February 21 – March 22, 2008
Artist’s reception:
Thursday, February 21, 2008
6:00 to 8:00 p.m.
ClampArt is pleased to announce “Brian Finke: Flight Attendants,” the artist’s third solo show at the gallery. The exhibition coincides with the release of Finke’s second monograph of the same title from powerHouse Books.
Flying the friendly skies, Brian Finke crisscrossed the United States photographing flight attendants on Delta, JetBlue, Hawaiian, Hooters Air, Southwest, and Song airlines before going abroad with such carriers as Air France, Qantas, and British Airways. In London, Finke visited a flight attendant school complete with emergency rafts and billowing smoke, and then, continuing east, he traveled Air Asia, Thai, Tiger, ANA, Japan, and Cathay Pacific. Finke finished two years of travel with the illustrious Icelandair.
The result of Finke’s wanderlust is his series, “Flight Attendants,” a vibrant collection of photographs documenting the lives of those adventurous souls who choose to work at 40,000 feet. Shot before, during, and after flights, the photographs capture the allure of the high-flying profession alongside the more quiet moments of the attendants’ daily lives. As with his previous series of photographs, “2-4-6-8: Photographs of Cheerleaders and Football Players,” Finke is drawn to the distinctive dynamics of team formation, focusing on uniformed individuals executing practiced actions — whether on the playing field or in the air. With an eye for the iconic as well as the absurd, Finke seamlessly blends the glamorous with the casual, offering a memorable look at the people of the air travel industry.
Brian Finke graduated from the School of Visual Arts in New York City in 1998 with a BFA in photography. Since that time, he has had incredible success as an artist, with work placed in eight museum collections here and abroad. His first monograph was named one of the best photography books of 2004 by American Photo magazine. Also in 2004, Finke was one of twelve artists nominated for the International Center for Photography’s annual Infinity Award, and he won a prestigious New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship.