Brigitte Carnochan, Cy DeCosse, Joy Goldkind, Jennifer Schlesinger, Caitlyn Soldan, Henrieke Strecker, Maggie Taylor, Kamil Vojnar

Conversations with the artists: Saturday, February 25, 2012, 12:00pm

VERVE Gallery of Photography is pleased to present Do Process, a group exhibition of work by eight VERVE Gallery artists. In this exhibition, each artist utilizes his or her own special technique to produce photographic based artworks. Some of the images in the exhibition are made using contemporary processes, while others use alternative processes. Still others are made using both modern digital tools and old proven techniques. These techniques are characterized as “alternative processes” to distinguish the final print from the more ubiquitous gelatin silver print or contemporary digital print. The work in this exhibition ranges from 19th century print making practices, such as, hand-painted Gelatin Silver prints, Gum Dichromate, Bromoil, Mordançage, Photogravure and Albumen printing to more modern digitally composed and mixed media Photomontage prints. The exhibition showcases the history of some of the photographic techniques used over the last three centuries. In order to perfect and master these techniques, each of the artists demonstrates the virtues of perseverance and a passion and dedication to the photographic medium. Moreover, each artist has been open to hours of experimentation, and each is receptive to innovation. This exhibition is a celebration of 21st century approaches to 19th and 20th century photographic processes. All the work in the exhibition was produced especially for this show. The artists will share their formulas and techniques with us on Saturday.

A powerful contrast and harmony exists between the delicate elegance of glass and the raw rusted surface of steel found in an Alex Gabriel Bernstein sculpture. The dissonant nature of the two materials somehow find a perfect world together.

Alex’s sculptures begin at the kiln. Alex casts blocks of glass into shapes, which he then carves. The glass transforms under the blade of a wet cutting saw, polishing tools and hand chisels. With each slice of the saw and each blow of the hammer, the sculpture is continuously in danger of ruin. This deconstruction is what makes this sculptors work so unique. He challenges the casual observer’s perception of what glass can do, how it can be shaped and formed. They remind us of glaciers, waterfalls, stacked slate, a bird’s wing, geysers, seeds sprouting out of earth, rugged canyon walls, stalactites, jutting flames and oceanic waves. Though not a direct representation of any of these natural forms, there is something enigmatically familiar about them. They explore concepts of time, creation, transformation and the fragility of our environment.

The son of glass artists William & Katherine Bernstein, Alex was encouraged to make art in the studio at a young age. He met and was mentored by many leading figures in the art glass movement. Alex thrived in this environment of learning. His intimate knowledge of glass allows a free exploration of the glass medium that is admired by artists and collectors alike. Bernstein received an MFA in glass sculpture from the School for American Crafts at RIT. Widely collected, Alex Gabriel Bernstein’s sculpture can be found in the Corning Museum of Glass, the Glasmuseum Frauenau, the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, and the Palm Springs Art Museum to name a few.

Following his last two exhibitions in Touching Stone Gallery that can aptly be called artistic tour de force, award-winning ceramist Tadashi Mori continues with more ambitious projects, including two recent shows in France. His highly anticipated exhibition will coincide with the 45th General Assembly of the International Academy of Ceramics, to be held in Santa Fe in September, 2012.