December 2009
Second Saturday Receptions: December 12, 2009 from 5:00 to 9:00 PM.
Alternative Process
The two bodies of work in this exhibition continues my experience with Nature; its beauty, grounding influence and healing properties.
The Nature Sprit Mandalas are made using photographic imagery from Nature I have captured including those of ravens flying around me on the Mendocino Headlands. According to Native American tradition the Raven is the guardian of both ceremonial magic and healing circles. Raven symbolizes the void - the mystery of that which is not yet formed. The iridescent blue and green that can be seen in the glossy black feathers of the raven represents the constant change of forms and shapes that emerge from the vast blackness of the void.
From the Indian language Sanskrit meaning sacred circle, Mandalas are gateways to our divinity, the God within us. Mandalas represent the cosmos metaphysically or symbolically and represent centered wholeness. They are microcosms of the universe from the human perspective and inspired by energy inherent in the Earth and Nature. The Mandala can be used during meditation as an object for focusing attention. The symmetry of the designs tends to draw the attention towards their center.
The Nature Spirit Landscapes began when I was working with parts of landscapes I had captured. When overlapped in the right way, faces that were human and/or animal in appearance become obvious to the observer. I became fascinated with the entities that looked out at me as I produced these images. Ironically, I tried this process with man-made objects and found that nothing of a human or animal nature appeared.
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November 2009
Exhibition: Strong Women, Winged Creatures and Fools
Artist: Ron Reeder
Exhibit Run: November 1 thru November 30, 2009
Opening Night Second Saturday Receptions: November 14, 2009 from 5:00 to 9:00 PM.
As a retired biologist, Ron Reeder determined to remake himself into a photographer/artist. He has come to enthusiastically embrace both old-style film technology as well as the latest in digital wizardry. Reeder is the originator of the use of the Quadtone RIP for making digital negatives and a co-author of "Digital Negatives" published by Focal Press. Currently his printing is split about equally between the palladium process and the gum bichromate process.
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October 2009
Exhibition: "... above us only sky ..."
Artist: Group Show
Exhibit Run: October 1 thru October 31, 2009
Second Saturday Receptions: October 10, 2009 from 5:00 to 9:00 PM.
All of the prints in this group exhibition show the sky in some way. It may be stormy or peaceful, colorful or black and white. The one commonality is the juxtaposition with the earth.
September 2009
Second Saturday Receptions: September 12, 2009 from 5:00 to 9:00 PM.
Beyond the Trail
Edward Mendes
Much of the world is missed while living life. The world around us speaks everyday but all-to-often we don’t hear it; too busy with our own lives we fly by at the speed of life and often miss the beauty that is waiting right in front of our eyes. The world around us is immense, filled with overwhelming sights and sensatory stimuli. When we do slow down for a moment it’s often just to take in the environment as a whole, leaving the intimacies of the world unnoticed or forgotten. I enjoy focusing on these intimacies of the larger world; whether it is the soft coastal light bathing a seaside pasture or the architectural and angular subtleties produced by shapes and light, these easily overlooked moments are what draw the attention of my lens. I grew up and continue to live on my family’s farm; and doing so has installed a great appreciation for agriculture and hence nature in general, something that I believe shows in my work. As a boy, intimate landscapes and beautiful architectural details were everywhere. The farm was a place where nature and man worked together and depended upon one another. My work today continues with this influence as a tie that binds nature and man together.
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August 2009
Second Saturday Receptions: August 8, 2009 from 5:00 to 9:00 PM.
Mitch Dobrowner
Landscapes are living eco systems and environments. They have existed well before, and will hopefully be here way beyond the time we are here. When taking photographs, time and space seem hard for me to measure. Whenever I shoot a ‘quality’ image, I know it. At those moments things are quiet, seem simple again – and I obtain a respect and reverence for the world that is hard to communicate through words. For me those moments happen when the exterior environment and my interior world combine. Hopefully the images presented on this website help communicate what is visualized during those times. My work today is produced using a digital workflow. All darkroom work is performed in a dry darkroom with minimal dodging and burning. Prints are produced using pigment inks on archival quality 100% cotton rag paper.
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July 2009
Photographers: Group Exhibition
Exhibit Run: July 1 thru July 31, 2009
Opening Night Second Saturday Receptions: July 11, 2009 from 5:00 to 9:00 PM.
Just Add Water
During the month of July, the Appel Gallery bathes its visitors with a group exhibition of liquid points of view. From Elizabeth Carmel's homage to surrealist René Magritte with a depiction of floating rocks and Mitch Dobrowner's other-worldly seminal oceans to Carl Berg's psychological Fountain Child and Jeff Zaruba's convergence of human and dolphin. For the traditionalists among us, more conservative interpretations will also be represented.
Image Credit
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Reflection by Elizabeth Carmel
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Sunrise, Klamath by Mitch Dobrowner
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Fountain Child by Carl Berg
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Woman and Dolphin by Jeff Zaruba
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June 2009
Photographers: Valerie Gates, Joy Goldkind, Hope Harris, Catherine Lau, Janine Mapurunga, Carmine Salazar, and Megan Wagner
Exhibit Run: June 1 thru June 30, 2009
Opening Night Second Saturday Receptions: June 13, 2009 from 5:00 to 9:00 PM.
Women by Women
May 2009
Second Saturday Receptions: May 9, 2009 from 5:00 to 9:00 PM.
