Elements of Photography
Currently on view in the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago‘s third floor gallery is Elements of Photography. Organized by MCA Curatorial Assistant Michael Green, Elements of Photography presents photographic and video works from the MCA Collection with a focus on elemental materials of nature: light and water. Also the fundamental elements of traditional photography, the works included in the exhibition foreground the inherent relationship between the photographic process and the natural world.
With these elements, artists like Hiroshi Sugimoto, Luisa Lambri, Melanie Schiff, Walead Beshty, and Adam Ekberg create ephemeral works that explore the foundation of the photographic image: the play of light through half opened shutters; haunting seascapes reduced to a gradation of elemental material; and luminous circles of light formed by the interplay of sunlight and the camera’s lens. Contributing to the exhibition as the sole video work on view is Ekberg’s a disco Ball in the woods from 2006, depicting just that. Bringing the natural world to near or complete abstraction, these photographs and one video emphasize their own material composition. At the same time, they invite the viewer to reflect on themes inherent to photographic medium, such as the passage of time and the nature of perception.
The exhibition will remain on view through October 4, 2009.
