South Granville ArtWalk Returns For Its 7th Annual Run

Refracted Mystic Topaz by Kristofir Dean, courtesy of Ian Tan Gallery

7th Annual South Granville ArtWalk
Saturday, June 16, 2018, 10am-5pm
Granville Street from 6th Ave to 16th Ave, Vancouver, BC

Vancouverites and visitors are all invited to this fabulous, creative event, where they can wander up and down Granville Street and partake in artist talks, have refreshments, and attend over 10 different art exhibitions spread across the South Granville neighbourhood.

Join Bau-Xi for an exciting day filled with art and activities courtesy of our neighbourhood partners alongside Gordon Wiens' Nature Transformed.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS AT BAU-XI VANCOUVER

This year, participating galleries include:

Uno Langmann Limited
Kimoto Gallery
Elissa Cristall Gallery
Heffel Fine Art Auction House
Ian Tan Gallery

Douglas Reynolds Gallery
Marion Scott Gallery
Kurbatoff Gallery
Bau-Xi Gallery

For a growing schedule of activities during ArtWalk visit: http://www.southgranville.org/artwalk

Thank you to the 2018 South Granville Art Walk sponsors:

RBC
South Granville Business Improvement Association
Preview Magazine - Guide to Galleries and Museums



Thank you to the Bau-Xi Gallery Event Partners:

Blue Ruby Jewellery
Granville Island Florist
Hills Dry Goods
L'Occitane
Small Victory Bakery
The Rise Eatery


  


About South Granville's Gallery Row

Today, South Granville has the highest concentration of fine art galleries in Vancouver, its legacy as gallery row is cemented as it continues to thrive a half century since its founding. Several new galleries have moved into the area since our first ArtWalk, adding to our reputation as the only area in the city where one can tour the full breadth of artwork available in Vancouver. Our galleries offer a diverse range of art including: Canadian and International conceptual, European modernism and old masters, historical and emerging Canadian art including photography as well as two galleries devoted to First Nations and Inuit work. The special events organized for this one-day-only affair draw art enthusiasts and collectors alike out to admire works by seasoned masters and to discover emerging young talents.

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Artist Q & A: Gordon Wiens

1. Can you tell us a little bit about your process? What materials do you use to create the rich texture in your work?

Recently I have been creating rough drawings as a starting point for some of my paintings, based on the essence of weathered objects that I have found on beaches or elsewhere. Sometimes an idea for a new painting emerges from a previous painting.

The beginning of each painting tends to be loosely based on a feeling I have in relation to an eroded object or a fragment of nature such as a rock or a withered flower. I start making marks and textures on a canvas based on a shape or colour. Throughout the process, I think about form, texture and colour and apply multiple layers of acrylic paint and various mediums to canvas. Ultimately, the painting dictates its own direction as the process of painting progresses. The layers build to create a sense of depth and dimension, leading to the final patina and structure of each painting.

2. Do you see your works as unique or as part of a series?


While there is definitely continuity in my work as it evolves over time, this series represents a new body of work.



3. Do any particular lived experiences or memories, if any, inform your work?


I don’t rely on specific experiences and memories to inform individual paintings. Cumulative memories of my experiences in nature do play a role, however, I rely more on the objects and fragments of nature that I collect and keep in my studio.

4. Upon viewing the work in ‘Nature Transformed’, one is reminded of the Japanese aesthetic principle of wabi-sabi: a worldview that centers on the acceptance of transience, impermanence and imperfection. How consciously are you thinking about this idea of wabi-sabi? Is it an artistic practice as well as a personal or spiritual practice for you, too?

Wabi-sabi values and aesthetic principles resonate strongly with me and have a significant influence on my work. I’m very conscious of these ideas when I am painting and over time I have incorporated them into my way of working and my personal aesthetic.

While this is a predominant perspective for me, I have multiple sources of inspiration and reference for my work, including the work of other abstract painters.


