On and Off the Midway at CMCA…
Bruce Brown has done his usual schtick: curated a very comprehensive show that includes a ton of artists - 25 to be exact. (Disclosure: two artists in this exhibit, Liv Kristin Robinson and David Brooks Stess, are represented by VoxPhotographs).
On and Off the Midway, through June 13 at CMCA (Center for Maine Contemporary Art) in Rockport, demonstrates why we need artists: everyone has such a different take on things and if some of us can make this a visual statement, it broadens the horizons of us all to see it their way.
Let’s take Tom Birtwistle for example (did you see his giant canning jars at the Falmouth photography show A Picture’s Worth? – they are spectacular and Tom tells me he does all his own printing. I’m really impressed). Tom had a gorgeous print (Linden’s favorite image in the show) of the Exhibition Hall, Piscataquis Fair,
AND a cool grouping of car detail shots, printed 5″x5″. Huh? Well, it IS the same photographer, and if you get on Tom’s site you’ll have a few more schizophrenic moments – he’s impossible to categorize, but that’s what makes his idea of what’s important so interesting.
Above images © Thomas Birtwistle
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Dee Peppe’s four images were some of my favorites.Here’s the one that was on the exhibit invitation, but I can’t find any more of Dee’s images anywhere online.Dee…where are you?
Tickets, Union Fair, Maine, 1995/2003 © Dee Peppe
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Ilya Askinazi is also in the Falmouth “A Picture’s Worth” show – his images of Bangor showing there are pretty amazing and he’s a master darkroom printer. I wasn’t as crazy about the images in the Midway show, but would recommend you take a tour NOW through his website. His urban shots, his fog shots…wow. There’s some seriously masterful work on that site.
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Liv Kristin Robinson started out in the early 80′s taking black and white images and then hand-painting them. She’s a truly gifted photographer who is now making hay out of digital technology as witnessed by this featured image in the Midway show:
Old Orchard Beach, #6 © Liv Kristin Robinson
She has an extensive series of images of Maine’s industrial waterfronts – bold and gutsy work that no one else is capturing at all in Maine.
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René Braun is another favorite photographer of mine – he has an archive of work that will blow your socks off – edgy, haunting, raw – what an eye this photographer has. He just sent me links to his tatoo images and his boxing images. Amazing. His images in this show are softer and you’ll like them. But for more Braun, take a look at his website: www.widereach.net.
Fair Lull, Cumberland Fair, 2007 © René Braun
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GO. You’ll spend one of the most enjoyable hours of your week wandering through 26 different Maine fairs and festivals and hey, it’s almost summer.
