Loyola Marymount University’s Laband Art Gallery will host an exhibition of photographs and installation pieces by the artist Stephen Berkman from September 13 – November 23, 2008.
Chamber Pieces will feature a number of Berkman’s photographs made using the 19th-century wet-collodion photographic process of exposing images onto glass and tin plates. The experience of viewing one of his photographs is akin to the discovery of a lost world from a bygone era. His intricate compositions convey complex narratives that go far beyond the frame. The exhibition will also present several of Berkman’s camera obscura pieces. Using a few, simple tools, such as lenses, spotlights and scrims, Berkman conjures up unexpected, fleeting “objects” created when light and optics converge. Housed in darkened chambers, his camera obscuras invite visitors into realms where transient images play with perceptions of reality. Two of his installations, A History of Natural History and Alternating Eye were newly created especially for this exhibition. His photographs and camera obscuras will amuse and mystify viewers of the 21st century just as optical displays delighted audiences in the 19th century.
Berkman’s work revolves around the use of antiquated photographic and optical processes. His installations and photographs have been exhibited at venues such as MoPA, Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego; The University Museum, Cal State Long Beach; The Armory Center for the Arts, Pasadena; Stephen Cohen Gallery, Los Angeles; and the Klotz Gallery and Christine Burgin Gallery in New York City. His photographs have been featured in the book Photography’s Antiquarian Avant- Garde, The New Wave in Old Processes (New York: Abrams, 2002). Other publications include Blind Spot, Art in America, i-D, Magazine and the book The Journal of Contemporary Photography: Strange Genius. Also included in Strange Genius was an essay about Berkman’s photographs titled: “The Aura of Relic.”
PUBLIC PROGRAMS
In conjunction with the exhibition the Laband will be hosting two public programs:
Conversation – David Wilson, founder and director of the Museum of Jurassic Technology, will join Stephen Berkman in conversation on Thursday, Oct. 2, 2008 at 7 p.m. in Murphy Hall, Burns Fine Arts Center, Loyola Marymount University.
Gallery Walkthrough – Stephen Berkman will take visitors through the exhibition on Thursday Oct. 16, at 12:30 p.m.
ABOUT THE LABAND
The Laband Art Gallery opened in 1984 as part of the Fritz B. Burns Fine Arts Center with a generous gift from Walter and Francine Laband. It is part of Loyola Marymount University’s College of Communication and Fine Arts.
LABAND ART GALLERY INFORMATION
For current program and exhibition information, call 310-338-2880 or visit http://cfa.lmu.edu/laband.
Hours: Wednesday through Sunday, noon to 4 p.m.; closed Mondays and Tuesdays.
Admission: Admission is free.