Castell Photography

Lens on the Land now online!

Thanks so much to everyone who came out to the opening reception for Lens on the Land last night — it was a lovely evening! For those of you who missed it, or if you simply want a second look, all of the work from all 4 exhibiting artists is now on our web site under the Exhibition portfolio. 

Take a few minutes to look the work over, and we hope you will come in and visit us to see the work in person. We’re very excited to present this exhibition to you, it’s such a varied and talented group of photographers, all with unique perspectives on the gorgeous landscapes within our great state…

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From the Artist: Neil Loughlin

Neil Loughlin is 1 of 4 artists currently exhibiting at Castell Photography as a part of our invitational group exhibition, Lens on the Land: A Collection of North Carolinian Landscapes. We will be doing a feature on all 4 of the artists, look out for the others next week!

The artist states:

“With this new series, ‘We’ve Met Once Before’, I wanted to explore the beauty and mystery of the Old North State, but approach it in a way where I would be painting with imagery as though a painter with a brush. 

Each image is initially captured on a positive film with the use of a Holgaroid camera. The film is then scanned in and digitally enhanced, or altered by using elements from different scans.The work is then printed using archival paper and inks. The images are unique and original in form and process, yet each feels as if it were an obscure memory created in the mind of the viewer themselves.”

Stay tuned for features on the other 3 Lens on the Land artists next week! To see all of Neil’s images featured in the Lens on the Land exhibition visit our website!

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Opening Reception + Art Walk TONIGHT!

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Join us for TONIGHT for the opening of our newest exhibition, Double Vision, a series of work from New Jersey based artist Annie Hogan. The opening reception for Double Vision will coincide with the Asheville Downtown Gallery Association’s June and will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. Light hors d’oeuvres, wine, and beer will be provided. We hope to see you this evening!

The images in this series serve as an outsider’s investigation of slavery’s legacy of injustice and inequality through an examination of the traditional southern plantation home and the lesser structures which surround it. Hogan explores the incongruent relationship between the grand plantation homes and the smaller, meager homes and cabins which surround them. 






The artist states: “As an outsider to the US, I question what lies beneath the grandeur and elegance of the plantation house, which is a powerful architectural and social symbol in the South. Along with looking at the main house I look at the grounds and the buildings that exist alongside it.” Hogan creates a joined narrative of the two structures by overlaying the images on top of one another in many of the larger scale works. Additionally, Hogan has created cyanotypes, a photographic printing process that gives a cyan-blue print, which serve as unique portraits of the larger homes themselves. 

Hogan, a native of Australia, is currently a professor at The Mason Gross School of Arts at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New 
Jersey. She received her Bachelor of Photography at Griffith University in Brisbane, Australia, and acquired her MFA in Photography from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Her work is in permanent collections at The Art Institute of Chicago, East Carolina University Joyner Library Collection, The National Gallery of Australia, as well as many other private and public collections both in the US and abroad.





“Her choice to depict such a heavy subject matter in a soft, beautiful, almost delicate manner is an unexpected surprise which results in a truly stunning juxtaposition. These works are unique, they are conceptual in nature, but quite simply — they are strikingly beautiful.” says gallery director Heidi Gruner.

We hope to see you this evening! If you aren’t able to make it tonight, all work will be on our web site on Saturday. 

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From the Artist: Lauren Semivan

There’s only a few weeks left to see the captivating staged works from Lauren Semivan, here’s some words from the artist herself:

“The staged photograph exists as a document of a preconceived, imagined event. It can be compared to a scientific apparatus, utilizing both control and the unknown. My ongoing body of work Observatory combines drawing, an archive of objects, and the human presence as a narrative tool.

In scientific disciplines, a line is classified as an event. Something as primitive as a scrawl on a surface reveals an aggregate of events, intersecting and changing course. Drawings made on the seamless back- drop describe an emotional space.Science is inherently experiential, as is art making. Knowing and feeling are not separate, and the whole of the environment can be used as a pedagogic instrument. Obser- vatory elegantly draws upon a tension that exists between irrational and physical worlds.

Within each image, ghosts of previous drawings create a sense of time suspended, evoking gesture, atmo- sphere and memory. Photographs allow me to access the extraordinary, to keep a record of dreams, and to employ the uses of the unknown.

My interest in photography is interdisciplinary and synergistic, informed by the written word, painting, drawing, sculpture, and the raw material of human experience. All images are made using an early 20th century 8x10” view camera, then large format negatives are scanned and printed without digital manipulation.”

