Gerardo Montiel Klint
September in San Antonio means Fotoseptiembre, the annual month-long international photography festival. This is your best chance to see some of the preeminent examples of the photographic arts. While not all of the many exhibits will appeal to Missions Unknown readers, some are definitely worth checking out.
The San Antonio Museum of Art presents “No Escape: Photographs of the Brothers Montiel Klint” which opened on Friday, September 4th and runs through February 13th, 2011. Mexico City photographers Fernando and Gerardo Montiel Klint present large-scale photographs of staged scenarios that have a dream-like feel. Curator David Rubin will host a free Conversation with Fernando and Gerardo Montiel Klint Tuesday, September 7th at 6:30 PM at SAMA. You can see some of Fernando Montiel Klint’s images on his Flickr page.
The exhibit “Slanted Glances: Idiosyncratic Interpretations of Independence & Revolution in Mexico” at the Instituto Cultural de México is on display from September 4th through October 24th, 2010. It features the work of 12 photographers exploring themes inspired by the centennial of the Mexican Revolution. Especally notable are the surreal images of Stanley Shoemaker entitled “Y Realidades”, Michael Mehl’s colorful collages and William Villafaña’s images of Mexican goth punk kids that could have been lifted right out of a dark cyberpunk novel. You can view the entire “Slanted Glances” collection online at the Fotoseptiembre Web Galleries, but they are much, much cooler in person.
Stanley Shoemaker
Also at the Instituto are the dark, moody photogravures of New Orleans photographer Josephine Sacabo. Entitled “Oyeme Con Los Ojos”, the series was inspired by the life and work of 17th century Mexican nun Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz who is acknowledged as on of the greatest poets and intellects of the Americas at the time. Sacabo’s extensive body of work evokes age and mystery in the darkly layered compositions. Some of these images are online at the Fotoseptiembre Web Galleries, but there are a lot more in the Instituto’s exhibit space and these need to be seen in real life to appreciate the power and mystique of the images.
Josephine Sacabo
San Antonio photographer and artist Ansen Seale will be showing his latest abstractions of reality in a show entitled Luminous Flux at Bismark Studios Fine Art Gallery. The show opens Thursday, September 9th from 5:30 to 9:30 PM and is on display until October 13th. Seale has invented his own special “slit scan” camera that records only those things that move or change (flux). Water is the main subject, but even that is only a medium for reflection and transmission of imagery. Realism and abstraction co-exist in Seale’s swirling vortex of color and light. Seale’s 100-foot-long “River of Light” piece for San Antonio’s 2010 Luminaria festival, done with a similar technique, is quickly becoming a thing of legend so this show is a must-see.
Joan Frederick, a San Antonio-based photographer, artist, writer and Indian art historian, will be showing some of her surreal photographs at Salute International Bar along with Mario Perez in a show called “Love Letters to San Anto” opening Friday, September 17th. The exhibit is on display September 1-30, 2010.
There are plenty more photography exhibits worth seeing. The Fotoseptiembre web site lists the entire 2010 Fotoseptiembre Exhibitions and Events Schedule and you can also download the full Program PDF or the 2010 Quick Sheet for a brief list of all the participating events. You will also fine Web Galleries of current and former shows on the site.
