The Aran Cravey Gallery on Abbot Kinney will host an opening reception for their group show “Summer Magic” this Saturday, July 13th, from 6-8pm. The exhibition will be on display until August 25th.
Adam Ekberg, Eclipse, 2012, archival inkjet print, edition of 3
From the gallery:
Aran Cravey Gallery is pleased to present Summer Magic, a group show of photography curated by Shelley de Soto, with works by Adam Ekberg, Nick Meek, Naida Osline, Katie Shapiro, Trujillo-Paumier, and Carlo Van de Roer. The exhibition serves as a meditation on the ritual of summer, forces of nature, magic, and synchronicity.
The works in Summer Magic convey the hypnotic, chimerical, almost hallucinatory quality of a summer moment. Summer fosters adventure and optimism, opening the door to possibility and happenstance, magic, and synchronicity. Jung described synchronicity as “a causal connecting principle” in which events, both large and small, in the external world might align to the experience of the individual, perhaps mirroring or echoing personal concerns or thought.
To usher in the summer solstice, long ago celebrations and rituals were held on Midsummer’s Eve, a time when the veil between the real world and an imaginary one was transparent, thus letting spirits, beings, magic, and fairies come to the fore. In the contemporary world, the power and magic of the summer solstice still lingers, with new technologies in photography to help raise the veil. Nadine Osline investigates the transformative, mythical and ethereal nature of existence by utilizing digital photography and computer-based imaging software to create uniquely hybridized images touching on the mystical. The constructed photographs by Adam Ekberg are of ephemeral occurrences that actually exist in the world, sometimes only for the moment the photograph is made, an alchemy of sorts, transforming the mundane into the poignant. The “perfect moment” is accentuated in Nick Meek’s heightened colorized slant on atmospheric and light saturated photography, a “still point” of time and transcendence. Katie Shapiro’s portraits visualize an invisible entity that is created within the interconnectedness of human relationships —to express this, her subjects are physically and photographically joined together, creating a third form. The parapsychological photography of Carlo Van de Roer uses technology created orbs and auras to examine the intersection of photography and the supernatural, bringing us a little closer to the magic of photography. Best known for their poised and meticulous portraiture and travel imagery, Trujillo-Paumier reference art historical antecedents in the classical beauty of their photography, with an emphasis on community—the sharing of food, culture, and the special relationships that help define it. Collectively, the artists in Summer Magic, conjure up the spell of summer, inviting the viewer to partake in a celebratory rite.
Adam Ekberg has an MFA in Photography from The School of The Art Institute of Chicago. His work is in the collections of The Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL, and The Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, IL.
Nick Meek currently lives in London, where he freelances for the likes of Wallpaper, Esquire and Wired Magazine, while shooting advertising campaigns for American Airlines, VW, BT, Marlboro, BA and Playstation. He work has been exhibited in the UK, France, and the United States.
Naida Osline graduated from California State University, Fullerton with a B.A. in studio art with an emphasis in photography. She has held solo exhibitions and has been included in numerous group shows throughout Southern California, as well as internationally. In 2010-2011, Osline was selected as an artist-in-residence at both Joshua Tree National Park, California and the Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona. In 2011-2012, she completed a three-month artist-in-residency at CSUF Grand Central Art Center, followed by a three-month stint in Columbia, South America, the work from which will be exhibited throughout the country later this year.
Katie Shapiro was born in Los Angeles where she currently lives and works. She received her BFA in Photography from the California Institute of the Arts in 2007 and is currently working towards her MFA at UC Irvine. Her recent exhibitions include group shows at The Armory Center for the Arts in Pasadena and The Center for Photography at Woodstock.
Trujillo-Paumier began their collaboration during their studies at Art Center College of Design Pasadena in 2001. Joaquin Trujillo is from a little town on the outskirts of Zacatecas, Mexico. His commercial practice with his long-time partner, Brian Paumier continues to lead him all over the world. Paumier was born is from Oxnard, California and recently got his MFA from ICP-Bard. Best known for their poised and meticulous portraiture and travel imagery, their work embodies an old-world formality with modern wit to make for the perfect integration of theatricality and contemporary style. Their images appear frequently in numerous publications and periodicals including Travel & Leisure, Food & Wine, New York Times Magazine, GQ, Elle, Newsweek, and Los Angeles Magazine. Trujillo-Paumier photography has shown at numerous galleries and art fairs including The Rose Gallery, The De Soto Gallery, Photo Paris, Art LA, Photo NY and Scope NY.
Carlo Van de Roer received a BFA from Victoria University before working and exhibiting internationally in the United States, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and France. Van de Roer has received the ADC Young Guns Award, the APA Silver to Pixels Award for Fine Art, the PDN Pix Award, named a Top 50 Photographer by Photolucida and received the Honorable Mention for the BMW Paris Photo Prize in 2010. His work has drawn notice by The New York Times, INTERVIEW magazine, Vogue Italia, Wired magazine and NPR. Born in Wellington, New Zealand, Van de Roer currently lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.
