By Suzanne Révy
Galleries in Boston’s South End arts district (SOWA) are teeming with fresh work this spring, including several engaging photography exhibitions. Gallery Kayafas celebrates twenty years with three exhibitions that underscore the breadth of artistic work that Arlette and Gus Kayafas have collected and shown over two decades. Selections from their personal collection are on view alongside Time on Flores, a series of black and white pictures by Lee Wormald and Pat Falco’s immersive installation A Graveyard in the Sun, on view through April 20th, 2023. At Anderson Yezerski Gallery, selections from Sarah Malakoff’s recently published monograph Personal History will be on view through May 6th, 2023.
From “Americans Seen” by Sage Sohier, 1980, courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston.
Arlette and Gus Kayafas have been avid collectors of photography for decades, and it is illuminating to see selections from their personal collection, including classic works by Clarence H. White and Eliot Erwitt, constructed work by Susan Derges and Elsa Dorfman, and Harold Edgerton’s study of a milk drop. Pictures made in the 1970’s, by Arthur Tress, Sage Sohier (above) and Bill Yates especially resonate with me, as it coincides with the time I picked up the camera. It is a treat to consider this collection in the context of the contemporary work currently on view in the rest of the gallery.
“Cavalos” by Lee Wormald, 2021, from the series Time on Flores, courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston.
(Feature Image) “Casa do Espirito Santo, Lajedo” by Lee Wormald, 2022, from the series Time on Flores, courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston.
Considered the western-most point in Europe, the island of Flores is part of the North Atlantic archipelago known as the Azores. It is a lush volcanic island and photographer Lee Wormald, who has visited annually since 2014, has been making black and white pictures that revel in the natural beauty that exists as part of daily life. By peeling away the distractions of saturated color, Wormald focusses his keen eye on light, form, texture and space. There is a laconic rhythm to his work that echoes in the cadence of “island time.”
“Descer, Lajedo” by Lee Wormald, 2021, from the series Time on Flores, courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston.
“Fazenda” by Lee Wormald, 2016, from the series Time on Flores, courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston.
“Cais das Poças” by Lee Wormald, 2022, from the series Time on Flores, courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston.
Wormald’s empty roads invite viewers to explore deserted plazas, simple houses, and flourishing gardens while offering a sense of contemplative isolation. Other images are punctuated by a single pensive figure, spirited interactions among islanders – in one instance, with an errant bull in the street – or by the ubiquitous presence of cattle and hens. The often-skewed vantage point in Wormald’s photographs heighten interest by instilling a sense of dynamic tension. His use of a broad mid-tonal range and intimate print size endow a sensual, empathic tenor to this series. We are seeing an outsider’s view, but Wormald’s genuine curiosity and attention to the undulating land, the plain structures and the local inhabitants reveal his sustained devotion in pictures that are by turns captivating and elusive.
“A Graveyard in the Sun” by Pat Falco, at Gallery Kayafas, Boston. (Installation photograph by Suzanne Révy.)
From the installation “A Graveyard in the Sun” by Pat Falco, courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston.
“A Graveyard in the Sun” by Pat Falco at Gallery Kayafas, Boston. (Installation photograph by Suzanne Révy)
In contrast, Pat Falco’s mixed-media installation employs photography of building sites to mine issues around urban housing and development in Boston. An old-fashioned slide carousel projects 1970’s era vernacular slides onto a wall of posters that raise questions about memory and regrets. Along a floating wall, a group of photographs displays the nighttime skyline filled with cranes and construction layered over graffiti stating, “All the signs form a language, but not the one you think you know.” All evidence points to a building boom, but we can sense it is not aimed at housing people economically. Falco’s structural installation is filled with vintage electronics, posters, photographs and patterns which echo the urban detritus that might be found in a temporary shelter of the unhoused. Through the cacophony, Falco crafts an indelible impression of Boston residents being left behind amid the frenzied construction projects enveloping the city.
“A Graveyard in the Sun” by Pat Falco at Gallery Kayafas. (Installation photograph by Suzanne Révy)
“Ancient Egypt” by Sarah Malakoff, 2021 from the series and book Personal History (Kehrer Verlag), courtesy of the artist and Anderson Yezerski Gallery, Boston.
“Horse of Selene from the Parthenon” by Sarah Malakoff, 2021 from the series and book Personal History (Kehrer Verlag), courtesy of the artist and the Anderson Yezerski Gallery, Boston.
At Anderson Yezerski Gallery, Sarah Malakoff’s exploration of interior spaces in Personal History embraces the individual statements found within the walls of private homes. Her use of light and shadow create surreal compositions that underline the unusual collections and treasured belongings of their absent owners. Revealing both playful and reverent displays of kitschy antiques and heirlooms, Malakoff’s saturated colors and spatial relationships add tension, along with contrasting the warmth of her interiors with cool light entering through windows. For example, in one image, the back yard seen through a glass door looks like a piece of decor itself and visually connects to a painting on the inside wall. Malakoff’s alluring compositions draw viewers into the intrigues of our most private spaces and ask us to consider how home reflects identity. Seen together with Wormald’s pictures from Flores and Falco’s studies of urbanization, I cannot help but think about the cultural and economic issues around privacy, housing, and the places in the world we call home.
“Castle Neuschwanstein” by Sarah Malakoff, 2022, from the series and book Personal History (Kehrer Verlag), courtesy of the artist and the Anderson Yezerski Gallery, Boston.
For more information on Lee Wormald or Pat Falco and Gallery Kayafas: https://www.gallerykayafas.com
For more information on Sarah Malakoff: https://andersonyezerski.com
To read our review of Sarah Malakoff’s book, Personal Histories: https://www.whatwillyouremember.com/book-review-sarah-malakoff-personal-history-and-jane-paradise-the-dune-shacks-of-provincetown/
“Vacos no Mato” by Lee Wormald, 2014, from the series Time on Flores, courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston.
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