Inside the artist's studio with Eddie the dog

5. Which necessities do you require when making art?

For me, the basic necessities are simply a space to work in, the materials I need, and regular dedicated time.


6. Your previous body of work took some reference from hard edge abstraction with an emphasis on structured linear patterns, why the departure?


I didn’t make a conscious decision to depart from structured linear patterns, the shift flowed naturally through the process of working. My recent paintings still include structured hard-edged forms and I see this change as a transition that evolved, rather than a complete departure from earlier work.

Each of my paintings is, in a sense, an experiment and new ways of working happen both by accident and through purposeful changes to the ways that I apply paint. My current work represents new interpretations of elements of nature with forms in the initial layers that are looser and more spontaneous. I have no way of knowing how my paintings will evolve over time.

VIEW NEW WORK BY GORDON WIENS

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Janna Watson Featured on The Jealous Curator Podcast

 Janna Watson at Bau-Xi Gallery

Janna Watson, Two Adam Apples in Paradise., 36x36 in., $4,600

"Painting, whether realist or abstract, is a moment. I think that when people listen to music, they don't question it as much, like, 'why does it make me feel this way?', because it's just a moment. But when you freeze a moment [with a painting], people really want to know why, 'why this moment? what am I looking at?'"

Sought-after Toronto artist, Janna Watson, was recently featured on The Jealous Curator podcast. Host Danielle Krysa and Watson discuss the artist's introduction to abstraction, her first big break in the art world and how she prepares for her sell-out shows today. Click here to listen to the full episode and to learn more about what Watson's work means to her.  Janna Watson will be exhibiting all new work June 9th at Bau-Xi Gallery Toronto. 

 

Janna Watson at Bau-Xi Gallery

Janna Watson, Between: Held Space, 60x48 in., $8,400

Janna Watson for Sale at Bau-Xi Gallery

Janna Watson, Being on a Swing is a Solo Act, 36x36 in., $4,100

Janna Watson with The Jealous Curator

Artist Janna Watson with The Jealous Curator, Danielle Krysa

UPCOMING EXHIBITION: Patterns of Up and Down June 9-23, 2018
340 Dundas St West, Toronto
Opening Reception: Saturday June 9, 2:00 - 4:00pm

VIEW THE FULL COLLECTION

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Artist Q & A | Lori Nix and Kathleen Gerber

Lori Nix and kathleen Gerber photography, presented by Bau-Xi Gallery

Brooklyn-based photography duo Lori Nix and Kathleen Gerber meticulously build three-dimensional miniature dioramas by hand, and capture the scenes using a large-format film camera. Read this Q&A session to learn more about their incredible process.

Besides moving into a small apartment, what inspired you to start creating dioramas and photographing them instead of shooting more conventional work?

Lori: We are most comfortable working with our hands. With my background in ceramics and woodwork, and Kathleen’s glass history, we are comfortable building our worlds rather than going out in search of them. Neither of us has had the financial means to travel much beyond the United States. We’ve always used our money to purchase tools and art supplies rather than plane tickets and hotel rooms. We’re happy enough to be armchair travelers, exploring the world through books, magazines, television and the internet. So instead of going out in search of worlds to photograph, we choose to build our own worlds in a much smaller scale.

 

How do you come up with your ideas? Do you keep a journal? What inspires you?

Lori: I’ve always taken inspiration from my surroundings. I grew up in [...] rural western Kansas. Every season brought with it a new disaster or weather phenomenon. [...] these events brought excitement to a life that by most people's standards was quite dull. I also grew up in the 1970s, when dystopian cinema had it's heyday. I remember being quite young and in the movie theater, completely scared yet excited to watch such movies as Planet of the Apes, Towering Inferno, Airport 76, Earthquake, and Logan's Run. These movies have had a not-too-subtle influence on my photography.

