Art of Darkness – Bill Westheimer

Anish Kapoor’s installation “Memory” at the Guggenheim Museum is an astonishing and sublime experience. On view from October 21, 2009–March 28, 2010 you can see into the void of time and space. While you are there you can absorb the breadth and depth of the work of Wassily Kandinsky, too.

The online view of the exhibition is a very limited representation of the experience, but give it a try anyway.

The Alan Klotz Gallery will be showing 5 of my Waterflowers series in the Holiday show and sale.

located at 511 W 25th St 7th floor in New York’s Chelsea gallery district, the show will run from December 4th to 20th
with an opening reception Friday December 4th from 6-8pm (sorry I won’t be there.)

Special Gallery Hours: Wednesday – Saturday 12 – 6 pm and Sunday 12 – 5pm

This may the best show of the decade….

Man Ray at the Jewish Museum

With photographs, paintings, drawings, films, sculptures, books and of course Ray-o-grams it gives great insight into the man and his work. There is even a photo of Emmanuel Radnitzky at his bar-mitzvah.

Run, don’t walk to the Jewish Museum 1109 5th Ave at 92nd St. New York NY 10128 before March 14th 2010.

An article about MOMENTO appears in the December 2009 POP PHOTO Magazine on page 26.
“Modern Antiques” is the My Project feature.

The Art of Money – exhibit at the Arts Guild of New Jersey
November 13 – December 11 2009
Reception Sunday November 15, 1:00 – 4:00 pm
Gallery Hours Friday through Sunday 1:00 – 4:00 pm

I’ll be showing work from my Oenone series

Artists include
Bill Westheimer
Hanna Von Goeler
Adrienne Heath-Stiefel
MiYoung Sohn
Anne Schiffer
Alex Lockwood
Steve Lambert
John Kirchner
Max Infield
Lisa Ficarelli-Halpern
Tracie Fricasso
Marc Dos Santos
Joy Drury Cox
Ben Colebrook
Jean Brasile

ODDYSSEY – The Billiad

by Bill Westheimer

Oddyssey is a quirky photo journal of one man’s trip around the world – without leaving Ohio. With humor and style the traveler visits towns from Moscow to Mesopotamia, Congo to Calcutta, Aberdeen to York by way of Utopia and scores of other unlikely places all found in America’s heartland. As foreign as the place names are, the towns are disctinctly American. The photographs connect mid-America with the larger world. Oddyssey speaks to everyone’s sense of place.

This 64 page softbound book shows the author visiting 42 “foreign” towns in Ohio.

A preview PDF is available

Available from Amazon for $15.95
or directly from the artist with personalized inscription for $10.00

Free Inscription

My book of memories triggered by cameras is now available from Amazon for $19.95
and also directly from me with a personalized inscription for $15 plus shipping.


Free Inscription

More info about MOMENTO
and you can download a PDF preview

MOMENTO was reviewed by Douglas Stockdale on his The Photobook blog

A brush with the great Irving Penn

At the risk of making this blog seem like a bunch of obits, the death of Irving Penn reminded me of my brief interaction with him back in the mid 1980’s when I moved to New York and was looking for work as a photo assistant. Mr. Penn had served in the army in North Africa during WWII with my uncle. I contacted Mr. Penn asking to meet using my Uncle Bob as a reference and received a very nice note.

Artist, Photographer, Activist, and Educator Jerry Burchfield died on September 11, 2009 from Colon Cancer.

We’ll remember Jerry as an incredibly imaginative and creative artist, a generous and insightful mentor and educator, and a dedicated activist who took action to make his Southern California community a better place.

The LA Times obituary provides a good description of Jerry’s accomplishments.

Jerry was a mentor to me beginning in the mid-1980’s when I took his Cibachrome printing workshop in Breckenridge, CO. I learned how to make color prints, but more importantly I learned about what it means to be an artist. He taught us how to make camera-less color photograms, and I’ve been hooked on photogramming ever since. His generosity with his knowledge and his excitement about being a creative artist was a magnificent gift.

