DAN HOLDSWORTH – TRANSMISSION

In Transmission: New Remote Earth Views, Holdsworth appropriates topographical data to document the ideologically and politically loaded spaces of the American West in an entirely new way. In his images of the Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Mount Shasta, Mount St. Helens and Salt Lake City (Park City), we see stark, uninterrupted terrains where meaning is made through what it is absent, as much as what is seen. What at first appears to be a pure white snow-capped mountain is in fact a digitally rendered laser scan of the earth interpreted from United States Geological Survey data, a ‘terrain model’ used to measure climate and land change – to measure man’s effect on the earth.

Belying his empirical methodology is the fact that each of these terrains has a rich and conflicting cultural legacy. Beginning with the idealised aesthetic of the Romantic sublime via the deadpan industrial frames of the New Topographics photographers a century later, each has been subject to the gaze of artistic, political, and sociological categories claiming this territory as their own. Extending ideas of the frontier and seeing anew, Transmission captures the world as if from space, functioning not only as a map of the land but as a mapping of the discourses that these lands have come to represent.

Opposite – Mount Shasta D-2, 2012

Exhibition runs through to May 19th, 2012

Brancolini Grimaldi
43 – 44 Albemarle Street
London
W1S 4JJ

www.brancolinigrimaldi.com

JERRY MCMILLAN – THE ARTIST’S IMAGE

This exhibition demonstrates his inventive techniques and collaborative efforts at creating a persona rather than a mere likeness. Through symbolic and whimsically staged role-playing, McMillan produced implied narratives that were often intended for exhibition announcements and magazine advertisements. For example, when he was told that Judy Gerowitz was changing her name to Chicago and needed an image to announce her new name and upcoming exhibition, he put her in a boxing ring.

The tough, confrontational photo of Chicago, wearing boxing gloves with her name emblazoned across her chest, suggested a challenge to the male-dominated art scene in L.A. In fact, during the 60s, artists in L.A would one-up each other with ego-driven exhibition announcements picturing themselves in underwear, surfing, or performing other antics. In this vein, McMillan created a folding exhibition poster/invite for his friend Joe Goode that pictured the artist, but did not include Goode’s name, implying, that his name was not even necessary. The exhibition at Craig Krull Gallery will include McMillan’s vintage photos, contact sheets and examples of his work in exhibition announcements, catalogue design, magazine ads, and even personalized artist stationery. Jerry McMillan’s contributions in these areas were vital to the developing LA art scene, not simply in the presentation of L.A. artists, but in his shaping of how they were perceived.

Exhibition runs through to May 19th, 2012

Craig Krull Gallery
Bergamot Station
2525 Michigan Avenue
Building B-3 Santa Monica
California
90404

www.craigkrullgallery.com