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Press Release Checklist Paul Shambroom Meetings September 6 - October 12, 2002 The Julie Saul Gallery is pleased to announce our first solo exhibition of photographs by Paul Shambroom entitled ¸Meetings”. Shambroom¨s photographs of government meetings are a continuation of his long-term investigation of power begun in his previous series on nuclear weapons, factories, and corporate offices. The nuclear series work was previously seen in New York in the 1997 Whitney Biennial, and in a solo exhibition at the Tanya Bonakdar Gallery in 1998. His new work is a departure from his earlier series both in presentation and compositional approach. He begins with conventional photo media (color negative film and a 4X5 field camera), but then digitally scans and manipulates the images¨ tonality, and sharpness. By utilizing conventions such as eye-level centered compositions, and panoramic formats he places this work squarely in the traditions of historical portrait genres. The large-scale prints on canvas are stretched and varnished to further these references and probe the boundaries between photography and painting. A common impulse in Shambroom¨s projects is his quest as one individual to understand and illuminate seemingly overwhelming and abstract power systems. Although town council and community meetings are open to the public, the process of governance can still seem somewhat invisible and separate from the lives of ordinary people (as evidenced by the fact that most of the meetings he photographs are sparsely attended.) Paul¨s photographic road trips are inspired by the traditions of Robert Frank and Walker Evans, but his methodology is decidedly twenty-first century. Using a laptop computer, a database of more than 15,000 communities in over thirty states, and mapping software he plans his daily itinerary according to geography, population, and meeting schedules. After driving several hundred back-road miles he pulls up to the town meeting hall and there has the privilege of seeing democracy in its purest form as farmers, teachers, and insurance agents conduct the business of their community. Shambroom lives in Minneapolis, and a selective list of his collections includes the Whitney Museum of American Art, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Museum of Modern Art , New York, the LA County Museum, the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago and the Walker Art Center. For further information or press prints please call the gallery, or contact us by e-mail at mail@saulgallery.com Images: in order of check list below Paul Shambroom Meetings SEPTEMBER 6- OCTOBER 12, 2002 Entrance: Stockton, Utah (population 567), Town Council, June 11, 2001. (L to R): Angie Harrison, Barry Thomas (Mayor), Claudia Baker 66 X 24" edition 3/5 Main Gallery: East Wall: Lewiston, Minnesota (population 1,405), City Council, March 10, 1999. (L to R): Roger Layfenburger (Mayor), Denny Engrav, Gary Sauers, Rob Rys (City Administrator) 66 X 24" edition 1/5 North Wall: Van Buren, Indiana, (population 955), Town Council, July 21, 1999. (L to R): Michelle Sexton (Clerk, Treasurer), Tony Manry (President), Marvin Surber, Dean Baker 66 X 33" edition 2/5 Wadley, Georgia (population 2,468), City Council, August 13, 2001. (L to R): Izell Mack, Charles Lewis, Albert Samples (Mayor), Robert Reeves (City Attorney), (not shown: Sallie Adams (City Clerk), John May, Edith Pundt) 66 X 33" edition 1/5 Markle, Indiana (population 1,228), Town Council, July 21, 1999. (L to R): Wayne Ridgley, Jay Fox (President), Jeff Stockman 66 X 33" edition 2/5 West Wall: Sedgwick, Arkansas (population 112), Board of Aldermen, May 13, 2002. (L to R): Wilma Britton (Recorder/Treasurer), Stanley Debon, Frankie Britton (Mayor), Clara manus (citizen), Beverly Fowler, Ezra Pierce (city policeman), Homer Harper, Charles Petty, Tommie Pierce (citizen) 66 X 33" edition 1/5 South Wall: Buckland, Massachusetts (population 1,943), Board of Selectmen, July 27, 1999. (L to R): Kevin P. Fox, John F. Brosnan (Chair) 66 X 33" edition 1/5 Dassel, Minnesota (population 1,134), City Council, March 15, 1999. (L to R): Nancy Nichalson, Ava Flachmeyer (Mayor), Jan Casey, Sherlyn Bjork (Deputy Clerk) 66 X 33" edition 2/5 All prints are archival pigmented inkjet on canvas with varnish. This project was funded in part by grants from the Creative Capital Foundation, the Jerome Foundation, the McKnight Foundation, the Bush Foundation, and the Minnesota State Arts Board. top For additional information contact the gallery back |
    
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