Over the years his many projects inspired me and many others to never be afraid to try new things, to always work to make our community a better place, and most importantly to share or techniques and knowledge with others.

Jerry made great art, from his projects with Mark Chamberlain documenting and helping to save Laguna Canyon to his Amazon Lumen prints to his dedication to the The Legacy Project: The El Toro/Orange County Great Park to his Exotics series. The depth and quality of his work is astounding.

Thank you Jerry.

Liz Goldner of Contemporary Art Dialogue has set up a blog site where you can comment on or write about your experiences with Jerry or the impact he had on your life.

A scholarship fund has been set up in Burchfield’s name. The family asks that donations be sent to the Cypress College Foundation, attention Laura Stephens, 9200 Valley View St., Cypress, CA 90630.

I don’t photograph only dead things and still lives. Recently sculptor and road warrior Kevin Caron came to visit while motorcycling from Phoenix to Cape Cod and back. I got him to hold still long enough to capture him using the collodion wet-plate process – glass negatives and tintypes posted to a blog seem to bridge the 19th and 21st centuries. Each exposure was about 10 seconds at f/16 in full sunlight.

The amazing Gigapan system uses a digital camera and a robotic camera holder to take multiple pictures of a scene. The pictures are stitched together on a desktop computer, uploaded and streamed from the gigapan.org website so that you can pan and zoom into the finest detail in huge pictures.

I have been experimenting with the gigapan system and have some pictures on the website..

View my studio – a 360 degree panorama of my workspace – you can even read my email..

The front of my home and studio – note that Petey appears twice.

The home of Thomas Alva Edison

Edison’s grave and the back of his house.

there are so many amazing pictures on the gigapan website – explore and enjoy.

click! photography changes everything is a collection of essays and stories by invited contributors and visitors like you discussing how photography shapes our culture and our lives.

Explore how photography changes Who We Are, What We Do, What We See, Where We Go, What We Want and What We Remember.

Curated by Marvin Heiferman, this website discusses how photography influences cultures and societies.

A time line of surreal and layered imagery from 1857 to 2007 – a pretty amazing compilation of the evolution of complex imagery.

nu-real seeks to be preliminary critical survey that traces a possible alternate history of photomontage and fantastic photography, and the possible influences upon it. It is not about the classic propagandist photomontage that juxtaposed elements in the manner of modernist graphic design. It only briefly touches on the surrealist photographers of the same period.

nu-real is about a constructed tableaux photography that seeks a relatively coherent and blended co-presence of elements, usually presenting these as an enigma in a stage-like space. This 150-year old approach to visualising the fantastic is now flourishing in contemporary art photography, but it still has no name; and so I have provisionally termed it the “nu-real”.

created by D. Haden – School of Theoretical and Historical Studies BIAD Birmingham City University

Bill Westheimer & Charles Schwartz’s Camera Obscura work
is included in the show from April 9th – May 2nd 2009 at
Alan Klotz Gallery
511 West 25th Street, Suite 701
New York New York 10001
Tel: 212 741 4764
EMAIL: info@klotzgallery.com

Reception:
Thursday April 23rd, 6 – 8 PM

This show explores relationships between images which would be described as more visual than thematic.
It is freewheeling and experimental.
The show features work by:
Charles Schwartz and Bill Westheimer
Pavel Banka
Carolyn Marks Blackwood
William Christenberry
Rebecca Cummins
Alyson Denny
Gilbert Fastenaekens
Terri Garland
Tetsugo Hyakutake
Melissa Ann Pinney
Robert Richfield
Aaron Siskind
Andrew Thompson

Known for his outspoken and brash wisdom, Jay Maisel shares his stuff on Scott Kelby’s Photoshop Insider Blog

Nobody Asked Me, But…
When I was starting out (okay, 55 years ago) I showed my work to an art director named Bob Cato. He went thru my folio carefully, slowly, closed the book and said, “You walk too fast.” I’ve been thinking about that a lot lately. At first I had no idea what the hell he was talking about, but over the years it has become clear. It’s about the intimacy of walking.

