Gregory Crewdson @ Luhring Augustine

Photos courtesy of: Luhring Augustine Gallery and Ruben Natal-San Miguel



This show is a must see!

Gregory Crewdson is one of the most talented photographers of our time.His photos in my opinion are the closest you can achieve to resemble paintings.They have such an ethereal, sublime and reflective quality !

This is the last of his body of work series called Beneath The Roses.

The photographs were sponsored by Epson  America. Aperture Foundation has a wonderful online Photo documentary about Crewdson(see link below) in which you can take a peek behind the scenes, giving and idea of the vision , process and brilliance of how this masterpiece photographs are created. 

 The 15 photos in this show are all the same size and in an edition of 6 you can have one for a cool $75,000.00 each. Do the math! Most of the show was already sold out before it even opened (who said recession?).

In his latest body of work, made over the last three years, the artist continues his exploration of the fertile edges of the American vernacular. The photos are quite reminiscent of the paintings of the great Edward Hooper , which  the theme of voyeurism is expressed in a before and after situation.The viewer is seduced and left with its own conclusions. Its all about the moment of  and its consequences. There is a strong and latent sense of solitude, meditation and displacement. For some of us these are the kind of feelings and thoughts  experienced at times when  living or coming from small towns with no future to strive for. Also when  the environment and its surroundings turn into suffocation and anxiety (God knows I was one of those people).

 The photos also have a strong message as if when taking  action or  making decisions it may  have its consequences . Capturing that precise  moment of when that crucial and life changing decision is about to be made. 

In addition, published by Harry N. Abrams the book tilted Beneath The Roses was available for sale for $60.00. ARTmostfierce and his posse happen to be there when Gregory Crewdson was present at the gallery for a book signing. Not being the best kind of bookkeeper at home, even ARTmostfierce got his skinny butt (maybe not so skinny!) and bought the signed book. Crewdson was extremely polite and pleasant considering all the art fanatics and some vultures buying his book and looking at his art on the walls. It was quite a mob scene. 

Also I  had been noticing lately  (last week Ryan McGinley's opening show and this show)  that there is a very... very young generation of kids sometimes too young for college present at these shows looking seriously at the art and buying the books. Finally the... ME generation is looking around to others other than themselves. It was refreshing to observe their fascination and curiosity. I love when an artist work is so powerful that moves people in  large droves. It was a mob scene of the civilized kind.

                      

                                                                                          ARTmostfierce kept snooping around and also managed to obtain a poster of the show (great image) for $10.00 and got  Gregory Crewdson to sign it as well...sweet!

So after I salivated looking at these great photos  way out of my $$$ mula reach at least, I got to take home a signed book and poster. We are so fortunate to live here and be able to experience all these first hand.

I really think that even to  the most untrained eye will enjoy looking at this body of work.

It runs from April 5-May 3, 2008. Go and see it!

www.luhringaugustine.com/index.php?mode=artists&object_id=66

www.aperture.org/crewdson/