From Photo District News:
Originally inspired by the onset of a midlife crisis, “I Feel Lucky” is Frank Yamrus‚Äòs highly personal series of self-portraits, revealing the joy and sorrow of passing through his 47th to 53rd years.
View the exhibition
Browse all of Frank Yamrus’ work at ClampArt
February 16 – March 24, 2012
Opening reception:
Thursday, February 16, 2012
6:00 – 8:00 p.m.
ClampArt is pleased to present an exhibition of new works by photographer, Frank Yamrus – – his second solo show at the gallery.
The self-portrait series, “I Feel Lucky,” was originally inspired by the artist’s contemplation of impending middle age. Staring down the barrel of his 50th birthday, Yamrus began a photographic exploration that largely centered on body image – – the growing gut, hanging jowls, and deepening wrinkles one begins to notice in the mirror over the years. However, the images soon began to take a turn inward as Yamrus became interested in examining pivotal moments from not only his current life but the whole expanse of his days since he was a boy. In the end, the complete series serves as a statement on identity – – an examination of how one comes to be the person he or she is today.
In the book of the same title which accompanies the show, W.M. Hunt writes: “Yamrus shows us that he has been taking measure of himself as a man and as an artist. This culmination of several years’ work is his discreet and dignified search for purpose and meaning in life.” He continues, “The celebration in ‘untitled (Cake)’ reminds us that the search has its reward.”
Frank Yamrus has been exhibiting his work internationally for over twenty years, with his photographs represented in numerous public collections, including the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; the Victoria and Albert Museum, England; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; the Worcester Art Museum, Massachusetts; and the Denver Art Museum, among others.
The book, I Feel Lucky, with essays by W.M. Hunt and Sunil Gupta (Softcover, 72 pages, 56 color illustrations, 11 x 11 inches) is available for $35.
2013
Signed and numbered, verso
Archival pigment print
38 x 27 inches, sheet
(Edition of 9)
$2800.00
22 x 17 inches, sheet
(Edition of 15)
$1400.00
Please note that prices increase as editions sell.
From Two Way Lens:
Michael Werner: What inspired you to start taking photographs, and what is the primary inspiration for you to keep working in this field?
John Arsenault: It was in my junior year of high school. My friend Cindy bet me she could take a better photograph then I could, so I enrolled in a photography class. And I fell in love with it right away. She lost the bet and I found my passion!
I’m inspired by living life. My goal is to produce a visual monologue about my own life: the aspects of myself that I am most mystified and riveted by – my sexuality, my personal relationships, the masculine vs. feminine parts of my identity and my place within society.
With that said, my work is a photographic diary. I use the camera as a tool to capture the experiences that life presents every day. This includes vibrant color, humor & my ability of transcending the mundane: celebrating and highlighting moments that we often overlook are paralleled with intimate moments with friends and lovers.
My relationship with my work is a lot like all my relationships – some days I feel totally connected and other days I feel totally disconnected.
View the series “Self-portraits”
Browse all of John Arsenault’s work at ClampArt
Hiroshi Sugimoto (b. 1948) is an artist who divides his time between Tokyo and New York. He has been working photography since the 1970s and is well-known for his black-and-white series of seascapes, theatres, and portraits in wax museums, in particular.
Louis Stettner was an American photographer of the 20th century whose work included streetscapes, portraits and architectural images of New York and Paris. His work has been highly regarded because of its humanity and capturing the life and reality of the people and streets.
b. 1954
Kiki Smith is a West German-born American artist. Largely self-taught, Smith has been known since the 1980s for her multidisciplinary practice that encompasses sculpture, drawing, printmaking, textiles, and photography. Bearing the influence of Surrealism, Smith’s work addresses a broad range of themes relating to the human condition, the human body, and the natural world. Her works are held in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago; the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC; the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City; and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, among many others. Smith lives and works in New York City.