© Akihiho Miyoshi at Out of Site
Seattle isn't commonly perceived as the epicenter for cutting edge or blue chip art. Its more frequent associations (re: clichés) hang in generalizations about foggy weather (btw, it's beautiful and sunny AF right now, thanks), the growing tech boom and overzealous Seahawks fans. So last year when the Seattle Art Fair, and Out Of Sight came on the scene, not many knew what to expect -- it had been long since anyone could remember the presence of art fairs on the level of the New York City and Miami "elite." Eagerly embracing their return this weekend, we spent some time at both fairs, grabbing highlights (and bios) of our favorite photography-based work from each. Out Of Site will be up through the end of the month, and The Seattle Art Fair will be on view through Sunday, August 7th -- if you're in town, find a way to get a VIP pass and check them out.
Eirik Johnson @ Seattle Art Fair / G Gibson Gallery
Eirik Johnson's series We Were Here, captures youthful carvings in tree trunks in urban wild zones throughout the United States. Johnson has exhibited his work at spaces including the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago, the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, and the Aperture Foundation in New York. His second monograph Sawdust Mountain was published by Aperture in 2009. His first book Borderlands was published by Twin Palms Press in 2005. Read more about his work HERE.
detail from Eirik Johnson's Green Eyes Hang Man, 2015
Eirik Johnson: Green Eyes Hang Man, 2015
Kenyatta Hinkle @ Seattle Art Fair / Jenkins Johnson Gallery
Kenyatta A.C. Hinkle is an interdisciplinary visual artist, writer and performer. Her practice fluctuates between collaborations and participatory projects with alternative gallery spaces within various communities to projects that are intimate and based upon her private experiences in relationship to historical events and contexts. A term that has become a mantra for her practice is the "Historical Present," as she examines the residue of history and how it affects our contemporary world perspective. Hinkle received her MFA in Art & Critical Studies Creative Writing from CalArts and BFA in Painting from the Maryland Institute College of Art.
The Givers, 2013 © Kenyatta AC Hinkle
Akihiho Miyoshi @ Out of Sight
Akihiho Miyoshi is a Portland based artist who makes some of the most insanely exciting work about the intersection of art and technology. His work has been exhibited widely including Portland, New York, Los Angeles, Rochester, Pittsburgh, and Toronto. He was named the International Award Winner of Fellowship 12 at The Silver Eye Center for Photography in Pittsburgh PA, and the finalist for the Betty Bowen Award from the Seattle Art Museum in 2012 and Aperture Portfolio Prize in 2013. Miyoshi received a Hallie Ford Fellowship in 2012.
© Akihiho Miyoshi
Ron Jude @ Seattle Art Fair, courtesy of Gallery Luisotti
Ron Jude has been one of our favorite photo based artists for years. In his 2015 book Lago, Jude returns to the California desert of his early childhood as if a detective in search of clues to his own identity. In a book of 54 photographs made between 2011 and 2014, he attempts to reconcile the vagaries of memory (and the uncertainty of looking) with our need to make narrative sense of things.
Ron Jude
Una Blue @ Out Of SIte
Una Blue describes herself as holding a "fascination with the sublime, and transience, as well as the intensity and variety of emotion that can be evoked through color." She's an Interaction Designer by day, but spends her spare time practicing photography, video, audio, and other various forms of art. View more of her work HERE
Cerulean Moon, 2016 © Una Blue
Paul Anthony Smith @ Seattle Art Fair // Zieher Smith Gallery
NYC based Paul Anthony Smith picks emulsified surfaces on photographic prints -- a technique he's named "picotage" for powerful and hallucinogenic results. His work has been making its way into some big collections lately, and is not to be missed.
PR 8 by Paul Anthony Smith. 2016, Unique picotage on pigment print 14 x 11 - courtesy of Zieher Smith Gallery
Doug Newman @ Out of Site
Doug Newman makes refreshing intimate photographs in the snapshot traditions of Nan Goldin, Ryan McGinley, Tim Barber and Wolfgang Tilmans. We were a bit tired of this kind of work when everyone was doing it in the mid 2000's, but Newman's unique eye makes it exciting again. Read an interview with him HERE.
Doug Newman
Joe Rudko @ Out of Sight AND Seattle Art Fair // PDX Contemporary
Joe Rudko has rapidly become one of the emerging artists to watch in the Northwest, exhibiting at a remarkable pace and to consistent, frequent praise. He has been in nearly thirty group shows and nine solo shows in Portland, Seattle and New York, prominently featured in the Seattle Art Fair and PULSE Miami Beach, selected as one of eleven artists and innovators on City Arts’ 2016 Future List, created the cover art for Death Cab for Cutie’s latest album, and been published in print, online and in journals. Read more about his work HERE
Joe Rudko @ Out Of Sight
Detail shot from Joe Rudko's "Eyes" @ Seattle Art Fair / PDX Contemporary
Max Cleary @ Out of Sight
Max Cleary is a visual artist that works in photography, video, and sculpture. He was born in Honolulu, HI and currently lives and works in Seattle, where he received his BFA in Photomedia from the University of Washington in 2014. His work combines photography, sculpture and lots of wood and pigment board. See even more of his work HERE.
Arigata Meiwaku, 2016 © Max Cleary
Barbara Kasten @ Seattle Art Fair // Gallery Luisotti
Barbara Kasten influenced every single contemporary still life photographer emerging over the past decade. Those crazy plays with form and color? Barbara Kasten. Every still life photographer Humble has shown in some form or another? Barbara Kasten. Photography is Magic? On some level - Barbara Kasten. Read a great interview VICE's former photography editor Matthew Leifheit did with her HERE.
Construct XIV, 1981, Barbara Kasten
Author: Jon Feinstein