Penelope Umbrico on her piece For Sale/TVs From Craigslist at Aperture (May, 2009).

Consumer culture can be an ugly reality to face. Despite what might seem to be an oxymoronic concept, the contemporary sense of self is increasingly predicated on possessive individualism, a self-definition by way of consumption, or more simply put, the thought: ‘I am what I buy.’ Not only has shopping long become a pastime, so too has the proclamation of these purchases across social media.

This consumer culture is what we the audience are confronted with in the work of Penelope Umbrico and Brian Ulrich. On Tuesday, April 17, 2012, two of the most exciting photographers working today, come together for a conversation about how their use of images address this facet of our society. The event will take place at Julie Saul Gallery, where Ulrich currently has his exhibition Is This Place Great or What: Artifacts and Photographs on view through May 5, 2012.

Umbrico’s work over the past few decades offers a radical doubletake on the consumer and vernacular images with which we are bombarded. She aggregates photographs that follow a kind of “script,” compiling thousands of somehow related images found on social media websites like Craigslist and Flickr. Some are selling used products, others are sharing personal but generic vacation moments. All, however, have hints of privacy or intimacy in them. As she explains in the clip above, the used TVs people sell on Craigslist often bear reflections of themselves or their apartments. Her most recognized work Suns From Flickr, which made the cover of her conceptual first monograph from Aperture in Fall, 2011 Penelope Umbrico (photographs), is made up of thousands of found snapshots, generic vacation photos tagged with term “sunset,” cropped down to sun alone, sometimes 5% of the original photograph, and installed on a mural-sized grid.  The monumental result is meant to explore ”what [these images] can tell us about our relationship to photography, technology and each other.”

Ulrich’s work on view at Julie Saul is part of a decade-long exploration of the American consumer landscape for a series called Copia. The project, he explains for Time’s Lightbox, is something he embarked on as a response to the president’s call for the nation to bolster the economy in the wake of the 9/11 attacks by way of shopping. The series, comprised in three parts tracking the degradation of this consumer cycle–”Retail,” “Thrift,” and “Dark Stores,”–was also published by Aperture in Fall, 2011 as Ulrich’s first monograph, Is This Place Great or What.

“Retail” features often vibrant candy-colored, mostly medium-format images taken in big box stores. He captured candid moments with the help of a waist-high viewfinder. The nameless shoppers within his frame carry hollow expressions that convey a kind of alienated stupor during the precise moment, Ulrich says, “the Germans call Konsumieren Rausch or Consumer Intoxication.” “Thrift” features more cluttered images of consignment stores and second-hand shops where the original goods are discarded, while “Dark Stores,” features images of derelict, hollowed out, abandoned malls and shopping centers across the country that have shut their doors.

Penelope Umbrico and Brian Ulrich In Conversation
Tuesday, April 17, 2012 at 6:30 pm
FREE

Julie Saul Gallery
535 West 22nd Street, #6F
New York, New York
(212) 627-2410

Brian Ulrich’s photographic investigation of the American consumer psyche has for the past decade examined the complex relationships consumers form with the industries that seek their consumption (Copia, 2002-2006), the trickle-down movement of consumer goods (Thrift, 2005-2007), and the end remains of dead malls and big box stores, stripped of product and identity (Dark Stores, 2008-2011).

Ulrich’s upcoming exhibition at Julie Saul Gallery looks at this decade-spanning body of work, juxtaposing photographs with artifacts from the past (a vintage sign in florescent italics announcing Fast Food), objects culled from an expansive archive, amassed by the photographer in simultaneity with the development of his images.

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Is This Place Great Or What: Artifacts and Photographs opens Thursday, March 22^nd at Julie Saul Gallery, New York City.

This exhibition coincides with Ulrich’s first published monograph, Is This Place Great or What, published by Aperture Foundation, with an essay by Juliet B. Schorr and 95 plates ($35, available here).

Also consider Ulrich’s limited-edition, “Chicago, Illinois, 2005,” from the series Thrift ($600, available here).

