It was cool in the galleries, especially with root beer floats made with Joe’s BBQ homemade root beer.
Over forty members showed their work in this year’s No Strangers exhibition, and over one-hundred visitors joined us for the opening reception to see the art made by our member community.
Every year Art Intersection puts out a call for work to our Sponsor level and above members to have their work curated into the No Strangers exhibition. This year there are about one-hundred pieces of art in this exhibition.
Below are images from the opening reception. We tried to catch all of the members, but we were too slow or they were camera shy.
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It was a warm and busy night at Art Intersection for the opening of All Art Arizona. Almost 300 people joined us and met many of the exhibiting artists. Here are some images from that wonderful evening.
Be sure to visit the exhibition page to see the All Art Arizona online gallery. All Art Arizona 2017
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The seventh annual Emerge exhibition opened with many of the photographers present to talk about themselves and their work. These are all student photographers enrolled in Arizona high schools, home schools, community colleges, art schools, and universities across the state. Clare Benson, a local photographer, interdisciplinary artist and educator, juried this year’s show.
This link takes you to see the Emerge online gallery. Emerge
As part of our mission to support emerging artists, these student photographers have the opportunity to show their work in theArt Intersection North and South Galleries.
In addition to the exhibition, prizes were awarded for Best in Show, sponsored by Through Each Others Eyes, Best of Post-High School, sponsored by Tempe Camera, and Best of High School, sponsored by local patrons Kelly and Dennis Collins. INFOCUS, the Photography Support Group of the Phoenix Art Museum, will award a Student Membership to each of the three winners.
About the Juror – Clare Benson is a photographer and interdisciplinary artist from the United States. Her work has been exhibited and screened throughout the US and internationally. Benson earned her MFA at University of Arizona in Tucson, and her BFA at Central Michigan University.
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If you have ever worked in a printing studio, you are well-acquainted with the smell of printmaking ink; we were happy to break out the aprons and gloves and enjoy that intoxicating aroma of creativity for a full weekend!
During our Photogravure Workshop with Karen Hymer, our participants got to transform their images with ink into handmade prints. Where traditional copper plate photogravure is time-consuming and requires toxic chemicals, the modern SolarPlate method is much more simple, using only sunlight and water! After exposing their SolarPlate etching plates to UV light under a digitally-printed positive transparency of their image, participants “developed” away in water the areas of their plates not hardened by the sun. Once dry, the plates were ready to be inked and run through our 1870’s etching press! Our students learned how to test for proper exposure of their plates, and they even got to customize their ink and paper choices for printing.
The Open Studio that followed the workshop brought the return of several Art Intersection students of past workshops, reuniting friends in a fun, creative atmosphere. We love hosting Open Studios!
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Our Introduction to Hand-Bookbinding for Photographers with Jace Graf was a stitch! Over the course of two days, each of our fourteen participants made a hand-sewn, multiple signature book and a tri-fold portfolio case for prints or documents. Instructor Jace Graf of Cloverleaf Studio in Austin, Tx led the class through the glueing, cutting, sewing, and folding, all while giving expert advice on how to design their own handmade books in the future. We look forward to seeing what our participants make with this hand-crafted approach to self-publishing!
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During our Daguerreotype Workshop with Jerry Spagnoli our participants got to try their hand at the first photographic process!
Daguerreotype is a means of making a photograph that involves sensitizing a highly polished silver plate with iodine vapors, exposing it in a large-format camera, developing and fixing the image, and applying a gilded coating to preserve the plate. Our participants performed all these steps assisted by their instructor. Spagnoli explained the various chemical reactions that took place throughout the process, leading to a better understanding of how light-sensitive materials operate. Through learning how to make Daguerreotypes, our workshop participants gained a historical perspective of how early photographs were made and brought that knowledge into the 21st century by making contemporary images.
Polishing the plate – we broke out the power tools for this workshop!
Sensitizing the plate
Metering for good exposure
Clearing the plate
Checking the plate in good lighting
Gilding the plate – in lieu of the traditional ring stand, we improvised with an old spring!
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We were so grateful to have Santa Fe-based artist Jennifer Schlesinger here with us two weeks ago to share her beautiful artwork and knowledge of the albumen process!
Jennifer gave a lecture on Friday evening, during which she discussed both her personal history with albumen as well as a brief history of the medium. She also shared unframed prints of hers, allowed each audience member to view first-hand the magic of albumen prints.
By Saturday morning, our Albumen Workshop was in full swing! After a more detailed print-viewing, including the standards for good print quality and common errors, the class got to work making their own batch of albumen.
This simple concoction of egg whites, acetic acid, distilled water and ammonium chloride forms a protein-packed binder that prevents the light-sensitive silver nitrate from soaking into the base paper, as well as providing a unique pearl sheen to the surface of the print. The egg whites must be separated from the yolks and strained several times through cheesecloth, which breaks down the stringy protein structures.
Once combined with the other necessary ingredients, the albumen must be beaten well to further denature the egg whites and ensure that everything is thoroughly mixed. The new albumen mixture must sit for at least two weeks to cure before use and never expires, although the rotten-egg smell that increases as it ages may render it unusable.
The albumen mixture is beaten to “soft peaks”
When the albumen has cured (in our workshop we used a pre-made batch), a flotation method is used to coat it onto paper for printing. Although this coating method requires great delicacy and skill, all of our participants did a wonderful job coating their papers!
Coated sheets left to dry overnight
Class participants Barbara, Shari, and Cesar gather ’round the light table to help Chris select a negative to use
On Sunday, the participants coated their albumen sheets with silver nitrate, again using the floatation method. Once coated with silver nitrate the paper is light-sensitive, so this step and all processing were executed under red safelights. The coated papers dried, and the participants printed in our three UV exposure units through digital negatives of their images that had been produced by Art Intersection prior to the workshop. The exposed sheets were run through a series of processing trays, washed, toned with selenium, and washed again.
Jennifer helps her students assess their exposure times while printing
Jennifer and Tom compare two prints made at different exposures
Participants tone and wash their finished prints
Led by the expert help of Jennifer Schlesinger, our participants made fantastic, handmade prints!
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Last week we held a Portfolio Sharing in the Art Intersection Galleries! Participating in a Portfolio Sharing event is a benefit of all member levels, and we hold about three per year. This pleasant mid-day event was attended by many familiar Art Intersection characters, but we were pleased to welcome some new faces as well. Participating members had the opportunity to share the work they’re currently making, receive feedback from a public audience and answer questions about their art.
Emily Matyas shows prints from her Coming to America series
Fred Ullrich shares contact-sized inkjet prints of his 5×7 landscape and studio work
Cesar Laure shares fascinating images of far-away objects and people amid the clouds
Visitors admire David Emitt Adams’ brand-new piece from his Power series
Brad Armstrong discusses his 8×10 silver gelatin landscapes
Peter Schrager shares the silver gelatin prints he’s made in the Photographic Arts Lab over the past week
It was fun for us to see what everyone’s been up to! Thanks to all that attended. Look out for our next Portfolio Sharing event in March 2017. If you are not currently a member and would like to participate, sign up here.
