Opening reception September 21, 6 to 8 PM
From September 20th through October 10th at the SoHo Gallery.

Beyond their landscape photography, Amburgery and Harris create abstractions from nature by selecting unusual views of natural forms. In essence these works are small worlds created by the erosion of the elements, and often feature the dance of light and reflection. Harris's work “Saguaro Reflection” is supremely crisp and clean, yet puzzling upon first inspection. Space and orientation are conflated and draw the viewer in for a closer look; the color combination of stone, foliage, and reflected light further enhances the splendor of this work. Towering saguaro cactus and burnt hues of earth are reflected in a pool of water surrounded by cool grays of stone; the work is pleasurable and interesting to explore.

Visual exploration is also required in the audience of photographer, Beth Parin. Her works are visually seductive, incorporating Ansel Adams-style vistas coupled with Surrealist intrigue. “Curtain Lifting” is a wide-format black and white photograph offering a dramatic sense of depth promoted by Parin's vantage point and cunning technique of cropping. On a parched and cracked landscape an anonymous protagonist collects and organizes egg-like forms in front of a soulful backdrop of clouds and mountains. This piece is as evocative as it is mysterious, a visual reminder of mankind's power to act in this world while remaining subject its omnipotent forces.

The elements photographed by Nicole Loverso serve as lyrical metaphor. She photographs a variety of subjects, some natural and some man-made; in each work she assigns her own particular interpretation as indicated by the title. “Memories” is a black and white photograph of a pathway segmented by a ramshackle fence in a nondescript landscape that nearly melts into the horizon. By reducing her concept to its most essential elements Loverso allows for multi-layered readings and a meaningful interaction between the audience and her work.

Australian photographer, Rebecca Devereaux creates iridescent portraits of plants and flowers by zooming in to remove all traces of context in a celebration of the complexity and elegance of natural forms. The resulting abstractions are soothing and otherworldly as background and foreground blend together to dazzle the eye.

Two photographers in the show focus their efforts on urban themes and consumer culture. The absence of contextual information is used to create a sense of intrigue in the works of Mirko Angeli. By selecting scenes of the incongruous elements of urbanity Angeli creates his images by presenting his audience with an insightful blend of the commonplace and the mysterious. Employing black and white photography and severe cropping Angeli promotes a sense of storytelling offering the oft-overlooked scenes of everyday bourgeois life. Erique Crusellas Prieto works with traditional and digital photography to manipulate his images of city life. Prieto's works collectively deal with pop culture, surrealism and social commentary. One is likely to discover photographs featuring rock bands and fighter jets, next to works exploring social isolation and technology.

The photography of T.R. Bishop and Tommaso Leto both center around the inescapable effects of time on ordinary materials. Leto's work “Via Del Seminario Due” is wonderfully tactile and dimensional, rich in its texture and crispness of photographic technique.

For Leto the subject is decaying walls of buildings in Rome whereas Bishop revels in a variety of textures both natural and man-made. Bishop often chooses subjects that contain comparative textures such as a steel hinge contrasted by peeling paint. “Whirlpool”

is closely cropped nearly to the point of abstraction and contains the wonderful contrast between the burnt sienna hues of an oxidized bolt and aged hardwood with hints of deep blue and green. For both artists meaning is imbued solely by the materials being photographed, a stunning visual selection of the struggle between construction and destruction.

Painterly abstraction is the characteristic style of Austrian photographer Christian Egger, but in his process the photograph is just the beginning. Egger's images are starkly reminiscent of the Abstract Expressionists, created by working the surface of the photographs with a variety of tools, his favorite being a surgeon's scalpel. He captures an image of the world, only to destroy it and give birth to his own unique vision. What is left is a record of his movements across the photograph as he scrapes and peels away the representative elements, leaving only color and schema to relay information about his subject. “Childhood days at the sea” is a whirlwind of movement as Egger contrasts airy blues and shadowy grays and blacks. It appears that the sea and sky were scraped away to reveal the abysmal darkness below, as though the memory of this age is being dissolved by time and forgetting.

From September 20 through October 10, 2006, Agora gallery presents Tripping the Light Fantastic in SoHo, 415 West Broadway. An opening reception will be held on Thursday, September 21 from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm.

Opening reception September 21, 6 to 8 PM
From September 20th through October 10th at the SoHo Gallery.