Live Music will be provide by the Jazz Minds, a premiere Sacramento Jazz group
Jeff Zaruba
It's not just about taking pictures. It's about wearing many hats. Its also about showing respect to everyone involved. Clients and subjects of course, but also assistants, desk clerks, skycaps, bellmen, housekeepers, and maintenance engineers.
"Most of my photos have a strong graphic element. I love the interplay of shapes, forms, shadows, reflections and light. I appreciate patina, and the sensibility of a culture that embraces it. Interestingly, I find that my current work resembles the graphite pencil drawings I did in art school more than 30 years ago.”
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May 2009 Exhibition Gallery
April 2009
Second Saturday Receptions: April 11, 2009 from 5:00 to 9:00 PM.
Michael Watson
As a child I would dream of climbing high peaks and having incredible adventures in some far off corner of the world. Early on, climbing came naturally to me and I began to bring camera along as a way to document climbs and friends and soon found myself torn between two competing passions: the desire to climb and photograph.
After completing my masters in mathematics my desire to photograph could no longer be held at bay. Quickly I found that my style of photography was better suited to a larger camera so I bought a medium format and shortly after, traded that in for a large format 5x4 metal field camera. The contemplative nature of the view camera and the high degree of perspective control offered suited me perfectly.
In retrospect, many of my adventures have constituted more than most would willingly chose to endure, but my reward has been in the beauty I've found and in the photographs I have brought back. Many times I have not been the first person to visit some remote area but my sense of discovery is quite powerful none-the-less. While the intent was and is to communicate with the viewer, my photography is both introspective and highly personal.
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March 2009
Second Saturday Receptions: March 14, 2009 from 5:00 to 9:00 PM.
Joe Profita
Sight is the sense I value the most. I am drawn to quiet, beautiful places where I can escape life's complexities. At the risk of trying to sound overly 'significant', I find myself looking for small portions of a scene that are perfect, what I interpret as a window to God. I began photographing in color as a means of simply remembering these scenes, a visual record. I saw Edward Weston prints in the early 1970�fs and my interest in the medium changed. His monochrome images captured these perfect visual moments flawlessly. Since then I have worked primarily with silver, and more recently with iron and palladium materials. I think I am finally getting at the root of what I 'see'. My photographs are simply window views of something that has touched me...a bit of God?
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February 2009
Second Saturday Receptions: February 14, 2009 from 5:00 to 9:00 PM.
Raven's Journey
Kurt Edward Fishback
The Raven has kindly shared its energy with me to be used in these new images. They are products of personal spiritual practice and it is my honor to share the outcome. According to Heike Owusu in her book Symbols of Native America, "The raven is regarded as the bearer of magic. It is the messenger from the great void beyond time and space, and the ether where everything originated and to where everything will return. When a ceremony is held, the raven is always present to transport the energy of the message to its destiny. The raven's help makes it possible to heal people from a distance. Those who have used black magic have good reason to fear the raven, because it throws back negative energies to where they originated. The raven can help you to change your outlook and give you the courage to enter into the great secret. Look at its iridescent feathers and how they continuously change shape and color. See into the emptiness to receive answers to your questions." Three of the images are presented on a canvas substrate with willow hangers top and bottom. Willow was used by Native Americans for many utilitarian purposes and has medicinal properties as the source of common aspirin. I used willow to honor the Native American wisdom that has helped to guide me in making these new images.
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Publication: Art in Residence
Kurt Fishback's Interview Video
Kurt Fishback's interview about Black & White Portraits Video
An Artistic Vision Quest: The New Work of Kurt Edward Fishback
January 2009
Second Saturday Receptions: January 10, 2009 from 5:00 to 9:00 PM.
The Bodytext Project
Darren Saravis
The Bodytext Project involves using projected text slides as a light source rather than conventional lighting. I have developed various techniques to enable the text to render with clarity on bare skin. There have been many technical difficulties to rendering the text in the photograph, with months spent of trial and error just modifying one variable at a time until it worked. The model always writes the projected text. The effect on the viewer is a dissociation from the voyeuristic “model-as object of desire”- since the model’s own thoughts are projected onto her, she is viewed with layers of meaning.
This series is an intersection of two themes in my own life: 1) an ongoing interest in the creative application of digital technology and 2) a fascination with popular media and our perception. I have an ongoing interest in combining nature/primitive technology with contemporary technology. My work as an industrial designer keeps me in touch with sophisticated technology to transform hand sculptures into perfect mathematically defined forms. The popular media exhibits the female form for its own capitalistic interests, often fueled by high technology. The ubiquitous female image is automatically gauged as an object of desire and trophy, devoid of deeper content and animal basis. The Bodytext Project has given me an opportunity to explore these tensions- why do we associate the nude with glamour and envy, and how can we view the nude as one of nature's creations?
The model’s reaction to this project has really surprised me. Much of the subject matter that they’ve brought in has been dark and deeply personal. All of the models were very animated after the photography sessions and offered their thoughts and opinions about the work- so much so that I believe the models became more emotionally involved at some level than I was. "Where are we lead by these images that unite the sexual and the textual? What are we to make of these competing layers of reality? A piece of paper (or a computer screen) becomes the canvas for the image – the image is of a woman who has herself become a canvas for a further image. The images of the body/text project present word and form equitably. The model wears a self-written projected text tattoo. The multiple layers of meaning emanate from the model's intimate persona; body form, thought and text. The landscape of the photograph, the subject matter, is the woman herself." (Rachel Maize, 2007)
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