Panopticon Gallery – Boston’s gem…
Two years ago Jason Landry took a leap, realized a long-time dream and landed on his feet: he purchased Panopticon Gallery in Boston, and hasn’t looked back since. Before this, he worked at the Photographic Resource Center at Boston University, and that has resulted in a huge plus for his new business: connections. But PRC isn’t the only place he got connected. The ABOUT feature on the gallery website states he earned a B.F.A in Photography and an M.F.A in Visual Arts, both from institutions in the Boston area.
Slight of Man, 2009©Michael Donnor. All Rights Reserved. (Included in the Processes and Dreams exhibit Jan/Feb. 2012)
So, why do I care? Because connections obviously aren’t the only thing Jason brings to his gallery ownership. Every time I get an update from the gallery, I instinctively re-check to make sure it’s not from a NYC gallery. This guy has an eye. He knows how to pick ‘em. Panopticon Gallery brings to Boston an important and genuine venue for seeing the real thing in photography and when I got the most recent update, I decided to write about the gallery to make sure everyone in NE and beyond knows it’s there.
Forty years ago, Tony Decaneas decided to open a gallery room at his photo imaging lab, Panopticon. Eventually, he moved the gallery to inside the Hotel Commonwealth in Boston. He sold the lab in 2007 and the gallery in 2010 to Jason. As the ABOUT feature says, it was one of the oldest photography galleries in the country.
Tinkerbelle, 2010©Jane Tuckerman. All Rights Reserved. (Included in “Child’s Play”, currently on view through May 28)
Under Jason Landry’s wing, Panopticon has blown into the future as a photography gallery to be taken very seriously. He features work by artists with high international visibility as well as emerging artists, often in an adjacent space called The Private Room. His first show this year “Processes and Dreams” (Jan/Feb) looked spectacular and included gelatin silver prints, photogravures, daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, tintypes, cyanotypes, encaustic works, and archival pigment prints.
Currently on view through May 28 is “Child’s Play“ – contemporary works by five artists. Coming up for June/July is “Planes, Trains and Automobiles” and it looks like it will continues Panopticon’s winning streak.
Flying Untied, 2011©Keith Johnson. All Rights Reserved. (Included in the upcoming show “Planes, Trains and Automobiles”, opening May 30 through July 9, 2012)
If you can’t get to Boston every six weeks to see these shows in person, sign up on the gallery site’s Home page for Panopticon’s e-mail updates so you can at least pretend you’re there as you scroll through some of the images on view. You may find the call to action impossible to ignore.