[Kathleen and I ] have lived in New York since 1999. Now the city has become our inspiration. I used get my ideas during the morning commute on the subway ride between Brooklyn and Manhattan. It has to be a combination of still being slightly asleep, the light that hits me when we come out of the tunnel and go over the Manhattan Bridge, and trying to maintain my sense of space while riding in a packed subway car. I kind of just drift off and let my mind wonder. I'm like a tourist in my own city, always looking up at buildings around me. The detail in the architecture is so incredible that I want to recreate it for my work. I have a stack of architecture books next to my desk that I turn to for reference when I'm not walking around the city. I don't keep a journal, but rather a list of potential subjects on my phone. Some ideas I sit on for years, others I like to start immediately. I'm completely fascinated with the apocalypse, the Anthropocene, and our reach into outer space.

Kathleen: I’m also a fan of science fiction, though I came to it later than Lori. The best of it raises questions about how the world and societies function (or don’t function). Or gives you a look at a world you’ve never imagined and it just gets the creative juices stirred up. I’ve also kept a sketchbook for years. I’m not sure it always relates directly, but it’s a valuable way for me to sort my thoughts.

 

Are there any art periods or styles that have influenced you? And how would you describe your own style? 

L: We are greatly influenced by landscape painting, particularly the Hudson River School of Painting which included the artists Thomas Cole, Asher Brown Durand, Frederich Edwin Church, Martin Johnson Heade, and the Romantic painter Casper David Friedrich. Each of these painters possessed characteristics of romanticism and the Sublime and it's ability to create a state of mind and express intense emotions either through beauty or horror. Eighteenth century philosophers such as Burke and Kant wrote of phenomena that could excite sublime feelings when considering natural settings, dangerous situations, the unknown, and anything else that can threaten us or our belief that we live in a friendly and predictable universe that is under our control. The Sublime as a school of thought came to full force in the eighteenth century and was illustrated by these painters' grandiose landscapes.

In our own work, Kathleen and I are interested in depicting danger and disaster, but temper this with a touch of humor. My childhood was spent in a rural part of the United States that is known more for it's natural disasters than anything else. I was born in a small town in western Kansas, and each passing season brought it's own drama, from winter snowstorms, spring floods and tornados to summer insect infestations and drought. Whereas most adults viewed these seasonal disruptions with angst, for a child it was considered euphoric. Downed trees, mud, even grass fires brought excitement to daily, mundane life. [...]  For the series "The City," I have imagined a city of our future, where something either natural or as the result of mankind, has emptied the city of it's human inhabitants. Art museums, Broadway theaters, laundromats and bars no longer function. The walls are deteriorating, the ceilings are falling in, and the structures barely stand; yet Mother Nature is slowly taking them over. These spaces are filled with flora, fauna and insects, reclaiming what was theirs before man's encroachment. I am afraid of what the future holds if we do not change our ways regarding the climate, but at the same time I am fascinated by what a changing world can bring.

 Lori Nix and Kathleen Gerber, presented by Bau-Xi Gallery

Do your pieces have messages for on-lookers? Is there any modern day issues or causes that you try to raise awareness to in your work (In reference to your current work in The City) or is it just to excite the imagination?

K: We do not strictly define what has taken place in the photographs. Clearly, we have a general theme - something catastrophic has happened, mankind is gone, all that is left are empty buildings and abandoned landscapes - but the details as to what actually occurred are purposely left fuzzy. That allows the viewer to bring in their own ideas (or fears) as to what happened. The fact that it is an image of a model and not a real place, can make it easier for viewers to place themselves into the scene and imagine what may have led up to this point.

 

Your work is labor intensive. Talk me through the creative process and techniques that go into making one of your projects.

K: Because we have been working together for 18+ year now, we each have different roles in the creation of the work. Lori is the architect and I am the sculptor. Lori is responsible for hard surfaces such as walls, floors, furniture, buildings etc. I take care of the detail items such as paint finishes, small props, and generally distress everything. If it takes patience, I’m going to do it. If it involves a ruler and a table saw, then it falls to Lori. In “Anatomy Classroom” I sculpted the anatomy models and skulls out of polymer clay. I created all the specimen jars, the posters and the overhead projector. Lori built the cabinets, chairs, laid in the floors and put up the walls. I then distressed and partially destroyed the scene, readying it for the camera. When my part is done, Lori sets up the camera, lights, the background scenery and begins the process of capturing the final image.

