NEW YORK Dec 7 – THROCKMORTON FINE ART (www.throckmorton-nyc.com) is presenting GRACE: ELISABETH SUNDAY, a special exhibition of 30 limited edition platinum prints as well as a specially created cast bronze sculpture by the renowned photographer Elisabeth Sunday at its New York gallery from May 2 – July 6, 2013.
Elisabeth Sunday NOBLEMAN The Tuareg Sahara Desert Mali 2007 30 x 25 Platinum Print
Kraige Block, Executive Director of Throckmorton, who has staged more than 80 exhibitions at the gallery in the past 15 years says, “Elisabeth Sunday is an important talent and this exhibition elevates to yet higher levels her own distinctive artistry of mirror photography, which dates back to Louis Daguerre in 1840.”
“We are showing 30 images from grace (lower case), the 2012 monograph devoted to Sunday’s oeuvre. Sunday’s work is in more than 12 museum collections demonstrating the degree to which she is held in high regard,” says Spencer Throckmorton, who founded the gallery 32 years ago and has participated in the Association of International Photography Dealers (AIPAD) fair for 18 years. In addition, he has been included in the vetted Winter Antiques Show for 27 years and New York’s Asia Week. His gallery is internationally recognized by museum directors and curators along with seasoned and novice collectors.
An African-American, Sunday turns to the rarely used and highly demanding mirror photography technique to capture reflections of images in subtle grey and black tones. “Mirror photography is much more than photographing a reflection,” says Sunday. In her hands, mirror photography creates a sense of mystery.
Sunday is a world-class photographer and she found that straight glass mirrors did not do what she wanted to achieve reflective images so she developed an innovative process.
“In utilizing mirrored Plexiglas, Elisabeth Sunday captures riveting reflections which embody the spirit of her subjects,” says Throckmorton. Sunday shoots directly onto the mirrored surfaces, which range from convex to concave and creates abstract-like impressions and sometimes-elongated figures.
“As an artist, I see form and line, movement and gesture. The wind plays a role and shapes the lines. The reflected image elongates and sometimes embellishes the form,” writes Sunday. She is the granddaughter of Cleveland School painter Paul Travis, whose trips to Africa inspired her.
Sunday portrays African tribes men and women from the Congo, Kenya, Ghana, Mali, Zaire and Ethiopia. Sunday first began visiting Africa in 1986. All are platinum prints, which provide the greatest tonal range.
Such prestigious institutions as Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris have her images in their permanent collections. Plus, her work can be found in a number of fine arts institutions including the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Corcoran Art Gallery and the University Art Museum at Berkeley, among others. A total of seven of her images are in the permanent collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. In addition, a number of prominent collectors own her images. Sunday’s work is included in the Deborah Willis book Photographers: A Bio Bibliography 1940-1988.
Of special interest is Sunday’s 2011 Muse, an Ethiopian tribeswoman set against two elongated trees. Also important is her 2007 Nobleman, a tribesman from the Sahara Desert, Mali draped in white and her 2007 The Given, also from Mali, which are powerful abstract figures.
Among the gallery offerings is a newly created three-dimensional cast bronze sculpture based on Sunday’s image The Given.
For 25 years, gallery founder Spencer Throckmorton has pursued a long held interest in photography, pre-Columbian art, Chinese jades. Throckmorton has continually staged important exhibitions and published numerous publications on those subjects.
Throckmorton Fine Art has specialized in both vintage and contemporary photography of the Americas with a primary focus on Latin American talents. The gallery has featured the work of Edward Weston, Tina Modotti, Manuel Alvarez Bravo, Martin Chambi, Lucien Clergue, Ruven Afandor, Marilyn Bridges, Graciela Iturbide, Flor Garduno, Mario Algaze, Javier Silva Meinel, Valdir Cruz, and Christian Cravo.
Demonstrating the gallery’s commitment to connoisseurship, Throckmorton has achieved sales to such major museums as Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Getty and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston along with the Reina Sofia in Madrid. Portions of collections the gallery was instrumental in forming have been donated to the Louvre. The gallery loans examples on a regular basis to such significant institutions as the London National Gallery. Throckmorton has a number of loans at the current “Frida & Diego” exhibition at the Art Gallery of Toronto.
Exhibitions at the gallery have consistently received favorable reviews from The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The New Yorker.
The gallery has an extensive inventory of paintings, works on paper and graphics by modern and contemporary Latin American artists and photographers. As the premier dealer offering both vintage and contemporary Latin American photography, pre-Columbian art, Chinese jades and Asian art as well, Throckmorton Fine Art participates in internationally acclaimed fairs, including The Winter Antiques Show, the Association of International Photography Art Dealers (AIPAD) show along with Asia Week in New York. Kraige Block, Throckmorton Executive Director serves as a member of the Board of Directors of AIPAD.
If you attend:
THROCKMORTON FINE ART presents…..
“Grace: Elisabeth Sunday”
May 2nd – July 6th
Opening reception: May 2nd 6 – 8 pm.
THROCKMORTON FINE ART
145 East 57th Street, third floor, New York, NY 10022
Tel: 212 223 1059. Fax: 212 223 1937
[email protected]
www.throckmorton-nyc.com
