Figge Museums "New Photography" Exhibit Includes Gallery Photographer Ryan Vizzions

 

©Ryan Vizzions: 

"Defend The Sacred", Cannon Ball, Standing Rock, Standing Rock, North Dakota, 2016

Via Quad Cities

March 24, 2022

The Figge Art Museum has an extensive photography collection that continues to grow. Beginning Saturday, visitors are invited to step into the Figge’s second-floor Lewis Gallery to view a small selection of the museum’s most recent photographic additions.

Important works by some of the most significant photographers of our time provide us with a brief survey of the collection’s recent growth and the varying impulses that guide contemporary photography, according to a Thursday museum release.

The New Photography exhibition series allows the Figge to share with the QC community some of the museum’s newly acquired works featuring objects, landscapes and figures, including photos that will adorn the Figge’s walls for years to come.

“Despite the proliferation of images made with our smart phones and circulated through social media, dedicated photographers continue to create iconic images that stand above the rest,” said Director of Collections and Exhibitions Andrew Wallace. “From the frontlines of conflict to the frontlines of daily life, photographers reward us with pictures that encourage us to look more closely at the world around us and so that we may better see ourselves.”

Acclaimed 20th-century masters including Lynn Davis and Douglas Prince — as well as recent works by Cara Romero, Victoria Sambunaris, Rebecca Norris Webb, and Ryan Vizzions — will be on view.

From the real to the surreal, the exhibition will highlight photography’s continued ability to engage, inform, and amaze. New Photography will be on view (at 225 W. 2nd St., Davenport) through July 3, 2022.

  FIGGE ART MUSEUM

225 West Second Street

Davenport, Iowa

Photography is "ripe for exploration"

Via Wall Street Journal

 Jocelyn Phillips' "Collect Contemporary Photography," to be released by Thames & Hudson in February—provides a load of tips on how to build a collection, covering topics such as how to buy, where to look and how to care for one.

Ms. Phillips, who heads Bonhams's photography department in London, calls building a photography collection "a journey of discovering tastes and interests." When starting out, she advises new collectors to see as much work as possible at exhibitions, fairs, auctions and galleries before making a purchase.

Through research, she says: "You will start to gain a sense of the kind of work that appeals to you." Also, this is the way to familiarize yourself with essential knowledge, such as the number of prints in an edition, historical influences, printing techniques, photographic styles, pricing, hanging and framing, Ms. Phillips adds.

Photography is still an affordable collectors' area, particularly if you look for emerging photo artists, she says, adding that the young market is "ripe for exploration."

Ms. Phillips confided it was hard to select 40 photo artists to profile for her book from a wealth of global talent. In the case of the famous Düsseldorf Art Academy of German artists who studied under Bernd and Hilla Becher, including Andreas Gursky, Thomas Struth, Thomas Ruff and Candida Höfer, she mentions them all briefly but chose Mr. Struth (best known for his large images of people in museums) for the profile. Personally, I would have chosen Mr. Gursky, who I find to be the greatest of them all—a revolutionary in his monumental views that, for example, look at today's world through mass images to make people and consumer goods look like ants in life's big picture.