A diorama can take anywhere from three to seven months, but a few have taken as long as fifteen months. We work on two and three at a time. Most of the fabrication takes place in our apartment because that where all the power tools, spray booth, paints and supplies are located. When the work is close to being finished, we pack up the parts and pieces of the diorama and transfer it to our outside studio where there’s more space and where we keep the lighting equipment. When we install the scene out here, it’s usually the first time we see it as a whole. And when we see it all together, there’s usually something amiss and we need to add more detail or more background to a scene.

 

What advice would you give a young artist that is just starting out?

L: I took the long path to get to where I am today. I started applying to juried shows, then to non-profit shows. I also applied for programs such as the Artist in the Marketplace through the Bronx Museum of Arts, another artist network. As I built up my resume and got a little press recognition, I started to approach commercial galleries. As I had more shows, my work began to spread. It's very important to have a good website. I can't stress this enough.

Good projects take time to develop. Do not be in a great hurry to start and finish a body of work.

Be sure to have a day job. Surviving on art work alone is a rare feat.

Your friends are your greatest source of information sharing. They are the ones who will help out your career the most with gallery connections, inclusions into exhibitions, and spreading your name around to their friends. I am indebted to a lot of my friends for getting my career to where it is today.

 

Visit Bau-Xi Photo at 350 Dundas Street West to see Lori Nix and Kathleen Gerber's solo exhibition, The Empire, The City. Click here to read about this show, which has been selected as a Featured Exhibition for the annual Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival.

 

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DAVID T. ALEXANDER NEWLY INDUCTED TO THE ROYAL CANADIAN ACADEMY OF ARTS

Bau-Xi Gallery is pleased to announce David T. Alexander's induction into the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts. Alexander joins late artists Alistair Bell, Ted Godwin, and Joseph Plaskett among the ranks of the RCA.

The Royal Canadian Academy of Arts is an honourary organization that celebrates the achievement of excellence and innovation by Canadian artists and designers across the country. The RCA’s membership is comprised of Canada’s most distinguished visual artists and designers who are selected through processes of nomination and election by their peers. 

David T. Alexander is an established, award-winning Canadian artist known for his landscapes and water reflection imagery. Alexander's work can be found in many prominent public, private and corporate collections throughout the world, including the Vancouver Art Gallery, the Museum of London, the University of Toronto, Concordia University in Montreal, the Museum of Art in Iceland, HBC Global Art Collection in New York, and in Embassies in Berlin, Beijing and Krakow. Corporate and private collections include those in major Canadian cities as well as in Dubai, Seoul, New York, Mumbai and Nice, among others. Alexander's signature landscapes and waterscapes represent his significant forty five year history in painting and drawing with a bold palette and gestural application.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

David T. Alexander studied at the Vancouver Art School and at Langara College before graduating with a BFA from Notre Dame University, Nelson, BC. In 1980, he moved to Saskatoon, SK to obtain his Master's degree while researching in New York, London and Paris. In 2006, Alexander was a special guest artist-in-residence at the Morris Graves Foundation in California. He continues to lives and work out of his studio in Lake Country, BC.

VIEW DAVID T. ALEXANDER COLLECTION

ABOUT THE ROYAL CANADIAN ACADEMY OF ARTS

The Royal Canadian Academy of Arts celebrates the achievement of excellence and innovation by Canadian artists and designers across the country. The RCA encourages new generations of artists through their programs and facilitate the exchange of ideas about visual culture for the benefit of everyone. In addition to honouring artists and designers with the RCA distinction, members support the organization as it encourages younger generations of artists and designers through mentorships, scholarships and awards, and ensures the collection of works by living Canadian artists through purchase grants to regional public galleries.


For more information, visit the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts website here.

