Last Thursday night galleries across Chelsea opened their doors to the public from 5 to 8 pm for the fourth annual Art Walk. Providing access to the vibrant summer exhibitions, as well as talks, presentations and openings, the event showcased the continuing strength and evolution of the New York art scene. Some of the exhibits which featured exquisite photography were:
Laurel Nakadate at Leslie Tonkonow Gallery
Laurel Nakadate’s photographs are at once intimate and surreal, beautiful and strange. Photographing strangers to whom she is distantly related in obscure, isolated settings, Nakadate captures something profound and mysterious in each of her subjects.
Skin Trade at PPOW
Curated by Larry List and Martha Wilson, Skin Trade presents a variety of works across different media united by a single theme: the significance of skin. Lieu Bolin’s Hiding in New York no. 7 – Made in China (2012) was a particularly potent commentary on the clash between east and west that is hidden behind mass commercialization and industrialization.
Flying Henry by Rachel Hulin at Clamp Art
Emerging photographer Rachel Hulin presents a whimsical series of photographs for her latest show. Hulin creates images of a young boy, Henry, flying through various domestic scenes: a kitchen, a garden, a farmyard. The result is both poetic and humorous but above all visually intriguing.
Hot Summer Cool Jazz: The Photographs of Herman Leonard at Robert Mann Gallery
Herman Leonard’s photographs allow us an incredible glimpse into a time long past. Covering bars in both New York and Paris in the 40s and 50s, Leonard creates intimate portraits of greats like Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong and Chet Baker, truly capturing an era.
Takuma Nakahira at Yossi Milo Gallery
Presenting some of the only remaining photographs from this renowned Japanese photographer and activist, the Yossi Milo Gallery presented us with an insight into a profound moment in history. Examining both Japan and France in the early 70s, the exhibition provided a compelling comparison between two disparate countries undergoing a similar change.
Model Arbus at Hasted Krautler
Combining the work of two of the greatest black and white photographers of the 20th Century, Hasted Krautler gallery presents us with some of the most iconic images in photography. Presenting images from both Diane Arbus and Lisette Model, the gallery provides us with images of the mundane captured through the lens of the extraordinary.
Zachary Thatcher
Stacey-Anne Strang and Erica Jensen
Artist Babs Reingold and Curator LarryList @ PPOW
Brian Hedder
Alexis Heller and Caroline Liu
Images and text by Oscar Lopez