Basil Jones (2011) © Gary Schneider

This Fall, many works by Aperture-featured photographers are being exhibited in New York City. Here is our run-down of this season’s must-see shows.

Gary Schneider: HandPrints, Johhanesburg at David Krut Projects. Made by hands’ sweat and heat interacting with film emulsion, these unusual portraits of friends and family will be on view September 8 – October 22, 2011.

Hellen van Meene at Yancey Richardson Gallery, September 8 – October 22, 2011, will exhibit the photographer’s distinct style of portraiture.

Vik Muniz at Sikkema Jenkins & Co., September 9 – October 15, 2011, focusing on paintings by the Brazilian artist.

Edward Steichen: The Last Printing at Danziger Projects, September 15 – October 29, 2011. Photographs made by George Tice, renowned photographer and Steichen’s last printer.

Social Media at Pace/MacGill, from September 16 – October 15, 2011, featuring work by Penelope Umbrico & others. Detailing the rise of social media in our visual culture, it includes Umbrico’s work Sunset Portraits From 9,623,557 Sunset Pictures which was meticulously culled from the photo-sharing website Flickr.

Simon Norfolk: Burke + Norfolk at Bonni Benrubi Gallery, September 14 – December 3, 2011, features a visual dialogue between nineteenth-century British photographer John Burke and contemporary photographer Simon Norfolk, centered in Afghanistan.

The Radical Camera: New York’s Photo League, 1936 – 1951 at The Jewish Museum from November 4 – March 25, 2011. Featuring work by Lisette Modell, Aaron Siskind, Weegee & many other photography legends.

There are also many gallery openings that are showing artists featured in our 2011 Benefit, Auction & SNAP! Party:

Sara Greenberger Rafferty at Rachel Uffner Gallery, September 7 – October 23, 2011.

Charlotte Dumas: Retrieved at Julie Saul Gallery, September 8 – October 15, 2011.

Click here to start bidding online for work by these artists and others!

Julie Saul © Elliot Black Photography

Art dealer Julie Saul was honored for her contributions to photography at last year’s Aperture’s 2010 Benefit. This year she commemorates her gallery’s 25th anniversary with the exhibition 25 Years/25 Artists and an accompanying catalogue. The show features a single photograph from each year of her gallery’s history and will be on view through Friday, August 26th. Among the artists include Luigi Ghirri, Maira Kalman, Sally Gall, Penelope Umbrico and James Welling.

What are some of your favorite photobooks?

Some of the earliest books when I first became interested in photography. There were very few books published on photography so you could virtually own all of the photography books back in the 70s. There was Diane Arbus, there was George Platt Lynes there was Danny Lyon…but there were very few books so you ended up spending a lot of more time really scrutinizing the individual images than you do today because now there are so many you can barely flip through the books that you own. Perhaps my favorite photobook was one given to me when I left the Met’s department of 20th century art where I interned in 1982. They gave me this gorgeous huge George Platt Lynes book that I think was one of the first books published by Jack Woody with Twin Palms, and I loved that book. Then I did a show of his work later at my gallery and somebody stole it! It had been signed by everybody in that department and that was truly one of the worst losses that I have had.

What has been your favorite show you’ve seen this summer?

La Carte D’Après Nature at Matthew Marks, curated by Thomas Demand. I love the fact that it was curated by an artist. I think shows curated by artists are very interesting and it gives me a whole new insight into Thomas Demand’s work. It also includes 50 prints by one of my favorite photographers who I have shown a couple of times over the years- Luigi Ghirri.

You were the first American dealer to show Ghirri’s work, correct?

I was. And I still think that he is a completely brilliant and under-recognized (although probably not for long) European artist. He’s sort of the William Eggleston of Europe in the 70s, and from what I’ve seen from European work of that time, particularly of Italian work, it was very romantic, it was black and white. Ghirri had this very conceptual point of view and worked in color and really understood media so I think that it’s great that he’s finally getting the attention he deserves. Seeing his work in the context of the Matthew Marks exhibition will really be an important step for him.

