A special thank you to Carolee Jakes, who curated Microcosm-Macrocosm!
Enjoy Studio Gallery’s current photo exhibit
Ends Nov. 18: Microcosm-Macrocosm at Studio Gallery.
“Nature Human (2),” by Iwan Bagus in Microcosm-Macrocosm at Studio Gallery
“Studio Gallery’s 12-person group photography exhibition is billed as an exercise in determining whether a given artist sees the world “in a single leaf or in an overview of a forest? … Do they work large or small?” In reality, though, a more pertinent axis for understanding it is whether the artist presents reality straight or improves upon it digitally.”
Lee Smith, Writer, Hillsboro, North Carolina by Susan Raines
“Several artists clearly inhabit the realistic side, including Susan Raines, with her straight ahead black-and-white portraits of characters from around the U.S.; Gary Anthes, with color scenes from the antique environs of Morocco and Cuba; Steven Marks, with explorations of D.C.’s side streets and storefronts; and Jo Levine, with subtle, earth-toned images of lichens on tree trunks.
A few offerings are clearly less than pure photography, including Suliman Abdullah’s collages, as well as works in which Suzanne Goldberg takes pieces of photographs and then paints around them.”
MicroView by Suliman Abdullah
“But some of the exhibit’s most intriguing, if also most puzzling, works are those that leave the viewer wondering how much manipulation was involved. Lynda Andrews–Barry offers a series of small images with almost ridiculously hyperreal colors—a Wayne Thiebaud-style array of brightly colored sweets; a graffiti-covered street utility box in hotter-than-hot pink; and an otherworldly scene (in Rockville!) with a bright red stop sign, a royal blue sky, and a fiery yellow street lamp. Beverly Logan offers informal scenes that look just a little bit off-kilter—as do the images by Bob Burgess, which include a circular-shaped tree oddly well-lit against a black sky, a puff of mist in Paris’ Luxembourg Gardens, an elevated view of a manicured park that echoes works by André Kertesz, and a stunningly orange Chesapeake Bay-scape notable for its shimmery, circular reflections of light.”
Cloud Cover by Bob Burgess
“Ultimately, the most satisfying package may be from Lisa Battle, who photographs abstract patterns on weathered sandstone rocks in Scotland. Smartly, Battle uses brushed metal as her printing surface; the subtle, horizontal ruts in the metal add a welcome visual contrast to her images’ strong diagonal lines.”
Microcosm I by Lisa Battle
Microcosm-Macrocosm group photography exhibit Through Nov. 18 at Studio Gallery, 2108 R St. NW. studiogallerydc.com. 202-232-8734
Review by Louis Jacobson, The Washington City Paper, November 2023. Thank you!