James Scott Geras:
Absolute Fixation
Controversial voyeuristic and playfully erotic, artist James Scott Geras has challenged the fine art photography conventions of the day emerging as one of the hottest artists of his generation.
FIXATION, a series of photographic images designed to explore the uniqueness of individuality. When viewing the collection, the first thing that strikes you is the broad use of color Geras explains, “many people think that photos have to be stark, black and white images to be considered fine art. I wanted to show that art doesn’t have to be somber. Art should only cause a response. It doesn’t have to be serious all the time. It can be fun.
The collection is divided into several concurring themes One series, dubbed collectively as the “Diva” Collection, features the same model in various locales and situations, In one piece, titled “Snack Time”, the Diva is pictured having a regal lunch at her preferential table, which is supported by two women who happen to be naked and gold leafed In another, “Good Hair Day”, The Diva is presented in a photographic journey. Through consecutive shots, the series pays homage to divas of the past and present, while there is genuine 21st century attitude in a piece titled “Diva Lounging in Hell.” In “Bad Hair Day”, one can envision a young Audrey Hepburn on her way to Tiffany & Co.
A more obvious question is where do the ideas come from? “Many times, ideas will just pop in my head," explains Geras “Sometimes it is a dream I’ve had or maybe a fantasy that I am willing to share. One shoot I thought of while sitting in a restaurant, for some reason, I started thinking of what would happen if a spacewoman landed outside the restaurant, that is exactly what the piece, titled “Take Me to Your Leader,” is all about.”
The collection is printed in a limited edition
Daniel Tousignant
Daniel Tousignant’s luminous birch paintings create an impact that pulls the viewer directly into nature. Tousignant, who loves to paint blue skies and vast long horizon landscapes, here delves into stark and almost graphic abstract areas.
While he recalls the flat, empty landscape he knew as a boy, growing up on a dairy farm in Minnesota, it is his later memories of traveling by train from London to Amsterdam that inspire these birch paintings. Tousignant lived in London while attending the Royal Academy and supported himself at an Amsterdam youth hostel, making the rail journey every weekend, observing the rolling hills and feathery clouds, and the way in which light dapples the silver grey and green landscape that first influenced his earlier work.
His painting style further evolved when he purchased a home in Maine to spend the summers. There, painting in seclusion, surrounded by beautiful birch trees, he began this magnificent series of birch trees. Initially creating stark and striking black birch paintings, one winter day he was appreciating the falling snow and noticed the white birch surrounded by it. He began to sketch and the luminous white birch paintings came to life.
When looking at Tousignant’s paintings, whether black or white backgrounds, one sees composition that is constructed with almost architectural precision. The lines of the trees and bright green lichen are contrasted with the emptiness of stark backgrounds, all of which catch our attention and hold it longer than one would expect, and the visual experience stays with us even after we look away
