Have you ever been seized with panic if your cell phone goes missing for a few minutes? Are you reduced to fretful pacing whenever a storm takes your power out? The gizmos and gadgets that guide us from here to there and our even greater reliance on today’s complex power grid have the paradoxical ability to leave us feeling both lost and found. These conundrums are addressed with wry humor by Jonathan Gitelson in “Are You Here?” and with frank scrutiny by Greer Muldowney in “Urban Turbines” on view at Gallery Kayafas in Boston’s South End through October 15, 2016.
“Providence Waste Water Treatment, Cranston View, 2013” from the series Urban Turbines by Greer Muldowney (courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston).
Jonathan Gitelson’s ingenious use of roadside billboards to distract drivers away from their automotive diversions serves as both a wake-up call and a cheerful reminder to live in the moment. His deceptively simple question, “Are You Here?” appears on roadside billboards along byways throughout upstate New York and New England, in addition to greeting visitors to the deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum in Lincoln, MA. Gallery Kayafas is presenting photographs (and one video) of these public art installations, to striking effect.
“Hoosick, N.Y., 2015” by Jonathan Gitelson (courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston).
An obvious reference to those little phrase bubbles on maps that help us determine our location, “Are You Here?” resonates with questions of presence. Gitelson has carefully placed his billboards in areas where they won’t be mistaken for actual locators or advertisements. Finding yourself confronted with this odd and innocent question while driving along in the middle of nowhere must be at once orienting and disorienting. In a gallery setting, photographs of the billboard installations cause the question to echo, multiplying its metaphysical impact. “Think!,”Gitelson gently implores us.
“Forbes Development Turbine, Chelsea, MA, 2015” from the series Urban Turbines by Greer Muldowney (courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston).
Greer Muldowney’s photographs always ask us to think. In “Urban Turbines”, she questions the spread of the wind turbine industry in New England with the crafty subtlety of an investigative reporter. We see vistas both beautiful and mundane with individual and small clusters of wind turbines encroaching over horizons, in newly constructed residential communities and at the ends of densely occupied streets in established neighborhoods. This breaks with the traditional model of sustainable wind farms found in the Western U.S. and throughout Europe. So, what’s up?
“Kingston Country Club, Falmouth, MA, 2015” from the series Urban Turbines by Greer Muldowney (courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston).
New England is on the green energy bandwagon, bolstering the investment in wind turbines with tax incentives and grants, which has resulted in turbines being placed very close to inhabited areas. Muldowney’s color photographs reflect the natural beauty of coastal New England. The appearance of a turbine or two in these conventional settings is almost like seeing a UFO land in your backyard. The ways in which Muldowney visually integrates these alien structures through palette and composition and points to their intrusion with contrasts in scale, pattern and line, highlight the ways in which wind turbines have become a thorny symbol of our energy future. “Think!,” Muldowney urges viewers.
“Steady Aim, 1936/2008” from the series 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin by Carla Maria Busch Casagrande (courtesy of Gallery Kayafas, Boston).
There’s something else to think about at Gallery Kayafas, too. “Seven Photographs of the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin” by Carla Maria Busch Casagrande, the only invited female photographer to that event, offer an disquieting glance at those competitions and athletes. Her documentation reflects the undercurrent of Hitler’s disturbing social and political policies. Having just concluded a fraught Summer Olympics and experiencing our own disturbing political horizon, Gallery Kayafas proves again that there is great relevance in vintage photography.
Gallery Kayafas will be hosting an Artists’ Reception on October 7, 2016 from 5:30 – 8:00pm. For hours, directions and more information about these exhibits, go to: http://www.gallerykayafas.com/
Feature Image: “Amsterdam, N.Y. #1, 2015” (Detail) by Jonathan Gitelson (courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston).
“Gloversville, N.Y., 2015” by Jonathan Gitelson (courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston).
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