SF Camerawork's Opening Reception for the Summer 2009 Exhibitions

San Francisco Camerawork

http://www.sfcamerawork.org

657 Mission Street, Second Floor, San Francisco, CA 94105-4104

Tel: 415.512.2020 x106 / Fax: 415.512.7109


Join us to celebrate the opening of three new exhibitions that will be on view from

June 4 – August 22, 2009

Opening Reception: Thursday, June 4th 5-8 PM


Ersatz Group Exhibition

Ersatz Group Exhibition uses the aesthetics and mechanisms of the postal service as means for an exhibition of artwork created by mail. Mail art has evolved as an artistic genre since the mid 20th century and remains a popular form of expression due to its egalitarian, free form structure. Keeping within an egalitarian framework, the exhibition is co-curated by UPS professional Dennis D’Ambrogio, with assistance from co-curators Chris Fitzpatrick and Chuck Mobley.

Curators Larry Rinder and Evelyne Jouanno have been invited to tour the exhibition in advance of the opening and respond to the work in the exhibition catalog that will accompany the show. The catalog will serve as a directory of international artists, and beginning in July will be available in book form from print-on-demand company Blurb, as well as a downloadable PDF on SF Camerawork’s website.


Leaving a Mark: Cutter Photozine

Cutter Photozine is a Bay Area-based documentary photo magazine dedicated to featuring people telling their own stories and documenting their own existence. Cutter seeks to undo a traditional voyeurism of the "other" and place the power of sight in the focused home of the author. This special exhibition celebrates the launch of the second issue: Leaving a Mark with more than 25 artists featured. The exhibition Leaving a Mark: Cutter Photozine is organized by Cutter editors, Jesse Rose Roberts, Heather Renee Russ and, Rachel Styer.


2009 James D. Phelan Art Award in Photography
Doris Jew Conrath and Jim Stone
The James D. Phelan Art Award in Photography is administered annually by SF Camerawork for The San Francisco Foundation, and is given in recognition of artistic achievements by California-born artists. The 2009 award recipients are Doris Jew Conrath and Jim Stone. Jurors for this year’s award were: Allan deSouza, artist and SFAI professor, and Cathy Kimball, executive director of San Jose Institute for Contemporary Art.

Award recipient Doris Jew Conrath’s panoramic images are created out of several photographs. The artist explains, “Instead of wide views of a physical space taken by pivoting from one point, I record while walking around a structure and unfold the space in a manner similar to a world map created by using a cylindrical projection method. The individual photographs are then digitally stitched together, forming a new space that shows all sides, allowing the viewer to take in multi facets at once.”

The photography of Jim Stone explores facets of America’s unusual and complex character, including such sub-themes as obsession and its public display, the mixing of religious and military iconography in a peaceable secular society, and the ironic difference between intent and achievement. Ultimately the artist sees his work as framing “an organized set of graphic and sociological concerns.”