Dive In!

By Suzanne Révy

These are the dog days of summer. Each weekend, the overheated denizens of Boston might choose to sit in traffic on the way to Cape Cod or north to the mountains to be rewarded with refreshing waters and breezes or the opportunity to frolic in a lake. If not, maybe a visit to a local public pool, a run through sprinklers or open fire hydrants will cool your skin during this blisteringly hot summer. Or at the very least, one could visit “Water” currently on view at Gallery Kayafas through August 10th, 2019. A reception with the artists is planned for tomorrow evening’s First Friday, August 2nd from 5:30 to 8pm.

“Holding Hands, 2018″ by Edie Bresler, 9″x47.5” unique cyanotype on vellum (above) “Gillian, Little Cliff Pond, Brewster, 2001″ by Marc Elliott, 40″x52.5” pigment ink print (below). Installation photograph by Suzanne Révy.

“Cape Cod, 1972″ by Harry Callahan, unique larger gelatin silver print, 17″x14” courtesy of Gallery Kayafas.

“Red Lanterns, Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, China, 2019″ by Julee Holcombe, 20″x16”, archival inkjet print, courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas.

Visitors entering the gallery will be greeted by a Marc Eliot’s beautiful portrait, “Gillian, Little Cliff Pond, Brewster” which sets the perfect tone to contemplate how water refreshes and cleanses, particularly during the summer. Gus Kayafas curated and masterfully assembled a variety of imagery and media to create an invigorating exhibition. He included classics such as Harry Callahan’s gelatin silver black and white print with a delicate tonal range in “Cape Cod, 1972” and alternative processes such as Edie Bresler’s “Holding Hands’” a unique cyanotype photogram of hands reaching to embrace or contemporary color works such as Julee Holcombe’s muted “The Red Lanterns, Suzhou Jiangsu Province, China.” Photography, video, painting sculpture and works on paper comprise the exhibit of more than sixty artists, and the deft sequencing brings a cohesion to this broad spectrum of materials.

“Water from a Faucet” by Harold E. Edgerton 1932/1981, 24″x20″ gelatin silver print framed to 28″x22″, installation photograph by Suzanne Révy

“Heartland Horizon, 2019” by Joe Johnson, Ed. 9, archival inkket print (top left) “Pacific Swirl, California Route 1, South Point Lobos, March 2014″ by John Blumb, 14″x21″ inkjet print, framed to 25″x18” (bottom left); “Open Sea, Rockport, 1968″ by Richard Yee, 16″x20” gelatin silver print (center), “Cape Cod, 1972″ 17″x14” unique larger gelatin silver print by Harry Callahan (right). Installation photograph by Suzanne Révy

“Revere Beach, 1988” by Karl Baden, vintage gelatin silver prints, courtesy of the Howard Yezerski Gallery (left, top and bottom); “Texas Memories #9, 1984″ by Frank Gohlke, 16″x20″ silver gelatin print framed to 20″x24” (center left); “Barbara Bruce, M.D. Capetown, S.A. 1988″ by Rosalind Fox Solomon, 24″x20″ gelatin silver print framed to 26″x24” (center right); “Snowmass, CO, 1973″ by Henry Wessel, 14″x11” vintage silver print; Installation photograph by Suzanne Révy

The exhibit explores the vast forms that water takes from Doc Edgerton’s scientific study of water pouring from a faucet to the geometric patterns of sprinklers to the atmospheric calm of early morning mists over the seas in John Blumb or Richard Yee’s contemplative compositions of the Pacific and Atlantic. A dusty dry Robert Adams western landscape with the hint of a lonely evaporated pond are presented next to the faded beach goers by Karl Baden’s two “Revere Beach” compositions which lead to several works with a single figure contemplating the waters before them. Viewers are allowed a solitary psychological entry point into each picture to vividly recall the taste and smell of water, and perhaps the memories of unbridled play.

(Featured Image) “Matanzas, Cuba, 2001″ by Peter Kayafas, Ed. 15, 16″x20″ gelatin silver print framed to 20″x24” courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas.

“Children Showered by a Fire Hydrant, 1955” by Charles “Teenie” Harris, 16″x20″ gelatin silver print made in 2000, framed to 20″x24″ courtesy of Gallery Kayafas.

“Circle Line Statue of Liberty Ferry, NYC, 1971” by Garry Winogrand, gelatin silver print, courtesy of Gallery Kayafas.

Happily, Kayafas has added a good dose of playful imagery throughout, including work by his son, Peter Kayafas, who photographed people jumping into the water in a variety of places from Cuba to North Carolina.  Charles “Teenie” Harris’ “Children Showered by a Fire Hyrdant” reveals the pleasure of cooling off in the heat of an urban street. The water from that hydrant must be cold because one or two of the figures look to be shivering, but all are relieved from the urban heat of summer. It is a particular treat to see Garry Winogrand’s masterwork “Circle Line Statue of Liberty Ferry, New York,”  which Gus Kayafas describes as looking almost like a wedding scene with its framing that suggests a canopy and an aisle all leading to a fashionably dressed couple as they tour New York’s harbor.

“Wards Pond, 2012″ by Greg Heins 13″x13” pigment print (top left); “Looking East, Water Row, Sudbury, MA 2014″ by Brian Unwin, 10″x24” gelatin silver print (bottom left); from the series “Fort Juniper: Cushman Brook, 2014” by Bruce Myren (right); “Red Lanterns, Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, China, 2019″ by Julee Holcombe, 20″x16”, archival inkjet print (top right); “Dinghy in Moonlit Hospital Cove, July 2016″ by Zoe Perry-Wood, Ed. 1/7 17″x25” pigment ink print (bottom right);  installation photograph by Suzanne Révy

“Katrina Waterlines, New Orleans, LA 2006″ by Greg Heins, 11.5″x17” print on 17″x22 paper, courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas.

Water can carve up the land like a sculptor as seen in Brian Unwin or Bruce Myren’s lush scenes of rivers and wetlands. Unwin’s formal approach yields a panoramic image of texture and light teems with all the biological possibilities of healthy wetland. Myren’s perspective of deep blue water snaking through a dark wooded landscape is a moody counterpoint to Zoe Perry-Wood’s view from a small dinghy across the water to a dramatic sunset.  And evidence of the sometimes destructive and violent forces of water appear here as well. “Katrina Waterlines” by Greg Heins and “Fedra (crash site) Gibralter” by Yoav Horesh are cautionary reminders that humanity cannot always overcome the strength or the tides in our oceans. And finally, Susan Derges’ graphic studies of water droplets show a profound reverence for the peculiar optics and the distinct essence of water.

“Observer and Observed #6 and #11, 1991″ by Susan Derges, 16″x12” gelatin silver prints (top and bottom); installation photograph by Suzanne Révy

For more information:
http://www.gallerykayafas.com/