Michal Ronnen Safdie, SKR21, ultrachrome print, 2009.

Michal Ronnen Safdie is an accomplished photojournalist with some amazing recent coverage from Israel, Darfur and Rwanda. “Vapor Trails” represents the gallery work of this socially active photographer. Her forays into the art world tend to initiate from an interest in the visuals of semi-natural phenomena.

Michal Ronnen Safdie, SKR3, ultrachrome print, 2008.

Summer is an excellent time to take in these daily patterns of progressive commerce. Find someone nice and lay around in the grass or get out and see this show.

Michal Ronnen Safdie, SKR8, ultrachrome print, 2008.

Michal Ronnen Safdie
Vapor Trails
3 June – 30 July 2010
Andrea Meislin Gallery
NYC

Peter Bialobrzeski, Paradise Now Nr. 24, c-print, 2009.

The artist has skirted the edges of several large Asian cities documenting trees and plants that receive unnatural light from these urban areas. Some of the images have been left untouched while others have been digitally manipulated in post production with fantastic results.

Peter Bialobrzeski, Paradise Now Nr. 18, page 45 c-print, 2009.

Despite the futuristic allure exhibited in these works, Bialobrzeski clearly has environmental concerns. This work should be applauded for the reminder that without continued effort to change, this planet may be facing a dismal end.

Peter Bialobrzeski, Paradise Now Nr. 18, c-print, 2009.

Peter Bialobrzeski
Paradise Now
30 April – 26 June 2010
L.A. Galerie
Frankfurt, Germany

Kim Joon, Fragile-Dragon, digital print, 2010.

Kim Joon gained a passion for tattoos while inking the skin of his fellow soldiers years ago in the Korean army. The practice was and still remains an anathema in the eyes of his fellow countrymen.

Kim Joon, Fragile-Mermaid, digital print, 2010.

In the face of social convention, Joon saw an art form that allowed individuals to communicate something from within and literally wear their passions on their sleeve. With the aid of a three dimensional computer graphics program he constructs his intense compositions. Parts of bodies are intermingled with pattern derived from a combination of traditional design and contemporary commerce. Enticing shifts in scale are common in these fantastic yet familiar photographic realizations. Like many artists before him Kim Joon’s affection has risen from a place that had been kept from him.

Kim Joon, Cradle Song-Ferragamo, digital print, 2009.

Kim Joon
Tattoo and Taboo
8 April – 8 May 2010
Sundaram Tagore Gallery
Beverly Hills

Ivonne Thein, o.T. 04 (32kg), photograph, 2008.

Thein photographed healthy models in fashion scenarios and with the aid of digital manipulation was able to transform the images into these extremes. “Thirty-two kilos” was inspired by the artist’s fascination with the Pro-Ana movement. Pro-Ana refers to the belief by some that anorexia should be considered a lifestyle choice instead of a mental illness.

Ivonne Thein, o.T. 07 (32kg), photograph, 2008.

Identities in this imagery have been hidden by wigs and bandages in a venture to negotiate the humanity of her subjects. This objectification approaches the nucleus of the problem by displaying the absurdity of the goal. When the body becomes object criterions that sustain life cease to apply.

Ivonne Thein, o.T. 12 (32kg), photograph, 2008.

Ivonne Thein
Incredible Me
22 January – 27 February 2010
Galerie Voss
Duesseldorf, Germany

David Maisel, Library of Dust 103-566, c-print, 2005.

His subjects are the canned remains from the formerly named Oregon State Insane Asylum. The patients became part of this unusual collection because their ashes were never claimed by family or friends. In the mid 1970’s the canisters were placed in an underground depository which flooded repeatedly over the past several decades.

David Maisel, Library of Dust 1834, c-print, 2005.

The response of the copper containers to the water formed some astounding chemical reactions. Metaphorically, it is as though the inmates of the asylum, forgotten by loved ones have reasserted their individuality in an attempt to be once more remembered. The size of the prints amplifies the anomalies accomplishing a ghostly impression of portraiture.

David Maisel, Library of Dust 1470, c-print, 2005.

