Reasons To Be Cheerful

“The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed.”   ~Albert Einstein

By Elin Spring

Here are some reasons to be cheerful: winter is finally succumbing to summer, the recent Covid-19 surge is showing signs of abating, and there is enthralling photography to be enjoyed in person in Boston. For a truly dynamic experience, head to Gallery Kayafas in the SoWa arts district, where two exhibits featuring exceptional recent work by seven contemporary photographers is on view through July 9^th, 2022. “Sundial” features immersive experimental color work by Caleb Charland, while “Ongoing Work” offers alluring looks at recent B&W photographs by Michael Hintlian, Ross Kiah, Maxwell LaBelle, Michael Lafleur, Cheryle St. Onge, and Lee Wormald. These shows foster connections and if you want to share in a long-overdue sense of community, there will be a Reception with the artists on First Friday, July 1^st, 2022 from 5:30 – 8:00 pm.

“A Variety of Colors Created with the Shadows of a Prism #4″ 2019, (Color Separation with Three Black and White Paper Negatives), 23″x 18.4” Unique Cyanotype and Inkjet over Gelatin Silver Print from the series Sundial by Caleb Charland, courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston.

In “Sundial,” Caleb Charland offers viewers yet another inventive variation on his longtime mantra, “wonder is a state of mind somewhere between knowledge and uncertainty.” His relentless questioning and poking around with the natural laws of the world has fueled all manner of experimentation, often yielding “unexpected results measurable only through photographic processes.”

“Sundial With Compass Shadows” 2020 (Color Separation with Three Black and White Negatives) 40″x 32″ Cyanotype and Inkjet over Gelatin Silver Print from the series Sundial by Caleb Charland, courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston.

Charland’s current exploration is a kind of reverse application of the earliest attempts at color photography, where three separate channels of color (cyan, magenta and yellow) are merged to create a full color image. Here, Charland separates the color channels by recording his image using three separate negatives, each with a different color filter. Interestingly, he chose to record the blue channel with a cyanotype of a gelatin silver (B&W) print, combining it with the other two film channels using digital technology to create a single print. But there’s more.

“Morning, Noon, and Sunset Throughout the Month of July” 2021, Each frame 50″x 39″ Cyanotype and Inkjet over Gelatin Silver Print, from the series Sundial by Caleb Charland, courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston.

In addition to applying “color separation” methods to both objects in his studio and landscapes near his home in Maine, Charland recorded his captures over time, invoking the effect of a sundial, as shadows changed the wavelengths of color at sunrise, sunset or even throughout an entire day or month, as in the spectacular diptych “Morning, Noon and Sunset Throughout the Month of July” (2021). Scientific details aside (and there are many, if you’re interested), Charland’s prints are magnificent in every sense of the word: immersive in scale, enticing in their intricacy, and engulfing in their radiance. “Sundial” is a consummate alchemy of science and art.

Installation view of “Ongoing Work” at Gallery Kayafas, Boston, courtesy of the gallery.

In “Ongoing Work,” Gus Kayafas has curated small portfolios of recent projects by six photographers working with B&W film. Exhibits of gelatin silver prints are an increasingly rare treat and this selection is a well-crafted feast for the eyes.

“Lunelle Street” 2021, 5″x 5” on 8×10” paper, Gelatin Silver Print from the series Main South, ETC by Michael Lafleur, courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston.

The photographs in Michael Lafleur’s “Main South, ETC” weep with longing. His diminutive, formally composed landscapes harbor the melancholy of abandonment, pointing to spiritual signs of hope and despair in a dilapidated neighborhood.

“Spiritual Shop” 2021, 4 1/2″x  5 3/4″ image on 8×10″ paper, Gelatin Silver Print from the series Main South, ETC by Michael Lafleur, courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston.

“Untitled” 2022, 9″x 12″ Gelatin Silver Print from the series Cows on Flores by Lee Wormald, courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston.

At the crossroads of cultural history and daily agricultural life on the Island of Flores in the Portuguese Azores, Lee Wormald’s “Cows on Flores” reflects a momentous societal transition through poignant, curious, occasionally humorous, and altogether engaging photographs of cows.

“Untitled” 2016, 9″x 12″ Gelatin Silver Print from the series Cows on Flores by Lee Wormald, courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston.

“Untitled” 2020, 20″x 24″ Gelatin Silver Print from the series The Quiet Corner by Ross Kiah, courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston.

In “The Quiet Corner,” Ross Kiah presents images as unsettling as they are muted, effectively employing ambiguity to suggest the menacing possibilities of alienation churning in an isolated community.

“Untitled” 2021, 20″x 24″ Gelatin Silver Print from the series The Quiet Corner by Ross Kiah, courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston.

“Restrained Tower From Below” 2021, 16″x 20″ Gelatin Silver Print from the series An Immense Motionless Pause by Maxwell LaBelle, courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston.

In “An Immense Motionless Pause,” Maxwell LaBelle’s images of amassed crashed cars, poised for dismantling and destruction, form a captivating and often abstract cacophony of metal curves and angles, symbolic of our violent and wasteful culture.

“Suspended Fender” 2021, 16″x 20″ Gelatin Silver Print from the series An Immense Motionless Pause by Maxwell LaBelle, courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston.

“Untitled” 2018-2020, from the series Calling the Birds Home by Cheryle St. Onge, courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston.

“Calling the Birds Home” broaches the tender and agonizing journey that Cheryle St. Onge shared with her mother during the elder’s slow demise from vascular dementia. Once a “birder” and artist herself, St. Onge’s mother sustained an intuitive collaboration with her daughter until her death in 2020, resulting in elegant, affecting odes to their deep bond, created primarily in the natural surroundings of their family farm.

“Untitled” 2018-2020, from the series Calling the Birds Home by Cheryle St. Onge, courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston.

“Pershing Square, Los Angeles, California” 2017, 13.1″x 8.8″ Gelatin Silver Print from the series Something To Live For by Michael Hintlian, courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston.

In “Something To Live For,” veteran street photographer Michael Hintlian crafts incisive compositions of quintessentially American people and places, putting a fine point on the subconscious search for meaning that is embedded in daily activities.

“Las Vegas Boulevard, Las Vegas, Nevada” 2016, 13.1″x 8.8″ Gelatin Silver Print from the series Something To Live For by Michael Hintlian, courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston.

Installation view of Michael Lafleur’s “Main South, ETC” in “Ongoing Work” (Left) and Caleb Charland’s “Sundial” (Right), courtesy of Gallery Kayafas, Boston.

In having Sundial and Ongoing Work presented together, Gallery Kayafas once again demonstrates one of the things I think they do best: hosting exhibits that ignite connections. Underlying themes and relationships become increasingly evident with extended viewing: the historic evolution from monotonal printing to color methodologies, an encompassing celebration of “hands on” photographic processes, evidence of the ways that intimate versus immersive printing scale best serves artistic intent, and a resounding testimony to how adept selection and installation of diverse work creates an inspiring exhibition, to name a few. By comparing and contrasting Charland’s large, experimental color pieces with the more intimate, classical gelatin silver prints of six contemporaries, the strengths of each are accentuated. Another reason to be cheerful: you can reap your own discoveries and rewards at the gallery through July 9^th, 2022.

For more information about the exhibit and associated programming, go to: https://www.gallerykayafas.com/

Feature Image: “Sunrise Through the Trees Over My House, Autumn” 2020, 32″x 40″ Cyanotype and Inkjet over Gelatin Silver Print from the series Sundial by Caleb Charland, courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston.