We Can’t Paint

I’ve been discovering a lot of conceptual and allegorically based photography as of late. This can be seen in young artists like David La Spina, Melanie Schiff, Matthew Spiegelman, Michelle Abeles, Boru O’Brien O’Connell, and Patricia Neligan, all of who represent a departure from what many consider traditional modes of photographic practice.

This exodus from a clear production of finite documentary or staged imagery is something that I find not only fresh, but it very well may be the direction in which the medium itself is headed. Perhaps this has to do with the open-ended meaning and abstract nature of associations that these photographers utilize. This is to say that these artists represent an interesting merger of formal aesthetics, conceptual ideals, and pure negation of photography as a cohesive presentation, a mix that has remained so separate in the last twenty years within photography.

Now of course this is nothing new, photographers have for years been mixing experimental photography with what could be considered a regular or traditional forms of photographic practice. However, this type of imagery is somewhat of a mishmash of all photography, an equal importance of low-end and high production. It is a value system of significance that is unified in its inherent simulacrum of concept and relevance. An artist like David La Spina is a perfect example of this new presentation, a play on preconceived notions of the subject and traditionally rooted formal categories such as the portrait, still-life, and landscape.

Ancient and Foreign© David La Spina

Ancient and Foreign© David La Spina

In his series the History of the Earth and Ancient and Foreign we can clearly see this notion of high and low photography. Portraits are captured in both technical perfection and in a loose almost snapshot style. Seductive landscapes are interrupted by glare and discolourations. Still-lifes can be utterly banal and framed in a foreboding manner. With the popularity of high production large format photography so noticeable in galleries and institutions, these shepherds of a cluster-fuck aesthetic are breaking new ground.

To be continued on Wednesday.