Maggie Harrsen is a photographer who lives between New York and Australia. I am personally am a huge fan of both her photography and her spirit, and her recent venture into moving images challenges my New York brain to slow to the pace of basic and fundamental nature. These four short videos, filmed on Long Island, seem simple at first, but look to teach us to maintain clarity of perception and to strengthen the cognition of the actinic processes and life currents.
A study of the elements fire and water, here as light (fire) and rain (water) on glass. Fire essence is warm and dry, its energy is expansive. Water essence is cool and moist, its energy is stillness. Water calms fire and together they create balance, reflecting the simplest parts of earth.
Filmed in Amagansett, NY
Born in Vilnius, Lithuania, Julija Goyd is an artist who now lives and works in Berlin. As a language, she uses various media tools, including video, sculpture and photography. Her work reflects, analyzes and draws attention to the search for identity through staged documentation and narratives. She is interested in finding stop motion moments where the reality of what one should believe, how one should behave, and how one should look in order to avoid unpopularity is becoming a pattern for imagination, creativity, sensuality and freedom. This selection of images are from three separate series entitled, respectively, Women in Water, Black & White and Naked Nylon.
Lola Montes Schnabel is an artist living in New York. These five paintings make up her show, Love Before Intimacy, currently on view at The Hole, 312 Bowery, NYC, though February 4.
Andrew Guenther is an American artist who lives in New York. Born and raised in Wheaton, Illinois, his work deals with the concepts of the evolution of the self, life and spirituality, and the evolution of culture. Guenther’s work will appear in a group show entitled MIE: A Portrait by 35 Artists at Freight and Volume, curated by Nick Lawrence and Mie Iwatsuki. The opening will be on Saturday, January 21 from 6 – 8 p.m.
Zeljko Jerman (1949 – 2006) was an artist and critic who worked within photography but who sought to uncover the medium’s potential through alternative methodology. A member of the Grupa Sestorice Autora (The Group of Six Authors) he also involved himself in community engagement works throughout the 70’s and early 80’s.
New York-based painter Halsey Hathaway currently has a show up at StoreFront Bushwick. Through a process of painting and staining he creates veils of color and shapes floating and overlapping. Transitions between colors can sometimes pack a punch and at other times be a quiet close up whisper.
Craigie Horsfield is a British artist who works with photography, video, sound, and installation. He recently added tapestry to his repertoire, using imagery from his photography and film stills. His work can be seen at his upcoming show at Marvelli Gallery, 526 W. 26 St., NYC, opening February 2.
Ray Johnson, once called “New York’s most famous unknown artist,” worked primarily through collage and correspondence art. Several of his pieces are currently on view at the Brooklyn Museum as part of the excellent show Hide/Seek.
Isa Leshko is a photographer who lives in Philadelphia. These images are from her series Elderly Animals, which has taken her around the country to various animal sanctuaries. She started work on the project after spending a year caring for her mother who is ill with Alzheimer’s. The work will be on view at the Houston Center for Photography in April.
Above photo: Handsome One, Thoroughbred Horse, Age 33
