January 5 – February 11, 2012

Artist’s Reception:
Friday, January 13, 2012
6:00 – 8:00 p.m.

ClampArt is pleased to announce the opening of “A,” an exhibition of new photographs by artist, Gregory Halpern (b. 1977)—his first solo show at the gallery.

In “A,” the artist leads the viewer on a rambling tour through the beautiful and ruined streets of the American Rust Belt. The cast of characters, both human and animal, is portrayed with compassion and respect by this native son of Buffalo, New York. The cities to which Halpern is drawn—Baltimore, Cincinnati, Omaha, Detroit—share similar histories with his hometown, and in his post-apocalyptic springtime, all forms of life emerge and run riot. The photographs represent the artist’s ongoing investigation of locations and people that fly under the radar. The series is a metaphoric journey through the American landscape and a sober examination of the nation’s hopes and failures. Critic, Adam Bell, writes: “Working in the tradition of Walker Evans, Paul Graham and Jacob Holdt, Halpern’s work is raw, political and compassionate. In many ways, the work represents the best of what Walker Evans called ‚Äòlyric documentary.’”

The exhibition coincides with the release of the artist’s publication of the same title from J&L Books (Hardcover, 96 pages, 12 x 10 inches, $40). “A” was selected as one of the top twenty photography books of 2011 by artist, Alec Soth, on the popular Little Brown Mushroom Blog. It also topped the “photo-eye Magazine” list of “The Best Books of 2011”—selected by seven judges including Raymond Meeks, Kevin Kunishi, Antone Dolezal, Adam Bell, Alec Soth, Shane Lavalette, and Todd Hido.

Gregory Halpern earned a Bachelor of Arts, History and Literature at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, and a Master of Fine Arts at California College of the Arts, San Francisco, California. He is now a professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, New York. His work has been exhibited nationally since 2003.