THE WHIP | Opening Reception | Jessie Mann & Rivers Scott Fisher with Liz Liguori & Vienne Rea

for immediate release: 05/19/2015 THE WHIP :: enlightening animation of a mysterious or sudden source Jessie Mann & Rivers Scott Fisher collaborating with Liz Liguori & Vienne Rea June 13 – July 18, 2015 Thrive & Jordan Faye Contemporary are thrilled to present four enigmatic artists Jessie Mann, Rivers Scott Fisher, Liz Liguori, and Vienne Rea in an exhibition entitled The Whip :: enlightening animation of a mysterious or sudden source. The Whip features groundbreaking photographs (coined electromagnetograms) by Mann & Liguori, abstract paintings by Fisher, and a series of digital colleges called COVERGIRL by Fisher & Rea. The Opening Reception for this exhibition is on Saturday June 13 / 7:00 - 10:00pm. There will also be a Meet the Artists event on Thursday July 9 at 5:30pm. Jordan Faye Contemporary is located at 218 W Saratoga Street on the Top floor of The MAP Building. The gallery is free and open to the public Tuesday – Thursday 12 – 6p, Saturdays from noon until 5p and also by appointment. ABOUT THE WORK Jessie Mann and Liz Liguori’s works are electromagnetograms, a term coined by Mann and Liguori. Using the chemicals and methods typically involved in photography in new and unusual ways, along with Liguori’s laser light system and Mann’s painting, Liz and Jessie, in collaboration with the Mountain Lake team, created a completely new artistic process. The resulting images are lens-less photographs; the image produced is the result of chemical interactions and laser light exposures. Unlike photographs, there is no original image imprinted on the photo paper. Rather, the resulting abstract image is built using photographic processes, laser light and painting. Digital photography has taken over the representationalist work that photography once took over from painting. Just as painting, once freed from its responsibility to accurately reflect the world, expanded into impressionism and abstraction, so too have traditional photographic processes expanded their repertoire of image making styles once no longer responsible for naturalism or historical account. As with painting, we are seeing photography redeploy traditional techniques to create new and unique images that are no longer tied to reflecting the world. Instead of reflecting the world photography is now free to explore the lines, texture, and color of the medium isolated from content, much as the abstract painters did with painting. Artists like Hiroshi Sugimoto, Gerhard Richter, Dirk Braeckman, Marco Breuer, Chris Mccaw, Sally Mann, Alan Jarai are reinventing photography as a method of abstraction. Clement Greenburg outlines the hallmarks of abstract expressionism as “large and conspicuous rhythms, broken color, uneven saturations, exhibited finger marks, masses that blot and fuse”, Mann and Liguori’s work is an attempt to recreate these elements but with photographic processes rather than paint. It is a rediscovery of the elements of photography as they can be employed toward an abstract expressionist end. This work was inspired by Ralph Eugene Meatyard’s abstractions (1957-1972). These electromagnetograms use some of the same methods Meatyard introduced and expand on his process. These works are an effort to explore the essence of the medium; independent of content, in the same way that abstract expressionism was an effort at exploring the essence of painting free of content. The electromagnetogram is an effort at isolating light, surface, saturation, and rhythm through the photographic process. Alongside the electromagnetograms are paintings by Rivers Scott Fisher. With no previous training in painting Fisher felt Abstract Expressionism was not only a creative outlet, but a form of creative challenge as well. Painting offered a new creative language and a new artistic independence to him. Fisher had admired such painters as Willem de Kooning, Franz Kline and Robert Motherwell, first generation painters before him. His paintings come from a place of intuition and pure emotion. Vienne Rea often collaborates with Fisher on his Abstract Expressionist paintings. Her sculptural sensibilities take the form of metal brackets, cords, and embellishments on Fisher’s paintings. These additions bring another level to the vibrant collage of image, color and gesture present in the work. Sometimes emphasizing the edges of the canvas, sometimes breaching them, Rea’s contributions activate the texture and space in Fisher’s paintings. For the full press release & artists bios please use the link. http://www.jordanfayecontemporary.com/THE_WHIP_Exhibition_Page.html ABOUT JFC & THRIVE Jordan Faye Contemporary is located in the Bromo Arts & Entertainment District and has recently expanded to a 3300 sq. ft. space. Our new home is in the Maryland Art Place Building at 218 W Saratoga Street on the Top floor. The gallery is open Tuesday thru Thursday 12–6pm, Friday and Saturday from 12–5pm and by appt. Jordan Faye Contemporary has continued to redefine the role of the gallery, creating exhibitions to meet the specific needs of artists and art enthusiasts in Baltimore. Founded in 2006 as a platform to give emerging artists a wider audience, we champion the work of early to mid-career artists. Through our gallery exhibitions, artists talks, professional development workshops and presenting work at international art fairs, Jordan Faye Contemporary exposes the larger arts community to the engaging and thought-provoking work of dozens of artists. Currently the gallery represents fifteen artists, who are now at various stages in their careers. Our mission is to show work that is not only of contemporary interest but will be of lasting historical significance. Thrive is an Arts, Consulting and Residency Program developed by Jordan Faye Contemporary. Thrive is dedicated to enriching the lives of artists, curators and the community in which they reside. Thrive offers consulting, workshops and extended residency experiences. Thrive also provides individual artists with short exhibition opportunities designed to help navigate today's art world. Thrive grants curators and arts organizations exhibition space to assist them in reaching a broader audience while mentoring them in the curatorial process. Thrive Artist Exhibitions are the next generation of Jordan Faye Contemporary's Salon Series designed to create a more inclusive, insightful community of emerging artists, curators, writers & musicians who wish to share the wealth and knowledge of their collective experiences with one another. ............................................................................................. For more information and images, please contact: Jordan Faye Contemporary 218 W Saratoga, Top Floor Baltimore, MD 21201 curator@jordanfayecontemporary.com www.jordanfayecontemporary.com TEL: +1 443 955 1547 Gallery hours :: Tues - Thurs 12 - 6pm & Sat 12 - 5pm