What are some of your most meaningful relationships that you have had with artists over the years?

Often a long relationship is a good relationship and you can get used to each other and you get closer to each other just like a long term [romantic] relationship. If you look at my 25th Anniversary show, the first artist I ever showed, Andy Bush, is still with the gallery and we’ve certainly had our ups and downs over the years but I’ve been able to gain an understanding of the way he works and thinks by having such a long term relationship. I would say that what makes a good relationship is the artist’s ability and willingness to really collaborate with you. Not to see the gallery as a battlefield, but see it as a matrimonial bed, a place of collaboration, sharing resources and ideas. One of the more fun things I’ve done is working with Maira Kalman who had never really had gallery representation before because she normally does books, theater design, textile design and applied arts. So for her it has been a great adventure, and for me to figure out how to promote some of these works, because she has never thought about trying to fit within the traditional gallery system, its been really fun.

Although you represent artists working in a variety of media, what made you want to specialize in photography?

I started with a specialization in photography because I felt like it was important to have a distinct identity within the larger New York art world. Within my larger academic studies in art history I did my thesis on a Bauhaus photographer, but as you know the Bauhaus is about work in many different media. Moholy Nagy believed that every medium has its proper application so he thought for representational art, photography was the medium and for abstract art, painting was the medium. I identify with, and show a great deal of, photography but my interests and enthusiasms are by no means limited to strictly photography. And furthermore a lot of the artists I represent, actually enjoy working in the way that I described, different media for different projects. I’m very interested in artists who take a very freewheeling approach to the medium.

What are some of things you are most proud of exhibiting over the past 25 years?

Well I think the 25th Anniversary show itself is a good example of that. We do eight or nine shows a year and I’ve had the difficult task of choosing one work from one show during a year where literally hundreds of works have been exhibited.

More information about Julie Saul Gallery.

Click here to buy tickets to Aperture’s 2011 Benefit and Auction, honoring Bruce Davidson, Gerhard Steidl and Robert Anthione.

Interview by Aperture Work Scholar Aliza Sena.

Black Out Copy by Sarah Anne Johnson

Tomorrow evening photographer Sarah Anne Johnson will give an artist’s talk at Aperture bookstore and gallery as part of the Parsons lecture series. Johnson’s work integrates multiple mediums including sculptural and performance elements along with painting and printmaking to create her images. Tree Planting, a series of photographs by Johnson recently featured in Guggenheim group show, Haunted, exemplifies the artist’s multi-media approach to photography and to narrative. In sixty five images the artist depicts a summer spent planting trees in de-forrested Manitoba, a common Canadian rite of passage. Moving between photographs documenting the physical lived experience and photographed scenes of small scale models reenacting moments that happened in real life, the work builds apon and evolves the use of sets, props and theater in photography. Johnson is represented by the Julie Saul gallery in New York and Stephen Bulger gallery in Toronto.

Sarah Anne Johnson: Parsons Lecture Series
Tuesday, October 5, 6:30 pm

Aperture Bookstore and Gallery
547 West 27th street
New York, New York

Detail from Untitled, 2008 by Richard Misrach

Join Aperture for its 2010 Benefit and Auction on November 1st honoring photographer Richard Misrach; collector, philanthropist, former Aperture Trustee Steven Ames; and gallerist Julie Saul. This year’s auction will be Aperture’s largest ever with opportunities to bid on an exciting roster of prints by Diane Arbus, Bruce Davidson, Susan Meiselas, Joel Meyerowitz, Curtis Mann, Mickalene Thomas, Paul Strand, James Welling, Hank Willis Thomas and Kehinde Wiley among others.

Directly following the Benefit and Auction, the first-ever SNAP! Benefit Party and Emerging Artists Silent Auction hosted by SNAP!, Aperture’s Young Patrons Program will feature music spun by special guests DJs, an open bar, and great raffle prizes. The Emerging Artists Auction includes rising photographers such as Timothy Briner, Jen Davis, Adam Krause, LaToya Ruby Frazier, Will Steacy and many more.

