Look Out: February’s Photography Exhibits and Releases

Spotlight on Winter

Artist: Paula McCartney
Exhibit: “Paula McCartney: A Field Guide to Snow and Ice”
Venue: Klompching Gallery
Time: present to February 15

Photographer Paula McCartney has long been interested in subjects of the natural world—from her “Bird Watching” series to photographs of Bronx Zoo dioramas. Her latest exhibit, “Paula McCartney: A Field Guide to Snow and Ice,” at Klompching Gallery in Brooklyn, New York, focuses on another series of a similar sentiment: winter, covered through the lens of a typical “field guide” approach used to identify wildlife. In this instance, the observed natural element is water, and its cold phases are shown as landscapes or abstracted for graphic representation. Says McCartney in her project statement, “I see winter everywhere, in every environment, in every season and categorize it by pattern, shape and line rather than merely by substance.”

“White Sands #4, 2009,” by Paula McCartney. © Paula McCartney/Courtesy of Klompching Gallery, New York

“Black Ice #1 and #2(diptych), 2011.” © Paula McCartney/Courtesy of Klompching Gallery, New York

Jacques Henri Lartigue’s Snowscapes

Artist: Jacques Henri Lartigue
Exhibit: “Let it Snow!”
Venue: Gallery Vassie
Time: present to March 29

Though photographer Jacques Henri Lartigue may be best known for his diaristic photographs of life in his native France—capturing friends and family in his upper-class circle as well as national sporting events—Amsterdam-based Gallery Vassie is currently displaying a selection of the artist’s winter photographs in an exhibit aptly named “Let it Snow!” The black-and-white photographs are a time capsule of early 20th-century French life, in which Lartigue’s subjects are depicted traversing snowy landscapes as well as cozying up indoors during the cold months. The photographer was also a master at composition, having honed his practice from the tender age of six.

“Renée, Paris, January 1931.” © J.H. Lartigue/Ministère de la Culture – France/AAJHL

“Francis Pigueron, Chamonix, France, January 1918.” © J.H. Lartigue/Ministère de la Culture – France/AAJHL

“Berg, Yvonne, Mme. Chavarel, Le Bossons, Chamonix, France, January 1920.” © J.H. Lartigue/Ministère de la Culture – France/AAJHL

A Striking Resemblance

Artists: Various
Exhibit: “Striking Resemblance: The Changing Art of Portraiture”
Venue: Zimmerli Art Museum
Time: present to July 13
Book Price: $49.95

Striking Resemblance: The Changing Art of Portraiture (Prestel, January 2014), is a recently released portrait book that includes more than 130 illustrations and covers the life of portraiture from its beginnings in the 18th century up to contemporary issues such as gender identity and individuality in a changing world. The book also incorporates photographic portraits that include many variations on human relationships. Aside from being a book about photography, it also serves as an investigation of the role of the portrait within society and an art history manual to the genre. The hardcover book includes three essays discussing theories of portraiture. The book includes images from Rineke Dijkstra, Mary Ellen Mark and Loretta Lux, among other portrait artists. An exhibition of images from the book is concurrently on view at Rutgers’ Zimmerli Art Museum in New Jersey through July 13.

© Prestel Books

“Castricum aan Zee, The Netherlands, June 1992” by Rineke Dijkstra. © Rineke Dijkstra, Courtesy of the artist and Marian Goodman Gallery, New York

“Shane and Shawn Riggins, 29 years old, Shane older by 3 minutes 2001,“ by Mary Ellen Mark. Photo © Mary Ellen Mark