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Reception for the Artists: Saturday, September 22, 2-5pm
Artist Talk: Saturday, September 22, 1-2pm (RSVP as seating is limited)
The gallery’s third exhibition with Alison Rossiter concentrates on her found
photograms, which exist as latent images until they are processed using darkroom
chemistry. Working under the safelight, while in the developer, abstract images appear on
surfaces of the various types of photo papers that she has collected from hundreds of
sources; some more than 100 years older than the expiration date printed on their
packages. For Rossiter, a select few of those processed produce aesthetically pleasing
results. The images formed are the result of the organic components of the gelatin silver
papers decaying over time. Some are reminiscent of 20th Century art practice while
others are arrangements of fingerprints of long deceased photographers, making this
project one about archeology as well as art.
Her simple working style – buying previously opened packages of old darkroom papers
and processing them without exposing them to light – belie the sophistication of these
images. Indeed, it is her mastery of photographic technique that coaxes the richly dense
blacks, the impressive grey tones, as well as the clean whites that produces such exquisite
results. Finally, it is also her ability to recognize excellence in a handful of successes that
makes this work an exceptional homage to the medium of photography.
Born Jackson, Mississippi, 1953, Rossiter has worked with the materials and processes of
light sensitive, gelatin silver based photography since 1970. The darkroom is essential to
her work process, whether it involves the traditional printing of negatives, drawing with
flash lights, or making photograms. In 2003, she immersed herself into the field of
photographic conservation as a volunteer at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New
York, which led to a profound appreciation of the history of photographic materials.
For over three decades, she has been exhibited by many major institutions around the
world and her work has been collected by important private and public institutions such
as: National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa; The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles; The
Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco;
Nelson/Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City; The Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto;
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia; Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver; amongst
others.
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