“The magic of the streets is the mingling of the errand and the epiphany.”
Rebecca Solnit
By Elin Spring
Every place on earth has a rhythm, composed of a distinctive blend of unique and common traits that mirror the people who make it their home. In their latest collaboration, “Brooklyn: The City Within,” Alex Webb and Rebecca Norris Webb harness the electric and contemplative cadences of that New York City borough – three times larger than Manhattan and home to over two and a half million residents – in ways that reflect broadly on our longing for community. On view at Robert Klein Gallery in Boston through November 3rd, 2019, “Brooklyn: The City Within” will also be available in a beautifully produced Aperture publication during the last week in September.
“Our Garden, 2016” by Rebecca Norris Webb (courtesy of the artist and Robert Klein Gallery).
“Sunset Park, 2018” by Alex Webb (courtesy of the artist and Robert Klein Gallery).
As in previous collaborations such at “Violet Isle” and “Slant Rhymes,” Alex Webb and Rebecca Norris Webb each create narratives with a distinctive, intuitive tempo and weave their viewpoints together into a harmonious ensemble. “Brooklyn: The City Within” is a three-part composition beginning and concluding with Alex’s fugues of jagged neighborhood juxtapositions that enfold Rebecca’s meditative and ethereal photographs made in Brooklyn’s “green heart”: Prospect Park, Brooklyn Botanic Garden and Green-Wood Cemetery. Together, the Webbs create a vibrant panoply of sensations that resound as much within the viewer as they pulse across this city within a city.
“Dumbo, 2017” by Alex Webb (courtesy of the artist and Robert Klein Gallery).
“Koi 2017” by Rebecca Norris Webb (courtesy of the artist and Robert Klein Gallery).
Rebecca Norris Webb’s images and accompanying text offer a lyrical counterpoint to the cacophony of Brooklyn’s neighborhoods, throbbing with immigrant enclaves that recall many of the Mexican and Caribbean cultures that Alex Webb has photographed over the decades. True to form, Alex’s compositions buzz with the energy of contrasting shadow and light, recurring shapes, sensational colors and serendipitous gestures. Rebecca likewise stays true to her poetic roots, with layered, gracefully nuanced images that are by turns solitary reveries and manifold, dreamlike reflections. Like the borough itself, the Webb’s “Brooklyn” is an exquisite union of visual and emotional complexity.
“Park Slope, 2018” by Alex Webb (courtesy of the artist and Robert Klein Gallery).
“Shimmering, 2018” by Rebecca Norris Webb (courtesy of the artist and Robert Klein Gallery).
In “Brooklyn: The City Within” the Webbs create a multilayered, lyrical ode to the wonderful diversity of Brooklyn and, in the process, reflect on immigration and home, our yearning for a relationship with nature and the unceasing desire for a sense belonging in the world. For more information about the exhibit and/or to order the book, go to: https://www.robertkleingallery.com/
“Mute Swan, 2016” by Rebecca Norris Webb (courtesy of the artist and Robert Klein Gallery).
Feature Image: “Williamsburg, 2016”by Alex Webb (courtesy of the artist and Robert Klein Gallery).
In partnership with Robert Klein Gallery, the Webb’s previous collaboration, “Slant Rhymes,” is being exhibited concurrently at the nearby Leica Gallery Boston through November 3rd, 2019. For information about that exhibit and/or book, go to: http://leicagalleryboston.com/exhibitions/
Photographs by Alex Webb (L) and Rebecca Norris Webb (R) from their project and book “Slant Rhymes” (courtesy of the artists, Robert Klein Gallery and Leica Gallery Boston).
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