfaucon.net

Photographers You Should Know: Martin Parr by Eugen Sakhnenko

You will either love or hate Martin Parr’s work – it has oddly, given its content, been the target of a lot of controversy. When Parr was going through the process of joining Magnum, Philip Jones Griffiths (a former president of the agency) said “Let me state that I have great respect for him as the dedicated enemy of everything I believe in and, I trust, what Magnum still believes in.” Not fun to hear from one of the leaders of your new rep. However, the very thing he’s criticized for – his observations on contemporary western culture, is exactly what I love about his work!

The Big Deal: Parr’s work is filled with sharp wit and insight that cuts through our culture and reveals it’s ridiculous nature and insecurities. Parr's joining Magnum – an agency full of great war and classic documentary photographers – may have seemed odd to many, but he approached his subject matter with the same seriousness and dedication as any other Magnum photographer. He often lifts the veil of high society and the upper middle class, showing that underneath the glitz and glamour are just regular people with built up facades that fall apart on closer scrutiny.

Life in Brief: Born in the United Kingdom in 1952, Parr first picked up photography from his grandfather. In the early '70s he studied photography at Manchester Polytechnic. Having traditionally shot black and white, he switched to colour film in 1980s and began to develop his signature style. However, it wasn’t until the '90s – when he started shooting with a macro lens and ring flash – that he developed the work he is now famous for.

In 1994 he became a full-fledged member of Magnum (by a very narrow vote) and in 2002 a large retrospective of Parr’s work was put together and toured Europe for 5 years. Parr is also a prolific producer of photo books and his list of accomplishments is far too long for this post. Luckily there is a new documentary coming out this June on Martin Parr called Hot Spots: Martin Parr in the American South which I’m really looking forward to!

From Think of Finland

From Port Eliot

From St Mary Redcliffe

From The Royal Wedding

For More:
Martin Parr’s Website
TateShots Video