Opening Reception for new exhibition this Saturday

Come join us for the opening reception of Presence is Progress - an exhibition of photographs and a celebration of the Americans With Disabilities Act's 20th Anniversary.

Presence is Progress is a community arts project created by Park McArthur and made possible with a grant from the Town of Chapel Hill's Office of Public Affairs.

"As a group of people whose rights to work, attend school, and participate in civic life were only secured with the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990, people have been segregated and valued according to mobility for a long time. In addition to legislation that insists on barrier-free infrastructure, it is thanks to improvements in equipment technology and a decrease in the practice of institutionalization that people with disabilities have access to public spaces, in increasingly independent ways. Presence is Progress's mobilizations demonstrate publicly that mobility is not synonymous with walking. Photographs of the mobilizations add to our ideas of what progress looks like."

The opening reception for Presence is Progress will be this Saturday, July 24, 6-8pm. Guest speaker Vicki Smith, Executive Director of Disability Rights North Carolina, will speak at 7pm. A sign language interpreter will be provided.

The exhibition will be on view July 24 - August 7, 2010.

For more information about the project please visit www.presenceisprogress.wordpress.com

*image: Jess Isaiah Levin, Franklin Street, Chapel Hill, March 27th, 2010

Opening Reception for a new exhibition of photographs

Join us this Sunday, July 18 3-5 PM for an opening reception for the exhibition Seder.Table, a series of photographs by Galia Gur Zeev.

In this one-person exhibition, artist Galia Gur Zeev presents two series of photographs exploring family gatherings around the dining table, which join together to form a single show. The series Table consists of a wall piece depicting the diners around the table from a bird's-eye view; the series Seder is an elaboration of the former. In both series the table is nonexistent, and the meal did not really take place. In both, the relevant information emerges from the black.

The Passover Seder is one of the most important festive meals in Jewish tradition. This gathering rearranges the family unit each meal anew, demanding "stocktaking" of the family members, a routine, familiar and comforting ritual carried out from one meal to the next. A great deal of tension, excitement, joy and sadness come together in this occasion. The meeting around the table maps out the present and the absent; the change of roles in the soldier family, as well as those aspects which are an integral part of life, such as the figure, which places the family in Israel, reflecting a reality of constant anxiety.

Gur Zeev's photographs address a person's relationships with oneself, one's body, and one's family, portraying a universe centered on the home and family. While she portrays her own family, they always keep a certain distance, looking into the camera lens as if they were signifiers of the general concept of family.

For more information about the artist please visit her website at www.galiagurzeev.com

image: Seder, 2002, Galia Gur Zeev

New Works & Art Walk Report

exArt Walk Weekend - April 18 & 19, 2009 brought fabulous weather and more than 900 visitors to Through This Lens.

Works displayed here for the first time included 3 framed black & white prints by John Rosenthal, 2 b&w prints by Bruce Roberts - Elvis in 1956, and the famous "Suzy" from the early 1960s. Peter Armenia showed 3 Cibachrome prints along with a small selection of his greeting cards. We plan to show more of Mr. Armenia's work in November/December of 2009. Gene Furr, former N&O head photographer and prize winner, had 2 color nature scenes on the wall and several more in our print browser bins. Henry Greene loaned us 2 color prints from his India series - one in particular has a very strong graphic appeal.

One special note: We had one new image by Ami Vitale - a palladium print entitled "Eyes". It was hand-coated, and printed for her by Frank Hunter, and signed and numbered by Ms. Vitale. If you visit her web site, www.amivitale.com, "Eyes" is the lead image once the flash intro loads. This is also the first numbered and limited print issued by her. The print on display has been sold, but we can get another if you want to add to your collection. The edition is limited to 50 prints in this format.

In addition to the works and artists mentioned above, we also showed work by Jean-Christian Rostagni, Ami Vitale, Luke Powell, D.L. Anderson and more. This work will be on display through April 25th, but may be viewed by appointment after that date.