Blank Wall Gallery, 55 Fokionos Negri St., Athens, Greece, 12/7 – 12/18/2018.
Reception: December 7, 6 – 8 pm.
I am happy to announce that I will be included in a Blank Wall Gallery exhibition on the topic of winter, in Athens Greece.
The image below, In Your Face #04236, will be shown in the exhibition.
LITM Gallery, 140 Newark Avenue, Jersey City, NJ, (201) 536-5557; 11/6 – 12/2/2018.
Reception: November 6, 7 – 8 pm.
I will be exhibiting five of my ‘Street Abstractions’ images at LITM Restaurant/Gallery in Jersey City for the month of November. This is a group show on the topic of ‘Look Down’.
Installation image © Beth Bentley, 2018.
Solo Show
Soho Photo Gallery, 15 White Street, NYC. 1/3 – 2/3/2018.
Reception: FRIDAY, January 5 (Rescheduled), 6 – 8 pm.
I began taking pictures of the ground in the messy winter of 2015, when we had frequent snow and ice. Because I was looking down a lot so as not to fall, I started documenting abstract shapes I would find along the way. These ‘ground pictures’ have been continued more recently on my Instagram feed (@susanbowenfoto); the upcoming January exhibit is of the images that started me on this path.
Artist Statement: “‘Street Abstractions’ is an exploration of the abstract shapes I find on the streets and sidewalks of New York City, mostly in the neighborhood where I live. Often created by leaks from garbage bags left at the curb, dropped liquids, residue of winter street salt, and the like, most people would see only ugliness… if they notice at all. I like to find beauty in these unexpected places.
The look of an abstract painting is what I’m trying to evoke. They vary as to the degree to which they have identifiable details, but it is the abstract graphic quality I’m looking for in these images.
Though my neighborhood is getting more gentrified (and destroyed) by the second… it is still not the cleanest of neighborhoods. I have found this to be of great benefit to me, as there is always something new to find spilled, dropped, or dragged on the sidewalks in just in the handful of blocks I typically wander.”
Soho Photo Gallery, 15 White Street, NYC. 11/8 – 12/2/2017.
Reception: Tuesday, November 7, 6 – 8 pm.
Join Soho Photo for an exhibit of handmade books, digital publications, photo card sets, and other photographic objects beyond the traditional matted and framed print hanging on the wall. I will be exhibiting 11 accordion folded prints.
From my artist statement: “These hand-made accordion folded prints are images from my ‘Holgarama’ series. The folding allows for longer imagery than I typically exhibit, as they are each made from a full roll of medium format film, instead of the usual half of a roll. The pictures were shot using a $20 plastic camera (that is no longer made) called the Holga. The long overlapping images are created by only partially advancing the film between exposures – the overlapping occurs in the film itself.”
Each image is about 4 feet wide if forced flat. Fully folded they fit into a clear cigarette box sized package, with a ‘Lucky Strike’ inspired label (just for fun). They can be displayed fanned out on end; the zig-zag creates a piece about 24 inches in width.
Below are the available images:
Soho Photo Gallery, 15 White Street, NYC. 7/5 – 7/22/2017.
Reception: Thursday, July 6, 6 – 8 pm.
Group show in the upstairs gallery. I will be exhibiting four of my Instagram images.
Show Statement: “New York City can be divided into familiar areas and for our first, location-based group show we are asking for images made on the streets and shoreline of Manhattan below Canal Street. TriBeCa is our immediate neighborhood, but there is also a wealth of material around Battery Park City, the Financial District, South Street Seaport and the Courts. People, places, small details and large buildings: the only restriction is that the original image was made Below Canal and that the final print speaks to the show’s title.”
Also on exhibit downstairs is Soho Photo’s annual National Competition.
Solo Show
Soho Photo Gallery, 15 White Street, NYC, 6/7 – 7/1/2017.
Reception: Tuesday, June 6, 6 – 8 pm.
Gallery-wide show on the theme of the New York City character. My show, ‘In Your Face’, is 15 images shot with me walking nearly head-on into my subjects as they approach me. Find me in the upstairs left-hand gallery.
Also exhibiting are Norman Borden, Neil Lawner, Carol Julien, and Anthony Almeida… Come join us for this fun show.
Artist Statement: “The energy of the city, the density of crowds, is what inspires my various ‘people walking’ photographs. For this series, I am in motion as well as my subjects. I am as much as I dare walking head-on into my subjects as they approach me. I use a normal or slightly wide-angle lens, so I am only several feet away from my subjects at the “moment of impact”. For some reason I find this exhilarating.
It is no accident that I mostly shoot these pictures in Times Square or on Canal Street… as these are among the most pedestrian dense areas of the city. Crossing intersections is the most fruitful, as people are (rightfully) focusing on getting to the other side and maybe not so focused on their cell phones (or on the strange woman coming towards them). I am responding to people as moving shapes, as abstractions. I may be capturing the liveliness of humanity, but I do not want any picture to be “about the person”. I want my people to be anonymous and to represent us all. So if anyone were to stop me, I’d explain that the picture I just took of them really isn’t about them at all.”
Photo by Norman Borden
Davis Orton Gallery, 114 Warren St., Hudson, NY. 5/20 – 6/18/2017.
Reception: Saturday, May 20, 5 – 7 pm.
Four-person show; I’m one of the two Showcase exhibitors. Richard Sandler, William Hellermann, Susan Bowen, and Peter Donahoe. I am exhibiting 12 pieces from the New York Walking series.
Davis Orton Gallery is a charming gallery in the artsy small town of Hudson in upstate New York.
From my statement: “This group of images were shot at busy street corners in New York City, as I like to record the swirl of activity around me. The vantage point is low; I am sitting on the ground with a small tripod and rapidly capturing people as they walk by.”
Soho Photo Gallery, 15 White Street, NYC, 212-226-8571, 5/19-5/22/2017.
Reception: Friday, May 19, 6 – 8 pm.
I will be participating in Soho Photo’s fourth Affordable Photography Fair, Friday May 19 – Monday May 22, 2017.
All prints in the bins at the rear of the gallery will be priced at $100 each (with sizes up to 16×20). Prints will be matted.
Included are pictures from my “New York Walking” series and a selection of my “Holgarama” prints.
Hours for the Fair are:
Friday: 1pm – 8pm
Saturday: 1pm – 6pm
Sunday: 1pm – 6pm
Monday: 1pm – 6pm
