AARON SMITH

I saw AARON SMITH's work this morning and it went strait to my heart. The texture but mostly his way of playing with colors is absolutely brilliant and clever. And his subjects choices too; the references to Greek art and to Abraham Lincoln looking folks... things of the past treated in such a modern way... that too is very clever.

Does it show that I like it?

☁ AARON SMITH

MICHAEL COSTELLO

MICHAEL COSTELLO /// GODS AND MONSTER

"No object is so ugly that, under certain conditions...it will not look beautiful, no object is so beautiful,under certain conditions, it will look ugly" Oscar Wilde

“Gods and Monsters” are influenced by the writings of Umberto Eco “The History of Beauty” and “On Ugliness”. The work speaks of the marginalization of the individual in a society based on esthetic. It is part of our cultural heritage, both philosophical and theological to acquaint all that is good with beauty and also to acquaint all that is beautiful with levels of whiteness. Due to the medieval concept that God is clarity and thus visualized as white, the cult of the celluloid goddess with her palette of paleness becomes the angel of sex.
These paintings are an unbiased presentation of those who would be called “Gods and Monsters.” Masks, wigs, wax lips and prosthetics hide the identity of the individual and at the same time recall to us the fashion of the modern world to break beauty down into a collection of body parts.
As gods or monsters, these beings are meant to inspire empathy for our universal humanness whether or not they horrify or titillate.

☁ MICHAEL COSTELLO

SARAH SUDHOFF

SARAH SUDHOFF /// At the Hour of Our Death

Death, like birth, is part of a process. However, the processes of death –- the events leading up to the end of life, the moment of one’s last breath, and the aftermath of death — are often shielded from view. Today in Western society most families leave to a complete stranger the responsibility of preparing a loved one’s body for its final resting place. Traditional mourning practices, which allowed for the creation of Victorian hair jewelry or other memento mori items, have fallen out of fashion. Now the stain of death is quickly removed, and the scene where a death occurs is cleaned and normalized. As Phillipe Aries writes, “Society no longer observes a pause; the disappearance of an individual no longer affects its continuity”. The modern means of dealing with death promises to shield mourners from the most graphic aspects of death, yet the emotional and psychological impact of such loss lingers long after any physical evidence of this process has been erased.

At the age of seventeen I lost a friend to suicide. While visiting his home the day after the tragic news I witnessed a clean up crew steam cleaning the carpet in his bedroom. All physical traces of the past 24 hours had vanished.

At the Hour of Our Death takes as its starting point Aries’s observation that “death’s invisibility enhances its terror”. These large-scale color photographs capture and fully illuminate swatches of bedding, carpet and upholstery marked with the signs of the passing of human life. The fabrics which are first removed by a trauma scene clean up crew, are relocated to a warehouse before being incinerated. It is in the warehouse that I photograph these fragments stained with bodily fluids. I tack each swatch to the wall and use the crew’s floodlights to illuminate the scene. The images are my attempt to slow the moments before and after death to a single frame, to allow what is generally invisible to become visible, and to engage with a process from which we have become disconnected.


☁ SARAH SUDHOFF
☁ SARAH SUDHOFF @ FEATURE SHOOT

NEIL KRUG

NEIL KRUG
Director + Photographer

Neil Krug's photography and directorial video work often touches on a rough, vintage, psychedelic feel. In other work, he captures the simple beauty of landscapes as well as the female form.

His body of work is a range of music videos & photography for such bands as My Chemical Romance, Ratatat, Devendra Banhart, Ladytron, Tame Impala, Canyons, Sea Wolf, The Pierces, Dri, and White Flight.

Krug, in a creative collaboration with Joni (Harbeck) Alexander, also founded the lauded project PULP ART BOOK wherein his photography and commerical work can be seen in limited edition prints, books, and films.

Krug has exhibited work in Germany, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and plans to release his upcoming feature film INVISIBLE PYRAMID in 2011.

☁ NEIL KRUG

FLORIAN KULHMANN

☁ FLORIAN KULHMANN
☁ MASSIVE STRUCTURAL OVERLOAD