We are thrilled to have the work of Lauren Semivan in the gallery, and will surely be sad to see these stunning and unique works leave. Come check them out one last time at next weekends art walk, or during our regular business hours (wednesday-friday12-6, saturday 12-7). All of her work can also be seen on our web site. 

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ADGA Art Walk: This Friday!

Last chance to see work from Lauren Semivan and Gary Geboy!

Join us this Friday evening for Asheville Downtown Gallery Associations October Art Walk! This weekend is your last opportunity to come and see the works of August and September artists Lauren Semivan and Gary Geboy during our extended art walk hours! We will be open until 8 pm, we hope to see you there!




Out of Four by Lauren Semivan







Deer Jaw by Gary Geboy

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Manipulated weekend! Just days away…

Manipulated weekend is now just around the corner! We’ve got a crazy week ahead of us at Castell Photography: we’ll be kicking of the week by concocting/finalizing our very specialty cocktails with our event bartender (Ali Wainright of the Rankin Vault), then onto hanging the very broad variety of work from the 32 participating artists, welcoming our juror to Asheville, and finalizing all of those important last minute details! We’ve been preparing for this weekend for months and can’t wait for all of the final details to come together, and to enjoy the photo related events with everyone!

Opening night! The opening reception for Manipulated will be a very special event held on Friday, October 14th, from 6-8 pm. Castell Photography is thrilled and honored to involve and bring to Asheville a juror of such caliber and relevance to contemporary photography as Ariel Shanberg is. This weekend of photographic festivities is not only a triumph for the gallery and the chosen artists, but also for the artistic community of Asheville and Western North Carolina.   

The juror for Manipulated, Ariel Shanberg, is the executive director of The Center for Photography at Woodstock (CPW). CPW is a nonprofit, artist-centered organization supporting artists working in photography and related media and engaging audiences through opportunities in creation, education, and presentation. In addition, he has served as a panelist for the the 2011 New York Photo Festival Awards, the National Endowment for the Arts, Media Alliance’s Media Action Grant, Light Works’ Regional Photographers’ Grant, and continually serves as a reviewer at prestigious national and international creative conferences and festivals, as well as an authoritative speaker at universities such as  Bucknell and Rutgers University. 

Shanberg will be travelling from New York to attend the opening, which will include specialty cocktails concocted and served by Rankin Vault bartender Ali Wainright, and live music from a local DJ.  50 works by 32 artists were chosen out of nearly 400 entries which were carefully selected by the esteemed juror. The 50 accepted works represent a wide range of photographic processes and unique hand manipulation from prints and/or negatives which have been painted or drawn on, scratched, collaged, burned, embroidered, woven, and much more. A Juror’s Choice Award will be given as well as Director’s Choice Award, and work from all chosen entries will be exhibited at Castell Photography for 6 weeks and on the Castell Photography web site for one year. These awards will be announced on the night of the exhibition, and will be online the following day. 

In addition to our opening reception even on Friday the 14th, the day after the opening reception on Saturday the 15th of October the gallery will be hosting portfolio reviews with Shanberg and 9 local and regional artists. Following the reviews there will be a social hour with Shanberg where attendees can ask questions, see the work of the 9 reviewees, and connect with both Shanberg and the participating artists. The social hour, held at 5pm on the 15th, is open to the public. 

It is the gallery’s hope that the Asheville community will embrace this unique opportunity and welcome Shanberg to our town by attending the Friday evening reception, as well as joining us on Saturday for the social hour — this very exciting weekend is not one to be missed! 

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Manipulated Weekend: Thanks for joining us!

Endless thanks to all of you who came out to Manipulated opening night last weekend, participated in the show, took part in the portfolio reviews, etc during our exciting Manipulated weekend! It’s quite gratifying to see all 52 unique hand altered works hanging together, to enjoy the work with all of the attendees + our juror, all while sipping on our very own specialty cocktails and enjoying our DJ!  For us, this show is an exciting opportunity to illustrate the broad range of photography, and to show a mix of work that really challenges what one can do and where one can go with the photographic medium. 

from juror Ariel Shanberg’s statement:

“This exhibition features 32 image-makers whose interventions, gestures, and process, collectively create visual tension though their respective hands-on manipulation which are both process based in in many cases conceptually-driven. They employ methods that span the history of the photographic medium including innovative adaptions of today’s digital technologies, as well as the antiquarian processes of photography’s past. They use manipulation to reclaim imagery that has lost its provenance only to imbue it with a newly placed narrative. They open portals to new realms by ripping, drawing, removing, and adding pathways to imaginary realms. They are alchemists, mashing up the present through the lens of bygone eras.”