Click here to preview silent and live auction items

Click here for more details and to purchase tickets to the 2010 Benefit and Auction

Click here for more details and to purchase tickets to the 2010 SNAP! Benefit Party

Brian Ulrich’s second solo show in New York is now on view at Julie Saul Gallery in Chelsea. The show presents works from his series Thrift (2005 – 2008) and the currently in progress Dark Stores, Ghostboxes and Dead Malls.

Follow Brian as he guest blogs for Aperture in a series of posts below from his road trip: Chicago to Chelsea, New York.

Click here to view Part 1.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

The drive today is filling with fog and low clouds over the rolling hills. I cannot help but think of and combination of Eliot Porter, Frank Breuer and Justine Kurland.

Stopping in Buckhorn, PA for some food and the investigate a mall. This is also one I’ve been to hundreds of times as Buckhorn is about an hour and a half into PA from NY. Strangely I never noticed the old empty Ames store at the Mall. Ames was a chain of department stores that went defunct back in 2002. Oddly Ames has a ton of fans online who get super nostalgic about the brand. Some of which are kids who weren’t old enough to shop there to begin with. Brand loyalty beyond the grave! Take a look at Anne Elizabeth Moore’s book, Unmarketable: Brandalism, Copyfighting, Mocketing, and the Erosion of Integrity.

The Buckhorn Mall isn’t doing so well on the inside either. A competing Walmart opened across the highway and literally sucked any life from this ailing mall. There’s a few hangers on amidst the empty storefronts. A great part of working on this particular project is the fact that the many people who work in these troubled spaces have a real grasp on economy and any conversation seems to ‘go there’. One of them, a pizza store worker with a heavy eastern european accent couldn’t hold back and was eager to inform on the history of economy and current events. It dawned on me that the effect of North Korea recent nuclear and missile tests are having a profound effect across the country. For many (including Pizza Guy) it cements the idea of the US as a losing more of it’s control over world policy and economy. Not only is there a large amount of uncertainty with how our new President will perform in the face of world threats, but paranoia seems to be feeding itself with the many changes that this new century is bringing, most of which are reeling from the latent issues of the 20th century. Pizza Guy pointed out that the loss of intellectualism in the US may be due to the fact that the US is not attractive to immigrants from educated countries any longer and that the this country’s education system may be so flawed that we’re having problems creating educated citizens. Scary ideas as the seeds of discontent seem growing in the American heartland all to the soundtrack of Muzak.

It’s with these thoughts that I leave Pizza Guy (promising to return with $2., he wouldn’t allow me to use the ATM in the mall with it’s $3 fee) and move on. I’ve lost a considerable amount of time dissecting politics and need to get moving.

From PA entering NJ and finally over the GWB into New York through the Bronx where I used to live near Pelham. As long as I have been driving, the Cross Bronx Expressway is a mess of congestion and traffic. Curse you Robert Moses!

Finally arrive in Centerport, NY at my father’s house at 6:00pm to a warm welcome or food, my wife, friends (cheers Amy Stein, Christian Patterson, Bill Sullivan, Johnathan Swafford and George Gallo) and low tide on the north shore of Long Island.

Next up: The opening, the aftermath and dead malls and Stephen Dirado in Worcester, MA.

Brian Ulrich‘s second solo show in New York at Julie Saul Gallery will open this Thursday, May 28th in Chelsea. The show presents works from his series Thrift (2005 – 2008) and the currently in progress Dark Stores, Ghostboxes and Dead Malls. Much of this work is part of the larger project Copia for which Ulrich is currently working on a Guggenheim Fellowship and planning to continue across the country making pictures for a compilation of photographs to culminate in a book that examines 100 years of consumer culture in the US. The show is currently featured on the cover of Photograph Magazine.

