Page 26 - the NOISE August 2014

26 • AUGUST 2014 • the NOISE arts & news • thenoise.us
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FROM 22 ARTSBRIEFS:
HONORING TRADITION THROUGH SUBJECT, PROCESS AND PRINT
Specialty printmaker/photogra- pher Corey Allen of hidden Light exhibits his work this month at John running and shelley Claude’s As- pen Avenue gallery in a showing of his platinum palladium prints of traditional organic farms in South Korea.
Having had traveled on multiple occasions to the metropolis of Seoul, the next time Mr. Allen and his wife returned to Korea, they were ready for a different kind of experience.
“Looking for a different Korea we traveled to Goesan, a small farming community about two hours South- east of Seoul, where a friend of my wife had just moved his family,” he says. ”We spent several weeks there, helping to weed the bean field, har- vest watermelons and make photo- graphs. On my last trip to Goesan, I brought along my newest, 60-year old 4x5 camera, and shot around
100 sheets of film, processed them in the bathroom at night, then made cyanotypes [essentially a blue print] for the people I photographed.”
For the exhibit, Mr. Allen made Platinum Palladium prints of the im- ages on traditional Japanese Gampi paper. Platinum Palladium print- making is a highly involved, spe- cialty printing process that has in- creasingly become Mr. Allen’s focus since Hidden Light began making the handmade photographic prints in 2001.
Developed in 1800s, Platinum- Palladium printing has been the chosen method for many of the world’s great photographers — Paul Strand, Irving Penn, Alfred Stieglitz, Frederick Evans, and Laura Gilpin
— and their most classic images, despite the scarcity, expense, and painstaking nature of the printing process.
Platinum-Palladium prints are coveted by photographers and viewers alike because they con- vey detail even within the darkest shadows, and reveal a wide range of tonal warmth — creating a three dimensionality that invites one to step into the scene, revealing layers of detail and luminosity that many believe are unparalleled by any oth- er method. These prints are known not only for their beauty, but also for their permanence.
The noble metals used in the printing process actually become embedded in the fibers of the paper, rather than floating above the paper in a gelatin base. More stable than gold, paired with the highest grade paper, they can achieve an archival rating of 1500 years.
“They have a luminance that is unrivaled in my eye to any other black and white photo,” says Mr. Allen. “Platinum Palladium prints are known for their beauty, perma- nence and long slow graduation of tone, from dark to light. Working in the dark- room with the process is a lot of fun and challenging too. We take a regular piece of paper and turn it into something that is sensitive to light. It is a process of creating something out of raw ingredients.”
Mr. Allen’s exhibition opens with a recep- tion during First Friday ArtWalk from 6-9PM, August 1 at Aspen Avenue gallery, 111 E. Aspen Avenue, Ste. 3
Visit hiddenlightllc.com to watch a vid- eo presentation on the Platinum Palladium printing process. Hidden Light is located at 427 S. San Francisco Street, where the photography of shane Mcdermott will be featured during regular business hours for the month of August.
ARIZONA HANDMADE showcases the work of printmakers and NAU professors david & Julie Williams.
“As we go through our everyday routines, various images come and go in our heads,” says Mr. Williams, whose figurative prints, that have a pencil sketch appearance, are alive with dynamic movement and expres- sion. “We see people, objects, and places that draw our attention, either because of color, texture, or line; they stay in our mind and imagination. In my work I try to explore these ideas, these images that are scattered in my mind and bring them together as in a dream. Many of my images are of people I have seen in old books or in collections of old photographs of my fam- ily. The figures interest me and I place them in worlds that are both real and imaginary. Through the use of texture, light, and dark I try to create a mood, a feeling that these people bring to me. Like most artists, my