 

image below: juror Ariel Shanberg chats with Diana Stoll (Aperture magazine senior editor), Dennis Kiel (cheif curator at The Light Factory), and guests!

All of the works can be seen on our web site under the exhibition portfolio — many of the works in the show are one of a kind, and often look even more exquisite in person! The work will be hanging at the gallery through November 23rd, if you’re in the area we certainly hope you’ll come see the exhibition. If not, simply email(info@castellphotography.com) or call(828.255.1188) with any inquiries…

    

Image below: Check out our fantastic bartender mixing 1 of our 2 specialty drinks: The Shutterspeed and Depth of Field!

Saturday, following the opening reception event, we also hosted 9 portfolio reviews with a range of photo based artists with Shanberg . It was quite exciting for us to offer this opportunity to artists working in and around western North Carolina and beyond! 

Last but not least, we were also quite fortunate to get a good bit of local press about the event, endless thanks to the Mountain Xpress and Asheville Citizen Times! Simply click on each image below to read the full articles…

                  

                   

Again, all of the pieces which are a part of the exhibition can be seen on our web site—take a look!

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Juror’s choice award winner, Stacey Page

 

When Stacey Page’s work arrived at the gallery we were all a bit taken aback. These labored little treasures were so strange, so charming, so captivating. Juror Ariel Shanberg was also quite captured by them upon seeing them in person, and chose Page as the recipient of our current Manipluated exhibition’s Juror’s Choice award.

Artist Stacey Page takes found portrait photographs and adds embroidery to the discarded images, creating cunning narratives. The artist states, “The original photograph desires a specific response. There are reoccurring hints of crowns, masks, mutations or developments. Themes and imagery based on status, avatar, identity, fashion, evolution, with the relationships and conflicts of humankind.”  

When asked whether she was trying to add or hide something in the images, she simply said ”It is a resurrection, perhaps allowing a little fame to a discarded identity.”

Enjoy our full interview with the artist, below:

Castell Photography: Where are you from, and what is your training and educational background?

Stacey Page: I live in Gillsville, GA.  I have some college where I studied painting.

CP: Have you always been creative? Or rather, when did you discover that you were artistically inclined? 

SP: Yes, I don’t remember when I discovered I was.  Perhaps when I discovered my dedication is when I borrowed my mother’s wood carving knives and ended up hiding a jab in the thigh. 

CP: Where do the names come from? Do you dream these characters up or just assign them names at random? 

SP: The names are given. I would describe the process similar to a christening.

CP: How do you mean? Do you create personas for these anonymous characters as you make the work?  

SP: It is a rebirth or a resurrection of a discarded identity and naturally I want to name the creation as the creator. Yes the work takes on a persona as the relationship develops. 

CP: Now, the actual photographs: where do you acquire them? Are you drawn to the ones that you choose for a particular reason? 

SP: The photographs come from auctions or antique stores or online.  The process of choosing has evolved to be more specific as far as technical aspects, but basically it is the start of a relationship so naturally I am looking for someone attractive in some way.

CP: For you, what is the relationship between the embroidery and the photograph? Basically, why are you embroidering these photographs?

SP: I had developed a strong respect for photography being on the other side of the lens for the performance side. I worked as an artist’s model for some years, developing different characters to portray. The embroidery and photograph compliment each other, and they are most successful at saying exactly what I want to say. There are reoccurring discussions within my work on status, avatar, identity, fashion, evolution, with the relationships and conflicts of humankind. At a time I found it hard to return to oils and painting, and I had to find a new medium. Basically, I enjoy the medium.  It is soft with a grid-like puzzle. The photograph is entertaining and easier than starting with something white and blank.

CP: What is it that leads you to make some more decorative, and others more narrative? Do you simply respond to some images more than others?

SP: I have a tendency to overdo some of my work, so maybe that is what you are reading into. It is a part of me that I try to accept and I take full responsibility for it.

CP: How would classify yourself as an artist? We really love that you are creating works that are photo-based, but that you’re not, in fact, a photographer. 

SP: I wouldn’t, I figure someone will place me in a group.