Follow Brian as he guest blogs for Aperture in a series of posts below from his road trip: Chicago to Chelsea, New York, sent this morning at 2:42 am.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Got a late start on the long drive from Chicago to the hometown (NY) due to Car Dealership traps. Follow this up with a torrential  rainstorm or two and I’ve only made outside Toledo by 9pm. Missed the  exit for the currently-being-demolished Southwyck Mall in Toledo. Hopefully will have time to revisit/scout a Dead Mall in Akron, OH and make it into PA this eve. Averaging 38mpg Diesel.

Lunch – always surprises me how few options for food are on the road. Michael Pollan and Paul Roberts are right, we’re in trouble if we continue down Vitamin Beef.

Shout Out to John Lehr.

Drive to NY on one and a half tanks of diesel.

Shout Out to Paul Graham outside of Toledo. (I wrote my thesis paper on PG). Smoke Break, 2009

11:30 Akron, OH Rolling Acres Mall. I should’ve been here hours ago. (Disclaimer: these are all iPhone pics, mostly lit by car headlights).

Luckily I photographed inside this Mall for 2 days last summer. It was still open at the time with about 2 stores and no security whatsoever.  Still there a few pictures I’d like to make outside. There’s a certain affinity for this place as I used to shop here as a while an undergrad. While so many of these places are such a bad idea, Rolling  Acres seems to have failed not only for bad planning, but also is representative of economic class and racism. When the mall was still flourishing I recall being warned to avoid this place due to the droves of gangs. Being from NY I couldn’t understand this, a gang to me was not a bunch of kids in a mall being rowdy. I was never bothered there but clearly much of the community was. This huge mall closed not long after I was here last summer. The landlord simply stopped paying the utilities. It recently was offered up for auction and didn’t receive one bid.

I was hoping to make some 8×10 pictures here but the late timing and the fact that this one is so dim it’s downright scary. Any exposure would require at least a half an hour and some serious flashlight painting. While I’ve gotten pretty accustomed to working alone late at night once in a while it doesn’t seem the best idea to go it alone. I’ll have to try again on the way back when I have some company. Off to Pennsylvania and drive until my eyes quit.

(Ready Set Go)

When I lived in Ohio it seemed like I drove the route to NY and back millions of times. I still know what’s off pretty much every exit. So many fun and treacherous journeys in any and every type of season and weather condition. When I moved to NY briefly after Undergrad, I would drive from Manhattan to Ohio every other weekend to photograph (once made it in 5 hours!). NY had a way of feeling so claustrophobic, it was difficult to make work there. After some time (and many miles) I decided the Midwest was more inspiring and freely creative for the moment.

1:48 am and the coupon book (and my failing eyes) has led me to Clarion, PA. Not surprisingly to a hotel right next to a Dead Mall. This one is functioning but a bit of a small ghost town.  I’ll investigate further in the morning.

Although Spring may be more than six weeks away, catch a glimpse of flora and fauna at a collaborative exhibition titled Pollination which combines cibachrome photograms from Neeta Madahar and the glazed ceramic sculptures of Christopher Russell. Both artists have taken nature as inspiration for their work, and their respective mediums and approaches create a beautiful symbiotic experience. The Julie Saul Gallery in New York hosts this exhibition, with an opening reception on January 8, 2009, from 6:00 to 8:00 pm.

Madahar’s work, Cosmoses, is a series of photograms created by arranging self-made origami flowers on photo paper. Though seemingly random and simple, this process is actually intensive and can thus be seen as a metaphor to the complexities of nature itself. Combining art with science, Russell’s sculptures depict a range of subjects from birds, bees and pollen in meticulous accuracy, and he even utilizes a golden glaze mimicking honey.

This exhibition marks Neeta Madahar’s third exhibition at Julie Saul and Christopher Russell’s premier. A limited-edition print from Neeta Madahar is available exclusively through Aperture from her 2003 series Sustanance.

Neeta Madahar and Christopher Russell
January 8-February 28, 2009
Julie Saul Gallery
535 W 22nd Street, New York
212-627-2410