July News From Castell Photography

Castell Photography is pleased to announce the opening of their newest exhibition, Personae, featuring photo-based works from artists Timothy Pakron, Rebecca Cairns, and Tobia Makover on Friday, July 6th, from 6p.m. to 8p.m.. In addition, Castell Photography’s June group exhibition, Vignettes, has been extended through the month of July, allowing patrons to view an enormous variety and scope of exceptional photo-based media this summer at the gallery.

Work by Timothy Pakron

Timothy Pakron is an emerging artist from the coast of Mississippi, and currently lives in Brooklyn NY. He is widely exhibited and currently represented by Castell Photography. Pakron’s drippy, evocative portraits are each one of kind, crafted by hand in a traditional darkroom. After creating a negative on film, Pakron develops the image selectively onto the paper to uncover only details of a face he wishes his audience to see. Discussing his process and how it relates to its concept, Pakron states: “To me, a successful portrait has a presence. It has weight. The portrait evokes the emotional presence of the subject as well as the viewer. In my exploration, the defining goal is to create a portrait that becomes an experience to view. Hand painting the developer in the darkroom, intentionally revealing specific, desired aspects of the face in the negative, creates a stark negative space that gives the portrait a lucidity. The portraits embody their own unique strangeness.”

Work by Rebecca Cairns

Rebecca Cairns, an emerging artist originally from Canada, currently resides in Berlin, Germany. Her work has been featured in many international exhibitions and publications. Cairns’ dark and moody images invoke Francesca Woodman with her own use of self as character study, as well as her dramatic, often surreal use of space, time, and motion. Cairns’ work explores the themes of isolation and disassociation. The artist says her aim is to “delve into the unformed, incomplete, and indefinite states of human existence-- the fragments between dreaming and waking life; fiction and reality. It is an the exploration of the environments that house the body and act as its vessel.”

Work by Tobia Makover

Tobia Makeover, from Savannah, GA, is an internationally award winning fine art photographer who has exhibited around the world, notably at the National Portrait Gallery in London, Les Ateliers de L’image in St. Remy, France, PH-Neutro in Verona, Italy, the Griffin Museum in Boston, and AIPAD in New York. Makeover’s works are encaustic on photographs. Through this process, the wax acts as a gauzy haze over the haunting, and often romantic, images of a blurred female figure existing within a space or landscape. Makeover says, “In all bodies of work and life, I contemplate the physicality of our existence... questioning the importance of our being and the impact of our time here while examining the tension between holding on and the desire to let go.”

Gallery owner Brie Castell: “In this group show, Personae, we, as the viewers, are allowed to experience little pieces of characters in which the artist presents to us in a variety of ways, and we in turn make our own perceptions of who these people are. Are these real people or are they characters? How do we perceive the figure or face in the frame based on what the artist is presenting to us? The offerings in this exhibition are certainly figurative, but also deeply narrative, and it is wonderful to experience and question these characters, perceptions, and stories.”

The opening reception for Personae will be held on Friday, July 6th from 6p.m. to 8p.m. Specialty cocktails will be served to celebrate the evening. The show will remain on exhibit through July 28th. Castell Photography’s June exhibition, Vignettes, featuring Dan Estabrook, Sharon Hart, and Stacey Page, has also been extended through the month of July.