Honorable Mention
Nature Studies
DESCRIPTION
The narrative is the tension between nature, consumerism and materialism.These images are about the commodification of women, the mass production culture, and the consumer’s mania for goods.
The model’s face, taken from commercial posters, becomes the gaze that lures modern society with the implied promise of satisfaction.
She looks at the viewer, or into space, and assumes the pose of engagement.
As society fetishizes products the car becomes a symbol of materialism and freedom but is also a vehicle of death.
The nude, symbolizing nature, contrasts with the model’s symbol of commerce.
The pretty face initiates society’s emotional and financial contract. And thus the dance of consumption commences.
The images are about the idea of looking at images that are looking at the viewer.
The commodification has to do with the looking, the wanting, and the dominating gaze that creates consumption.
AUTHOR
Bio John BarnardBorn in San Francisco - 1941, moved to NYC 1963, work and live in Brooklyn since 1971
Art School – SF 1961-63 – Painting, Drawing
BA – Studio Art - New York City College – 1969, studied with Jacob Lawrence
MFA - Painting - University of Washington, studied with Chuck Close – 1971
Early Background story:
My mother would take my brothers and me to the Sierras when I was a kid. She would tell us stories of going on extended hikes with Ansel Adams into the back county. She explained why his photographs were special. I didn’t understand at the time why this was so but landscape photography was to become a major pursuit later in life. It was when I was photographing in the Himalayas that I started to understand what he was trying to communicate.
My parents were friends of Imogen Cunningham and hired her to take family pictures of my brothers and me. During one occasion, in a park in San Francisco, a child suddenly appeared from behind the bushes. Cunningham spun around with her camera and before she could get the shot the child disappeared. I never understood what that moment was about until much later in my life.
Later:
In the sixties abstract expressionism had a strong influence on me: Hans Hoffman, Willem de Kooning, Pollack.
In the seventies the more formal abstract painters fascinated me: Frank Stella, Cy Twombly, Brice Marden.
In the nineties photography replaced painting as a way to express my ideas. I taught myself photography and use of 4x5 view camera.
Today:
I work entirely in digital format and strongly influenced by Abstract Expressionism.
