Stiff Lace: A Photographic Celebration
Work by: Kevin Faison, Janissa Hamilton, and Christina Jeffers
24 January, 2009
7:00 PM – 1:00 Am
Rumors 414 N Harrison St.
Richmond, Va 23220
As I walked into Rumors, a very trendy fashion forward clothing boutique in Richmond, the first artist displaying their work was Kevin Faison. Faison chose to display his photography in a very unique manner, by hanging individual photographs by clothing hangers of various styles and sizes. Although this was a very eye catching and unique way of displaying art work, it made for a cluttered arraignment, leaving the viewers focused more on the display and less on the actual art work. Faison’s treatment of 4x6 images, laying flat on a table top, was also a distracting feature among his display. Although Faison’s display was somewhat distracting the images were a wide variety of interesting digitally manipulated prints, consisting of both lively colored and black and white prints. Faison had a variety of subject matter creating a diverse range of talent. Like many other viewers of Faison’s work I was drawn towards his images of people. The intensity of the models and the very powerful homoerotic subject mater of some of the images deserved more attention than other photos in the grouping. I look forward to seeing Faison’s future work. I hope to see more work with human models.
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The next artist Janissa Hamilton, displayed her work along the back wall of Rumors. Unfortunately Hamilton’s area purposeful or not was lacking illumination, making the viewing experience very challenging for the images not displayed in a light box. The images not illuminated were arranged in a variety of antique looking frames, creating a unique viewing experience. After the frames drew the viewer in the images were somewhat confusing not cohesively structured, styled, or subjectively arranged in a recognizable way, leaving the viewer very perplexed as to what they were looking at. The images in the light boxes however were very much, enhanced by the environment created by the dark interior space provided. The four large illuminated images depicting a very surreal and obviously manipulated human figure were displayed in antique window frames again creating a nostalgic ambiance. The illuminated images showing spatial depth, and a considerable amount of effort to create were the highlight of Hamilton’s exhibit. It will be interesting to see what direction Hamilton takes her photography to next.
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Upstairs of Rumors was Christina Jeffers work. Jeffers displayed her large fome-core photographs among packing boxes. The boxes created a mildly distracting arrangement; however, they also gave a three-dimensional texture to the surface of the exhibit. The large size of Jeffers images created some problems not usually encountered, as well. The tight space forced the viewer to get closer than desirable, the photos displayed needed more room for the viewer to step back and fully take in the entirely of the image. Because Jeffers arranged the images within cluttered boxes, the photographs that were most successful were of the least clutter, yet it was very clever to see boxes recurring in two of the more chaotic images. Jeffers took great care in the tonality of the images. The natural fleshiness of the skin was shown through the images very nicely. The cohesiveness of the series and individuality of the images presented was very interesting, I will be curious to see more of Jeffers future work.
___________________________________________
Over all, Stiff Lace was a very intriguing grouping of photographs, created by the multifaceted talents of the three artist, Kevin Faison, Janissa Hamilton, and Christina Jeffers.
Work by: Kevin Faison, Janissa Hamilton, and Christina Jeffers
24 January, 2009
7:00 PM – 1:00 Am
Rumors 414 N Harrison St.
Richmond, Va 23220
As I walked into Rumors, a very trendy fashion forward clothing boutique in Richmond, the first artist displaying their work was Kevin Faison. Faison chose to display his photography in a very unique manner, by hanging individual photographs by clothing hangers of various styles and sizes. Although this was a very eye catching and unique way of displaying art work, it made for a cluttered arraignment, leaving the viewers focused more on the display and less on the actual art work. Faison’s treatment of 4x6 images, laying flat on a table top, was also a distracting feature among his display. Although Faison’s display was somewhat distracting the images were a wide variety of interesting digitally manipulated prints, consisting of both lively colored and black and white prints. Faison had a variety of subject matter creating a diverse range of talent. Like many other viewers of Faison’s work I was drawn towards his images of people. The intensity of the models and the very powerful homoerotic subject mater of some of the images deserved more attention than other photos in the grouping. I look forward to seeing Faison’s future work. I hope to see more work with human models.
_________________________________________
The next artist Janissa Hamilton, displayed her work along the back wall of Rumors. Unfortunately Hamilton’s area purposeful or not was lacking illumination, making the viewing experience very challenging for the images not displayed in a light box. The images not illuminated were arranged in a variety of antique looking frames, creating a unique viewing experience. After the frames drew the viewer in the images were somewhat confusing not cohesively structured, styled, or subjectively arranged in a recognizable way, leaving the viewer very perplexed as to what they were looking at. The images in the light boxes however were very much, enhanced by the environment created by the dark interior space provided. The four large illuminated images depicting a very surreal and obviously manipulated human figure were displayed in antique window frames again creating a nostalgic ambiance. The illuminated images showing spatial depth, and a considerable amount of effort to create were the highlight of Hamilton’s exhibit. It will be interesting to see what direction Hamilton takes her photography to next.
____________________________________________
Upstairs of Rumors was Christina Jeffers work. Jeffers displayed her large fome-core photographs among packing boxes. The boxes created a mildly distracting arrangement; however, they also gave a three-dimensional texture to the surface of the exhibit. The large size of Jeffers images created some problems not usually encountered, as well. The tight space forced the viewer to get closer than desirable, the photos displayed needed more room for the viewer to step back and fully take in the entirely of the image. Because Jeffers arranged the images within cluttered boxes, the photographs that were most successful were of the least clutter, yet it was very clever to see boxes recurring in two of the more chaotic images. Jeffers took great care in the tonality of the images. The natural fleshiness of the skin was shown through the images very nicely. The cohesiveness of the series and individuality of the images presented was very interesting, I will be curious to see more of Jeffers future work.
___________________________________________
Over all, Stiff Lace was a very intriguing grouping of photographs, created by the multifaceted talents of the three artist, Kevin Faison, Janissa Hamilton, and Christina Jeffers.