CP: We see that you have some pieces on your web site which are strictly embroidery — do you see yourself always working with embroidery in some capacity, and do you anticipate that you will consistently utilize appropriated imagery? 

SP: Those works are from my painting converting to embroidery, substituting paint and brush for thread and needle.  Always is such a commitment that I don’t make.  I am interested in learning and adapting.

CP: Would you consider yourself an outsider artist? Do you feel like you have an advantage or a disadvantage from not being classically trained?   

SP: I am isolated, but I would not consider myself as an outsider artist, because I use the web and conventional ways of displaying my work. I don’t think a true outsider would even know that they were such and pile work in a closet. I see myself as perhaps an insider and very aware of skill and development of that skill in order to become more specific about what I am communicating. As far as being classically trained, I do feel disadvantaged when I see a beautiful manipulation of thread or fabric, such as some surface corded quilting or a simple embroidered eyelet. I try to take the time to learn and develop the skill, and you can see this progress in the work. Since the embroidery on the photograph is very different from embroidering onto fabric, there is a lot of time devoted to stretching the medium through experimentation as there are no books on the medium. I feel advantaged in this way- that there are no rules to follow except for the rules I create for myself.

 CP: Any additional thoughts or details that you’d like to include? 

SP: It amazes me, the amount of discarded photographs or even boxes of lives.  It really gives me a different perspective of life, that is most involved in the self. and I am glad photographs are turning digital.

All of the works from our Manipulated exhibition can be seen on our web site under the exhibition portfolio. Keep checking back for a feature on our Director’s Choice Award winner, Timothy Pakron. 

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Director’s choice award winner, Timothy Pakron

Gallery Director Heidi Gruner states:

“When Timothy Parkon’s work was submitted to our Manipulated exhibition, I was instantly excited. The tactile process, the mysterious images, the stunning simplicity, I was completely taken with them. I was then thrilled to see them selected by juror Ariel Shanberg and included in the exhibition, and very happy for the opportunity to award these unique works the Director’s Choice Award. Pakron is a young artist who I will definitely be keeping my eye on…”

Enjoy our full interview with the artist, below:

Castell Photography: Who are the people you photograph? 

Timothy Pakron: The people I photograph are usually my close friends and family.  I have done commissions for people where they wanted a portrait of a certain person. For my first major body of work, the portraits were representing the 12 disciples and christ at the last supper. The end result was an installation of portraits that represented a modern day last supper. For my second body of work, I wanted it to be more personal, so I photographed my mother and twin sister. The portraits represented the struggle of addiction that my twin sister has and how it has affected my mother and me. The act of documenting them and dedicating the work to that particular issue was therapeutic to me and helped me deal with the emotion of it all.

CP: Do you have a certain method of photographing with the knowledge that a majority of the image won’t be present in the final piece?

TP: Yes. I am very focused on capturing the eyes in a significant way. Sometimes, my portraits are successful without revealing the eyes, but most of the time they are. I would say the most important part of the photograph is the eyes and mouth. For a successful portrait, the darks of the mouth and the nose, and sometimes the ear and hair, are very important in giving the viewer an idea of the shape of a head. The physical painting of the portrait is just as important, if not more important that the photograph itself. It is funny how the smallest amount of darkness on a blank canvas can reveal the idea of a portrait. That applies to my darkroom paintings as well.

CP: What are you trying to reveal (and not reveal) about your sitter? Can you give us a specific example? 

TP: It really depends on the model and the body of work it is within. For example, the portraits of my sister and mother, the technique lent itself very well in the sense that the downward dripping reminds people of tears. The goal of the work was to represent an exhaustion and a sense of despair that my whole family was experiencing. And I feel as the work was successful in evoking that.  

CP: Your bio states that you are an oil painter as well, how do your working methods in painting and in film photography vary and how are they similar?

TP: They are similar in the sense that they are both predominately my exploration in portraiture.  Ever since I was a child, I was very much drawn to portraits. Studying art and contemporary artists, it is very obvious that my favorite artists are figurative artists that focus on the portrait. Most of my photography is black and white. What I love about oil painting is that I get to use color, which is so much fun. That is probably the biggest difference. My paintings also allows me to paint photographs that aren’t necessarily mine. When I see certain photographs, sometimes mine, sometimes from the internet or elsewhere, they scream, “Paint me!” So I do.

CP:  Do your work in photography and painting simultaneously, or do you switch back and forth, taking a break from one medium at a time? 