 

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Artist Q&A: Joshua Jensen-Nagle

For the month of May, Bau-Xi Vancouver is pleased to present an exhibition of Canadian photographer Joshua Jensen-Nagle's acclaimed series Endless Summer. We recently asked the artist about how this ongoing body of work has evolved and what his process looks like behind-the-scenes.

1) This body of work prominently features beach scenes, what inspires your continued exploration of this recurring motif, what qualities do you seek when scouting your next location and what distinguishes the destinations you’ve photographed from one another?

The beach work is inspired from my childhood.  I would spend summers at my grandfather's beach house in Mantoloking, New Jersey and have fond memories jumping waves, surfing with my father and basking in the sun.  Those memories have been the driving force behind the work.   

I try and find interesting locations with dramatic elements.  Every location has its own distinct look and feel.  Whether it's the colour of umbrellas, water and sand, every beach seems to carry its own personality.  If there a reef in the water, or it's a rock versus sand.  All these elements bring together a unique composition.

 

2) Your practice has evolved through a gradual elevation of the lens, from high-angle shots to bird’s-eye view, what prompted these shifts in perspective and how does your approach and relation to subject matter and composition change as you photograph from varying proximity and new vantage points?

I’ve been photographing beaches for nearly twenty years and I was trying to find a new perspective of the subject which led me to aerial work.  I had found myself climbing cliffs with all of my gear, more often, and now working from a helicopter, my approach has changed drastically.  I have a very limited amount of time to get the image, so I coordinate with the pilot on altitude, speed, distance and maneuvers, which makes everything more challenging. 

3) How has technological advancement in digital photography affected your practice over time? Is this rapid change difficult or challenging to keep up with? What about the potential of this medium do you find exciting or daunting?

Technology has allowed me to transition into shooting aerial work.  It is a challenge, but I waited a while until the technology was more advanced and precise.  It’s exciting because of the possibilities it possesses and it is daunting because it is very expensive.  In my early years, I travelled with a few SX-70 Polaroid cameras and a bunch of film in my backpack.  Now, I have multiple high-end digital cameras, lenses, a gyroscope and a 14ft tripod for the locations I can't source a helicopter in.  Customs takes longer travelling internationally with all of this equipment.


4) Having practiced in the field of contemporary photography for many years now, what continues to be the most challenging aspect of the artistic process for you and what surprises you most when you’re shooting?

The most challenging aspect is the travel. From the outside, it looks fantastic, but when you are doing it for work and lugging a ton of gear in and out of countries with different customs requirements, it is very challenging and often stressful.   Flying across the world to photograph is a gamble when you're not sure the weather will cooperate or if the location is what you expected. You never know what you are going to get until you arrive and that can be frustrating.
 

5) Besides photography, what else do you get up to on your travels?

When I’m shooting the winter work I get to snowboard which is nice but I’m riding with gear looking for something to photograph. When shooting the beaches I try and get a swim in at the end of the day but I’m usually on the move a lot. My wife travels with me on a lot of shoots, and we get to enjoy some of the local restaurants after long days, or find some fun spots in between driving from beach to beach each day. In Hawaii, we spotted a 5 mile long sandbar in the middle of the ocean from the helicopter.  I shot it, and the next day weather didn't allow for us to get back up to shoot more work. So instead, we drove around the island, found a park with some kayaks for rent, and kayaked out to the sandbar at low-tide. It's moments like this, that makes it all worth it.  Seeing this sandbar from both perspectives was a highlight of mine for that trip.
  

 

 VIEW JOSHUA JENSEN-NAGLE'S COLLECTION
 

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BAU-XI GALLERY X ART CONSULTANTS & INTERIOR DESIGNERS

Bau-Xi Gallery offers a variety of different services for art consultants and interior designers:

  • Proposals and digital rendering services to assist in envisioning artwork in your clients’ space.
  • In-home viewing and overnight trials of artwork, complimentary delivery and installation with purchase within the Greater Vancouver & Toronto areas
  • For international acquisitions, Bau-Xi Gallery ships and crates all paintings in a special artwork crate, made to fit the canvas or photograph.

