h u m a n

...an exploration of the human form and human condition.

January 16 - March 1

Reception: Friday, January 20, 2012 | 5:30-7:30pm

Gallery 180 is located at 180 N. Wabash—at the corner of Lake and Wabash—in Chicago’s Loop. The gallery is open Monday through Thursday from 8am-8pm, Friday 8am-5:30pm and Saturday 9am-5pm. Additional information can be found at gallery180.com.

Thanks Chuck for the wonderful ARTICLE…I’m looking forward to the show!

Zelda Boden

(John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art & Eakins Press Foundation)

Zelda Boden was a circus performer from the 1910s and 20s. We know very little about her life; but that she was one of the main performers of the Barnum & Bailey circus. Frederick W. Glasier captured these gorgeous images of her. Here’s a marvelous article from the New York Times about Fredrick Glasier and his dazzling photographs.

(John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art & Eakins Press Foundation)

Bizarre Bazaar!

Exciting news, I am pleased to announce that I will be exhibiting my tintype still-life series at Chicago Art Source in two weeks. I love the kind of elegant starkness that this process lent in their creation.

Opening Reception with live music:

Friday, November 11th 6-8pm.

Chicago Art Source
1871 N Clybourn Ave. Chicago, IL 60614

Exhibit runs through December 31st.

Hope to see you there!

New Additions - Tintypes

Here are the latest additions to my Still-life collection. Each plate is one-of-a-kind and varnished with a mixture of gum sandarac and oil of lavender.

Hydrangeas, 2011 - 8x10 Tintype

Lizard’s Tail, 2011 - 8x10 Tintype

I am pleased to announce that my studio (Studiorealm) will be participating in Lacuna Artist Lofts Open Studio tour “COLLABORATIVE CONNECTION” which is conjunction with Chicago Artists Month, an annual celebration of Chicago’s vibrant visual arts community during the month of October. Over 200 events take place including exhibitions of emerging and established artists, openings, demonstrations, tours, open studios throughout the city.

Friday, October 14th from 3pm – 11pm
Saturday, October 15th from 12pm – 7pm

Studiorealm at Lacuna Artist Lofts
2150 S. Canalport Ave. Suite 5B-2
Chicago, IL 60608

For more information and directions please visit our website: www.Studiorealm.com or the e-Flyer

Inner Workings

Inner Workings, 2011 - 8x10 Tintype

I finally photographed the inner working of my vintage grandfather clock. I still remember my dad working on it in the garage for years. Before that it stood in my grandparent’s house as long as I can remember. Inside are the initials M B could this be my great-great-grandfather, Mitchell Bowker from Vermont…Hmmm.

Here’s an interesting site that inspired me to photograph it as a wet-plate collodion tintype.
www.geararium.org

Studio Update

Great news, we’re expanding the studio! We’re hoping to create a zen-lounge room looking into the studio. Construction has started by knocking down a wall that connects the new space to the studio. I’m really looking forward to the additional wall space. Hopefully it will be completed by next month’s open studio night.

The Dog Days of Summer

I remember shooting this image on a day similar to the weather conditions we’re having this week known as the Dog Days of Summer.

The Dog Days are known as the hottest days of the year in the Northern Hemisphere and usually occur in July and early August. In ancient times, the sultry weather in Rome during these months often made people sick, and they blamed their illnesses on the fact that this was the time of year when Sirius, the Dog Star, rose at about the same time as the sun. Because Sirius was the brightest star, it was thought to add its heat to the sun, producing hot, unhealthy weather. The ancients used to sacrifice a brown dog at the beginning of the Dog Days to appease the rage of Sirius.

PH Magazine

Exciting news, my work has been featured in the July issue of PH_Magazine…check out that cover and the fourteen page spread!

Click on the Cover to view my spread or view as pdf
PH Magazine is a wonderful new fine photography magazine which I’m delighted being part of.