TP: Well, before I moved to New York, I would work simultaneously. Now a days, I have been focusing more on my film work because I can digitalize it. I definitely am in a photography mood some days and a painting mood the others. It is so nice to not be boxed in to one category and take breaks from each mediums. And it is nice to take a break from it all sometimes. I am a firm believer in not making art is making art.

CP: How does your painting inform your photography and vice versa? 

TP: It’s funny that you say that because during school, I struggled with choosing painting or photography. I have realized now that I don’t have to choose. My paintings in school directly related my darkroom practice. And what I love about my drip series is that I had to use the developer as a medium. Similar to watercolor on paper, dektol was my pigment. And for a previous show I did in Charleston, SC, I exhibited 8 gelatin silver prints and a large scale oil painting that was inspired by my darkroom technique. On my newer paintings, I started with color photographs and covered areas of the photograph with oil paint, so almost the opposite of what I was doing in the darkroom. So it was a full circle.  Photography inspired my paintings. Paintings inspired my darkroom practice. Darkroom practice inspired my new paintings. New paintings inspired my new direction…and it keeps going. So short answer. Yes and Yes.

CP: Your bio states that you studied studio art, what medium where you first drawn to?

TP: Photography at first. As a teenager I always had the camera in my hand. During high school, I began doing graphic design and when I got to college I realized I wanted to be an artist. Then I took a painting class and fell in love.

CP: Who are your artistic influences?

TP: Stephen Gammell, the children’s author.  He did the illustrations for Scary Stories. Those images still haunt me today and I absolutely love them. 

CP: What’s next? What are you currently working on?

TP: Currently I am mustering up some juices to start some new photographical color paintings, which will be soon. Since moving to New York in May, I have been without a studio, so I have been focusing on my color film work. I shoot with an old blad and I love it. My new series are portraits of people that I think are interesting. And landscapes. Boy is it fun to just shoot what I want without a reason.   

All of the works from our Manipulated exhibition can be seen on our web site under the exhibition portfolio. The work will remain on view through the end of the week, please direct all inquiries to info@castellphotography.com or heidi@castellphotography.com, or by phone: 828.255.1188. 

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From the Artist: Roger Ricco

Endless thanks to everyone who joined us last weekend for our first reception of the year! It was also Asheville Downtown Gallery Association’s first bi-monthly art walk of 2012, and we were thrilled to celebrate with you, re open our doors, and open this very exciting exhibit. Spring Salon features the work of Roger Ricco and Justine Reyes, both artists living and working out of New York. The exhibition can be seen in it’s entirety on our web site, and the show will hang through May 26th. 

We were fortunate enough to host one of the artists, Roger Ricco. Ricco is an accomplished photographer, painter, and gallery owner. The gallery, co owned with Frank Maresca, is called Ricco Maresca and is located in New York’s Chelsea gallery district. Ricco Maresca features new and classic works by outsider/self-taught and contemporary artists. 

We hosted an artists talk with Ricco last Saturday and attendees were able to view the exhibition alongside the artist, hear about his inspiration and working process, and ask any questions. It was quite a lovely afternoon! Please enjoy a taste of his artist statement + a few of his works…

For the past ten years I have been working on several series of photographs that take place in table top sets .

These various sets are essentially the backgrounds for what takes place within. For example, the series named “Winterworks” is shot in a set made of thick, frosted glass. This set allows me to light the subjects not only from in front but to cause a variety of light sources to play through the translucent set itself and thus electric light, strobe as well as day light create the effects that I desire in each image.

The work seen here for the first time at the Castell Gallery is certainly among the most ephemeral of my photo work.

All of the photographs in this exhibition are also created within table top sets and light it self is the subject: a match being lit. a thin wire reflecting light , or a turquoise light illuminating the set.

Other piece are simply quiet contemplations of a small object: a black cube in space, a ink stained piece of folded paper.

It has often been said that my photographic work is very “painterly”. I would agree with this as I have been a painter as well though out my career and the paintings and the photographs have much in common both in subject matter and in my concern with seeing the simple object and transforming it. Thus any thing from a stick to a streak of light are my subjects. My task is to make them visible anew.

Again, all of the images from Spring Salon can be viewed on our web site under the Current Exhibition portfolio. Ricco’s works are priced at $2,800, framed, $2,400, print only — please contact the gallery for additional sales information or if the works are of interest. Stay tuned for a post featuring Spring Salon artist Justine Reyes next week!

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