Contact us for your next project!

Image Credit: Taya Photography and Geralynne Mitschke Design

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BARBARA COLE AWARDED TWO HONORABLE MENTIONS at INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY COMPETITIONS

Kew at Night, by Barbara Cole, Bau-Xi Gallery

Toronto-based photographer Barbara Cole was awarded Honorable Mentions at two international photography competitions last year. The series Falling Through Time (2016) received an Honorable Mention at the London International Creative Competition, as did Cole's latest series, Figure Painting (2017), at the Tokyo International Foto Awards.  

Kew At Night and Falling Through Time were nominated in the Fashion and Fine Art categories respectively at the International Color Awards

Barbara Cole is an internationally acclaimed Canadian artist who is known for her distinct underwater photography. Cole has exhibited all over the world, and is extensively collected by both public and private institutions. Click here to view Barbara Cole's collection 

Bau-Xi Gallery is thrilled to be exhibiting works by Barbara Cole and Joshua Jensen-Nagle at Photo London 2018. Read more here. 

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Artist Q & A: Andre Petterson



1) How was this body of work conceived?

I’ve been taking pictures like these for years. I’m intrigued by product brands and how their placement has evolved as they subconsciously impact our lives. Branding has become more and more globally blended. Every large city I visit seems to be blanketed with names - once unique, now commonplace, regardless of language or culture.

I’m sure I have boxes of negatives somewhere that could be used in this series. Branding is not new but my recent focus on it is.

2) What surprised you most about the process of photographing this brand image phenomenon all over the world?

I didn’t expect to see a man under an umbrella selling candy bars and soft drinks on the Great Wall of China or a girl on a remote island, accessible only by boat, selling melons and wearing a Dolce and Gabana T-shirt. It’s not so much a surprise to see brands in every society, but it’s always a surprise to see how they appear.


3) Travel is essential to your process. What do you get from traveling that you don't get while you're home in Vancouver?

I get a head full of images, sounds, smells that I don’t get at home. I travel when I know it will be warm wherever I go - life on the street, markets, crowds.  I hear other languages being spoken, I get lost on purpose to feel a sense of vulnerability.

4) What roles do ambiguity and humour play in your practice?

I like feeling vulnerable. I like serendipity. People are almost always nice to me and are very accommodating when I take their picture. Humour comes when there is irony. I look for irony.

 5) 'brand' is your first Bau-Xi exhibition featuring purely photographic works (archival inkjet prints) with predominantly documentary/street subject matter. What is it about this mode of documentary street photography that excites you?

I like the immediacy. I like the quick shot, the “screen grab” feel of walking the streets and seeing a gem and capturing it. Sometimes it’s perfect. When the light is right and I can hold the camera steady, it’s a bonus.


6) What is the historical and cultural significance of ‘Kill Your Idols’? Why did this particular moment in time and space draw you in?

I don’t remember seeing the face of the man in the picture. I was drawn by the back of his shirt which read “Kill Your Idols”. At first I read “Kill Your Dolls”. Later after I researched it, I discovered that Kill Your Idols was a 90s punk band from New York.

What made the photo meaningful was that where the man was standing, on a street in Kigali, Rwanda, was once a street that had been ravaged by genocide. The street is now a peaceful place where people co-exist, doing business in their shops and restaurants. It was all quite surreal. On the walls of buildings were hand-painted signs advertising Samsung and other known brands.



7) Is there another piece in the show that has an interesting or strange backstory?

Every piece in this show has a story, not so much a backstory. I look for irony. The piece titled LG is titled so because LG means large. In this case, a size large t-shirt with the face of Che Guevera boldly printed on the front. Che has become an icon, a larger-than-life figure, and now a brand. More interesting to me was that the t-shirt was on display in a high-end clothing store and priced at $830, with the price tag prominently displayed on the face of the shirt.

8) What is the most challenging part of the artistic process for you?

