Home and Away

By Suzanne Révy

As the burdens of quarantine ease up, smaller galleries around New England are beginning to open their doors by appointment only. And though online meetings and exhibitions have been critical in keeping all of us feeling connected, I for one, have missed the sheer impact of looking at art in person. Two small galleries in southern Maine are now open by appointment, offering very different and satisfying shows. Buoy Gallery in Kittery, a space that was once a Post Office, is presenting Home and Away by Yoav Horesh extended through August 23rd, 2020 and the George Marshall Store Gallery, a former general store in York, features Auction Sites, a series of digital collages by Doug Prince through July 26th, 2020.

Yoav Horesh “Moonrise Over the U.S.-Mexico Border” 2018 from the series Home and Away, courtesy of the artist, Buoy Gallery, Kittery, Maine and Gallery Kayafas, Boston, MA.

The vast American landscape has long enticed photographers to take to the road in pursuit of her visual mythology and culture. Yoav Horesh, an Isreali photographer who has lived away from his home for two decades, followed in this tradition to see the physical, social and economic landscape beyond his current home in New England. He stayed with friends along the route, and made pictures that emphasize the broad, and in some cases, abandoned spaces that make up so much or our history and heritage. The exhibit features twenty-eight large and medium format images in both black and white and color.  He employs a long mid-tonal range in gelatin silver prints and a soft, almost monochromatic color palette in his archival pigment prints. 

Yoav Horesh, “JC Penney, El Paso, TX” 2018, from the series Home and Away, courtesy of the artist, Buoy Gallery, Kittery, Maine and Gallery Kayafas, Boston, MA.

Yoav Horesh “Escalante National Park, UT” 2018 from the series Home and Away, courtesy of the artist, Buoy Gallery, Kittery, Maine and Gallery Kayafas, Boston, MA.

Yoav Horesh “Lorraine Motel, Room 306, Assassination Site of Martin Luther King, Jr, Memphis, TN” 2018, from the series Home and Away, courtesy of the artist, Buoy Gallery, Kittery Maine and Gallery Kayafas, Boston, MA.

Horesh’s pictures point an analytical eye toward the economic and social realities of a nation whose potential has not reached all of her citizens.  In one, Horesh includes small figures walking past a shuttered JCPenney, which brings a sense melancholy. Others are more playful, such as two boys climbing the hills of Escalante National Park or the blur of a young mother managing a toddler during lunch in a Kansas saloon. Alongside that, Horesh explores environmental impacts in several images, including the aftermath of a forest fire and radioactive waste on Indian land. He notes the ubiquity of religious structures throughout the country, and in a particularly strong image, pays homage to the Lorraine Motel where Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated. Horesh’s pictures can be bitingly critical or filled with awe, but “Moonrise over the US Mexican Border” straddles both as decaying structures are illuminated under achingly beautiful moonlight. 

Yoav Horesh “Elaine, Walker, August , Dylan and Lena, Pittsburgh, PA” 2018, from the series Home and Away, courtesy of the artist, Buoy Gallery, Kittery, Maine and Gallery Kayafas, Boston, MA.

Yoav Horesh “Shira, Amalia, Alex and Arnika, Brooklyn, NY” 2018, from the series Home and Away courtesy of the artist, Buoy Gallery, Kittery, Maine and Gallery Kayafas, Boston, MA.

Punctuated throughout the exhibit are several family portraits that endow the work with a personal sense of connection. There is a visual chasm, however, between the landscapes and Horesh’s intimate portraits. It might have been a richer experience with the inclusion of written captions, or say… brief journal entries to reveal what drew him to the public spaces he navigated on the long drives between the private homes of his hosts. 

(Featured Image) Yoav Horesh “Claire, Eli, Liam and Jeremy, Maplewood, NJ” 2018 from the series Home and Away, courtesy of the artist, Buoy Gallery, Kittery, Maine and Gallery Kayafas, Boston, MA. 

Doug Prince “Queen Anne Balloon Seat Side Chair” from the series Auction Sites, courtesy of the artist and the George Marshall Store Gallery, York, Maine.

In contrast to Horesh’s expansive photographic journey, the George Marshall Store Gallery in York presents an immersive, internal world of digital photography in their exhibit of Doug Prince’s series Auction Sites. Prince appropriates the photographs of antique furniture being offered for sale through catalogs on auction sites. The items are presented as single objects, simply lit in front of a white background. They have been stripped of their context, and yet if each chair or table could speak, there might be stories of love and tragedy for generations of owners. Untethered from their past, Prince introduces new possibilities for each object by layering skies, fields, clouds – and in one, a famous tapestry – within the silhouette of each object. He breathes new life into each piece. Take note, Prince’s show is only on view for another ten days, but don’t despair. If you can visit in August, the gallery will be mounting Cheryle St. Onge’s heartbreakingly beautiful series “Calling the Birds Home,” featuring images of her mother who suffers from vascular dementia. St Onge’s show will be on view from August 1st through September 6th, 2020. 

Doug Prince “George II Lowboy” 2020, from the series Auction Sites, courtesy of the artist and the George Marshall Store Gallery, York, Maine.

Doug Prince “George II Chair of Queen Anne Design” 2020, from the series Auction Sites, courtesy of the artist and the George Marshall Store Gallery, York, Maine.

Doug Prince “George III Mahogany Card Table” from the series Auction Sites, courtesy of the artist and the George Marshall Store Gallery, York, Maine.

For more information and to make an appointment: 

https://www.facebook.com/BUOY-170331239651041/

https://georgemarshallstoregallery.com