Think of it this way… In the 20th century some of the most memorable images were taken from the moon, jets, small planes, and helicopters, and each showed us the world a bit more intimately from points of view we never experienced before. As we got closer to the surface of the earth we began to see more evidence of mankind. We can find exciting examples of images shot from boats, trains, cars, etc., all of which are closer to the subjects and begin to be more than studies or patterns. It is, however, not as intimate, since after all, you’re still in a moving vehicle. It is not until you start walking that you begin to see details of life, where insights, evaluations, and relationships come to you. So finally, I began to understand what Cato said. I was walking too fast. I had confused covering ground with comprehension. When we shoot we should savor what goes on in front of us, allow things to develop, anticipate things, not be in such a hurry to move on to see how much more we can see quickly and superficially. It’s all there, if we take our time and look, things have a way of happening in front of you. Standing still is also a good way of covering things; just let the world come to you. To paraphrase an old cliché – Don’t do something, just stand there. Be patient. Read the Photoshop Insider blog featuring Jay Maisel!

visit Jay Maisel’s website

Bill’s salt prints of the Manual Project, the limited edition book MANUAL and tintypes of hands and cameras will be available at Charles Schwartz Ltd. – booth #317 at AIPAD – the Association of International Photography Art Dealers show at the Park Avenue Armory March 26-29 2009. The Armory is located at 643 Park Avenue between 66th and 67th Streets.

Bill will be at the show on Friday and Saturday – come say hi and see the work.

Announcing the new 24 print 20″x16″ edition of silver gelatin prints of my aerial photographs of the Elk Mountain Range.

In 1982 I photographed the mountains surrounding Aspen Colorado from a light plane. The photographs were made for Mountain Rescue-Aspen. MRA is “A volunteer organization dedicated to saving lives through backcountry rescue and mountain safety education.” I was a volunteer and member of the board of directors of Mountain Rescue Aspen at that time. Working with fellow volunteer Don Hose who flew the 1948 Piper Super Cub I rode in the back seat photographing out the open window. The photographs were compiled in three ring binders for planning rescues. At the time we published a portfolio of 15 14″x11″ silver gelatin prints in an edition of 50 to raise money for MRA. That portfolio sold out immediately.

The new 20″x16″ edition adds 9 previously unprinted images and is limited to three prints of each of the 24 images. One set of 15 of the new prints has sold. Two complete sets are still available as well as one set of the 9 new images. The prints are on Oriental Seagull fiber base paper archivally processed. The nine remaining prints from the first set are priced at $1100 each. The second set of prints are available for $1250 each (or $24,000 for the full set of 24 prints) and the third set are available for $1500 each or $30,000 for the full set of 24 prints.) I will donate 10% of the proceeds from sets 2 and 3 to Mountain Rescue Aspen. Contact me directly for purchase.

Photographer and printer John Delaney has made some extraordinary portraits of the nomadic Kazakh people who have been displaced to western Mongolia. The prints are on exhibit at the Farmani Gallery in Brooklyn through February 28, 2009

For Insecta Fantasia, artist Jennifer Angus creates installations composed of thousands of preserved insects pinned directly to the gallery walls in repeating patterns that reference both textiles and wallpaper. Her work is influenced by the Victorian era and evokes the Victorian aesthetic of taste, clutter and exotica during a period when travel, exploration and scientific study were immensely popular.

Angus’ installation will be on view in The Ballantine House, the Museum’s restored nineteenth-century Victorian mansion. The artist has created a fictitious history of the Ballantines in which two family members were amateur entomologists.

Visitors will delight in seeing exotic insects arranged in kaleidoscopic patterns and fairy-tale scenes.

BETWEEN ORDER AND DISORDER – An exhibit of Bill’s large giclee prints is scheduled for the Brassworks Gallery – 105 Grove Street, Montclair, NJ – January 22 through April 15, 2009. The two person show will also feature paintings on paper by Harriet Finck. There will be an opening the evening of Thursday January 22, 2009 from 6-9 pm. Downloadable Invitation (PDF)