I’m too curious to stay with one subject. I do come back to things I’ve shelved, sometimes with a new approach.

I’m always striving for growth and change. I don’t like the feeling of being stagnant. I’m not one to say, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”.  I believe that if you don’t push the envelope, it just sits on the desk. It’s a challenge to not get redundant.

9) How has your work developed in the past few years, and how do you see it evolving in the future?

I’ve been mounting exhibitions since 1974. I began with making sculpture and assemblages. I began to embrace two dimensional work in the 80s. Photography was always of interest to me. I liked the process of adding photos to paintings, then the reverse. I began painting directly onto photos. My subject matter has changed many times over the years. The process has been fairly consistent. Recently I began to paint directly onto images that I would then photograph to be applied to a surface. I would then as before, paint onto that photograph. One more step in the process. I liked where that was heading.

The future, who knows? Every time I try to answer that, I’m surprised at the outcome. Hopefully, all that has passed will help the process.

VIEW NEW WORK BY ANDRE PETTERSON

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Andre Petterson Named Editor's Choice by The Georgia Straight

Andre Petterson was named Editor's Choice for "Things To Do" at the 2018 Capture Photography Festival by The Georgia Straight. 

Join us for the opening reception of brand on Saturday, April 14, 2018 from 2-4pm. Exhibition runs from April 14 - 28 at Bau-Xi Vancouver.

CLICK TO READ FULL GEORGIA STRAIGHT ARTICLE

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Pilot-turned-photographer Jeffrey Milstein ‘leans out’ to capture LA and NYC from above

Read Hannah Frishberg's compelling Q&A session with photographer Jeffrey Milstein to learn more about the process behind LANY, his incredible series of aerial photos of Los Angeles and New York. 

Hannah Frishberg, for 6sqft's 'The Urban Lens' series 

January 25, 2018

Jeffrey Milstein, aerial photographs of LA and NYC, Bau-Xi Gallery Milstein at a flying lesson, 1962

Jeffrey Milstein, aerial photographs of LA and NYC, Bau-Xi Gallery
Milstein, 2017

How did you capture these aerial photos?

About three quarters are from a helicopter and about a quarter a small plane.

How does shooting from a small plane compare to shooting from a helicopter?

I started using a small plane because I’m a pilot and I had friends who would fly along. I live in New York, so I started doing the New York airports and then I wanted to do the city. You can’t really fly over New York in a small plane, there are lots of restrictions. I shouldn’t say can’t, you can do it, but you have to be high. When we shot New York we were like a mile and a half up, which gets you a different kind of picture, which is also very cool. It looks like a computer board or something. It’s a much different kind of view. So when I wanted to get close up to buildings, I had to do a helicopter. I started shooting with a helicopter and found I really liked it. It was easier – it goes slower, you can take the door off, get in close to places I couldn’t do with the plane.

Have you considered using a drone?

I haven’t used a drone. I think about it from time to time, but it’s a whole other thing to get involved in. Some people are getting good shots [with drones], and certainly, it would be an option, but I’m pretty happy with what I’m getting the way I’m doing it.

And my pictures are very high resolution because my end is to make really large gallery prints, so to get the kind of camera you need for that you would have to get a really big commercial drone and put a $50,000 camera on it, and that has certain complications, a learning curve, and drones are limited to line of sight and 400 feet, legally.

What first inspired you to take aerial shots of cities?

[I’m] just a kid who grew up in LA loving LA and a private pilot. I used to go out to the airport when I was a kid and I just learned to fly because I loved it. I got my license on my 17th birthday. I have some 8mm film from the ‘60s with some grainy pictures. I wasn’t doing it then as an art photography thing, I just love flying and taking pictures. I have a picture of me getting a lesson when I was 16.