David Maisel
Library of Dust
21 January – 27 February 2010
Von Lintel Gallery
NYC

Alexis Pike, A Teton – St. Anthony Idaho, photograph, 2005.

Anyone that has traveled through rural portions of the American West has spotted these landscape murals at roadside shanties offering goods and services. Most of these scenes were painted by artistically ambitious small business owners or wayward nomads short on cash.

Alexis Pike, Drive-in – Burley Idaho, photograph, 2006.

The compositional aesthetic of Pike’s photographs spotlights the interaction of folk artworks and the environments they inhabit. The faded paint and cracked surfaces of these paramnesic murals engage the very real necessities of daily life and business. The layers of paradox embrace the compunctions of moving forward and falling back. More from this series can be viewed at this link.

Alexis Pike, Red Chairs – Bliss Idaho, photograph, 2006.

Alexis Pike
Claimed: Landscape
7 January – 6 April 2010
Rosier Gallery
Berkeley, CA

Deborah Oropallo, Randi, permanent pigment print on aluminum, 2009.

The source material for much of this content is salvaged from online sources for cowgirl costumes. These advertisements have been digitally manipulated and superimposed on familiar Old Western photographs and recent rodeo imagery. The diluted figures blend with the landscapes and take on a frenzy that incites dimensional illusion.

Deborah Oropallo, Drill Team, permanent pigment print on aluminum, 2009.

As is the case with viewing most artwork online, scale is lost on these stunning pieces. Some of the works measure nearly seven feet on their long side. At this size, the digital artifacts sear with a saturated color palette that demands attention from a substantial distance.

Deborah Oropallo, Medals, permanent pigment print on aluminum, 2009.

Deborah Oropallo
Wild Wild West Show
8 January – 6 March 2010
Scott White Contemporary Art
San Diego, CA

Andrew Moore, National Time, Detroit, Michigan, 2009, photograph, 2009.

Andrew Moore returned to Detroit seven times over the past two years in order to capture these stunning images. He visited several abandoned spaces including a burned out school where the clocks have melted on the wall. Also among these amazing relics are images of the seldom seen Ford Factory on the River Rouge.

Andrew Moore, The Rouge, Detroit, Michigan, 2008, photograph, 2008.

Some viewers may be possessed by fits of melancholic nostalgia but Moore’s interest is in the beauty that accumulates when material accomplishments are returned to the natural world. He states, “Detroit is more than a story of physical decline, decay and transformation; it is a city where the distortion of time is inventing new symbols for the America of the future.”

Andrew Moore, Model T Headquarters, Detroit, Michigan, 2009, photograph, 2009.

Andrew Moore
Detroit
5 November 2009 – 9 January 2010
Yancey Richardson Gallery
NYC

Simen Johan, Untitled #152, c-print, 2008.

For the ongoing series, “Until the Kingdom Comes”, Johan travels widely and captures images of both wild and captive animals. The photographic data is transposed into a digital studio where the artist arranges his subjects in a variety of geographic settings. The results display unlikely cohabitants in atypical environments.

Simen Johan, Untitled #140, c-print, 2007.

The striking reality of these impossibilities galvanizes the viewer with the feeling of a unique exclusive. Similarly fantastic properties are exhibited in Simen Johan’s taxidermy sculptures (not pictured) which are also at the gallery. If you are in the city head over and check out something wild.

Simen Johan, Untitled #156, c-print, 2007.

Simen Johan
Until the Kingdom Comes
10 September – 31 October 2009
Yossi Milo Gallery
NYC

Anne Hardy, Coordinate, diasec mounted c-type print, 2009.

Hardy creates these installations in her studio with the intention of photographing the finished piece. Found objects clutter the spaces with a haphazard brilliance that vacillates between genius and madness.

Anne Hardy, Prime, diasec mounted c-type print, 2009.

These aberrate territories frolic in their own logic. The artist commingles with objects and space to form the other. It is this character, never seen but borne from the creative process that encourages the viewer to speculate about this fictional persona and the goals they pursue.

Anne Hardy, Detached, diasec mounted c-type print, 2009.

Anne Hardy
9 October – 22 November 2009
Maureen Paley
London

Images courtesy Maureen Paley, London.