Opening reception:
Thursday, June 23, 2005
6:00 to 8:00 p.m.
ClampArt is pleased to announce "What I did on my summer vacation. . . : Autobiographical photography and the snapshot aesthetic," including artworks by Larry Clark, Armand Agresti, Nan Goldin, Jack Pierson, Walter Pfeiffer, Michael Meads, Wolfgang Tillmans, Richard Billingham, JoJo Whilden, Michael Schmelling, Disco, and Ryan McGinley.
The energy, spontaneity, and immediacy of the snapshot have long been embraced by photographers. The advent of small, handheld, 35mm cameras inspired the production of grainy, blurred images characterized by tilted horizons and erratic framing that aptly seemed to represent the speed and chaos of modern life. While many artists' work can be lumped into the broad category of the "snapshot aesthetic," it was not until the 1960s that a distinctive new style of subjective documentary photography began to emerge. Most notably, Larry Clark's searingly personal photographs of his drug-shooting peers in Tulsa, Oklahoma, first published in book format in 1971, have now come to be regarded as among the most influential photographic works of the last quarter of the 20th century, setting the stage for later diaristic projects by the likes of Nan Goldin, Wolfgang Tillmans, and most recently, Ryan McGinley. Through the presentation of photographs by both familiar and lesser known artists of the last several decades, ClampArt's exhibition traces this stylistic and conceptual lineage.
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