I started taking pictures from the plane, flying around LA, back in 1961. I was just 16 years old. This is really my third career – I became an architect as my first career, and then I started a design company, and that grew into a bigger company, and I was doing designs of cards for myself and for museums. Then I decided, in 2000, I would sell the company and take up photography. So I went back to photographing, first aircrafts because I loved airplanes – and that was a series that was in the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum for about a year. Then, after doing that for about 10 years, I decided I wanted to try shooting down again, from the airplane. Once I started, I found I really enjoyed it. I liked the pictures I was getting. So that’s what I’ve been concentrating on for the last six or seven years.

Were you surprised at how New York turned out to look from above?

A lot of what my work’s about is not just the content and making a very classically balanced picture that’s cropped well and is pleasing in a classical sense. I’m trying to combine an interesting subject with a graphic presentation. I think some of that comes from my architectural training. I like things to line up. I always am finding new things, looking for interesting patterns.

The idea to photograph New York at night came from a dream I had where I was at an art show and the show was props of New York lit up at night, and I woke up and thought wow, that’s a cool idea. So I got the helicopter.

Were there any shots you wanted to take but haven’t yet been able to?

Yeah, sometimes. For example, there’s now a new TFR – temporary flight restriction – around the Trump Tower for 3,000 feet. It affects Times Square. I used to like to go lower around Times Square, and now it’s just a permanent thing – you can’t fly in that area anymore.

Are you at all scared of heights?

If I’m standing at a cliff edge and there’s no railing, I won’t get real close, but not from airplanes. You don’t have a sense of height up there, it’s different, kind of dreamlike. When I’m working I don’t think about it. I rent from a helicopter place in LA and last year one of their helicopters went down with a photographer. In the back of my mind, there’s always some risk in what you’re doing, but this is what I do. You just take that risk and go.

Click here to read the full article 

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Joshua Jensen-Nagle | Artist Q & A

 

 

Bau-Xi Gallery is excited to present Dreams and Journeys, a new series by acclaimed photographer, Joshua Jensen-Nagle. We sat down with the artist to ask him about his latest series and learn about his ever-evolving process.

Bau-Xi Gallery: Ten years later, you are returning to photograph sites from your first architectural series. Tell us about your interest in revisiting these locations.

Joshua Jensen-Nagle: My work has evolved over the years. I wanted to bring a new life to the subject and add a fresh look and feel to the work. Originally, I photographed most of these locations in SX-70 Polaroid. The imagery was soft, blurry--all veiled by a dream-like haze. In revisiting the sites, I used the latest in digital cameras and have created crisp imagery, so that the viewer is able to walk right into the photographs as if they were there themselves. 

BX: Past European images were “smokey” in their finish, as though we viewed the scenes through a fog—what has changed about your interpretation of these places that demands this new, “sharper” image?

JJN: In revisiting my early polaroid series, which evoked a distinctly nostalgic feeling, I wanted to approach this new body of work with a more modern perspective, to parallel working with a digital format camera. Everything is brighter, crisper and fresher. I intentionally over exposed most of the images to give a euphoric feel.

BX: What are the conditions of your ideal shots? 

JJN: The ideal condition for these shoots are midday, when the shadows are minimal. 

BX: This series features iconic sites of worship such as the Pantheon, the Western Wall and the Notre-Dame Cathedral. What do you find inspiring about these sites?

JJN: Each and every site has its own history and attracts people for different reasons. Whether it be to pray, to marvel at its architecture, or even its existence. The human interaction is what interests and inspires me to photograph these sites. 

BX: Which aspects of your practice do you feel have evolved the most noticeably over the last 10 years?

JJN: I would say almost every aspect has evolved in the work that I make today. For me, the most noticeable shift is that I used to be able to travel with a backpack, carrying a few Polaroid cameras and film. I could walk around easily, taking photographs in any location at my own will. Now I have a 14ft tripod, and heavy digital camera gear. I need to secure permits for each location, months in advance. The whole production has become much more intricate. 

Dreams and Journeys will be on view at Bau-Xi Photo (350 Dundas St West, Toronto) from April 14-28. Join us to celebrate the opening of the exhibition on Saturday, April 14 form 2-4pm. 

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