New Additions - Tintypes

I recently added a new collection to my website entitled still lifes in collodion. These are my first venture in this captivating process that seems to have a mysterious allure to me. The chemicals seem to have interpretation all its own. I feel each plate reveals an elegant simplicity that draws the observer in.

Calla Lily, 2011 - 8x10 Tintype

Nassos Daphnis, 2011 - 8x10 Tintype

Also here's my first landscape done in the same process.

Maroon Bells - Colorado, 2011 - 8x10 Tintype

Sago Palm

Sago Palm, 2011 - 8x10 Tintype
Here’s another wet-plate collodion image from my botanical study series. I’m really enjoying this process and this series or maybe it’s just the ether fumes affecting me.

The Sago Palm, most people don’t realize that it is not a palm at all, but rather a Cycad. There are over 200 different types of cycads. Cycads are a group of plants that are very primitive in their origins. Fossils have been found on almost every continent on the planet. It is often stated that cycads have evolved little since the days of the dinosaurs. There are species that have gone extinct, while there are others that seemed to show little evolution over millions of years. Therefore as a group, cycads are often referred to as “living fossils”. The scientific name for the Sago Palm is Cycas revoluta. Cycas refers to the genus, the genus refers to a particular group of similar plants in the Cycad family and revoluta further describes the exact species of the group Cycas.

Wet-Plate Collodion

Magnolias 2011 - 8x10 Tintype
It seems like my photography is taking me further back into the past to the first photographic process from the mid. 1800s. Here’s one of my first collodion plates titled Magnolias. I think my exposure was around 3 minutes!

It’s a real fun process but can be dangerous since you’re dealing with ether, potassium cyanide and silver nitrate. A few years ago I took a workshop with Bill Schwab and Joe Smigiel to learn the correct way to handle and mix the chemicals that go into this process…thank you guys!

These plates are one-of-a-kind pieces no reproductions will be made.

Stay tuned for more uploads in the near future ;-)

The Art of Human Rights

"Selene" - Hand-coated Platinum-Palladium Print
This will be my fourth year participating in Heartland Alliance’s annual fundraiser. This event attracts more than 400 attendees each year and has been ranked as one of Chicago’s top 100 events.

Heartland Alliance, a nonprofit organization which advances the human rights and responds to the human needs of endangered populations—particularly the poor, the isolated, and the displaced—through the provision of comprehensive and respectful services and the promotion of permanent solutions leading to a more just global society. Heartland Alliance provides housing, health care, economic security, and legal protections services to more than 200,000 people annually whose lives are threatened by poverty or danger.

Honorary Chair:
Charles Gniech of Gallery 180 - Illinois Institute of Art

Reception:
February 25, 2011 ~ 6:30 – 9:30pm
Gruen Galleries – 226 Superior St, Chicago, IL 60654

An evening of food, fun, and fine art! Bring health, hope, and opportunity to the frontlines of an epidemic.

Purchase tickets to the event visit: ArtofHumanRights.com

PHOTO '11 - January 17 - March 3, 2011

PHOTO ’11 is just around the corner. This year’s exhibition I will showing three of my photographs, two are from my Simple Beauty series and the third is a seascape from Acadia National Park in Maine.

Commissions from the sale of work will be donated directly to Heartland Alliance to help with their work in supporting human rights.

Reception:
Friday, January 21, 2011
5:30-7:30pm

Where:
Gallery 180 - The Illinois Institute of Art-Chicago
180 N. Wabash Ave. Chicago, IL 60601

Regular Gallery Hours:
Monday-Thursday 8am-8pm; Friday, 8am-5:30pm; Saturday, 9am-5pm.

I hope you get the chance to check out this amazing collection of photographic art. The exhibit runs through March 3rd, 2011.

For more information click on the above eflyer or visit Chuck Gniech's Blog HERE
(Chuck Gniech is a Professor of Art and the Exhibition Curator for Gallery 180 of The Illinois Institute of Art-Chicago.)