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Artist Statement:
I came to pinhole photography
from
my involvement with Palladium
printing some ten years ago.
With
hand coated emulsions, I was
making
contact prints of my 6 x 7 cm
negatives, but because the
negatives
were so small, I created
multiple
image prints. By combining
two,
three, four or more negatives,
I
made a larger picture. Then I
found
the oatmeal pinhole camera for
making 8x10 inch negatives and
I
really like the distortion and
the
extreme wide angle of the
round camera.
I have experimented with
plastic
cameras, panoramic cameras,
four lens
3D cameras, video cameras and
a
flatbed scanner as a camera.
The
pinhole camera is a delight
because
it gives me results that are
constantly a surprise.
I enjoy being able to make an
image
rooted in 16th Century pinhole
optics,
and then juxtapositing that
with 21st
Century digital print
manipulations.
The final image is a perfect
blend
of these opposites. In my
diverse
series, I have always tried to
find
a mix of image and process.
...
Further Information
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Artist Exhibitions:
2001
"RED", Donskoj & Co., group
show, Kingston NY
"Digital & Silver
Photography", Barrett Art
Center, solo show,
Poughkeepsie, NY
"Engaging Pictures", Samuel
Dorsky Museum of Art, group
show, New Paltz, NY
"Why Pin Hole?", Visual
Studies Workshop,
International group show,
Rochester, NY
2000
"Fishin", Time and Space
Limited, curated group show,
...
Further Information
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Artist Galleries:
Coming Soon!
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Collections:
Coming Soon!
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Commissions:
Coming Soon!
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Reviews for Dan Mccormack:
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The work in this exhibition by Dan McCormack not only harkens back
to the past but explores new advances which this past century has
brought to the medium of photography. McCormack proves through
these pinhole images of the female body that this medium can no longer
be considered the poor cousin of the art world. Rather, photography
under this artist’s watchful eye is now on the same level as easel painting
and the other “fine arts” which have a longer and more illustrious history.
Viewing these images makes it impossible for those who feel that
photography is a "craft" rather than an "art" to continue to hold such
beliefs. Besides being photographs, Dan McCormack’s images can
certainly be considered a form of painting on the highest level. Yet,
instead of the paint brush, the artist uses some of the technological advances that our modern
world has given us to fill his "canvases".
The images of the female form, which McCormack so beautifully captures, are both mysterious
and electrifying The power in these works comes not only from the masterful handling of the
medium but also from their commanding sense of presence. Not only are these images evocative
in the broadest sense of the word, but they also appear as lyrical statements. The gracious curves
of each body are as harmonious as a grand opera or a symphony. They ebb and flow as a
crescendo causing the viewer to sit up and take notice.
Viewed as a whole, these works can be likened to Pablo Picasso’s powerful, distorted nudes.
Yet this is where the similarity ends for McCormack takes these twisted and elongated forms and
injects them with a dose of 21st century color. The vibrancy of the work is a tribute not only to
modern technology but more importantly to the gifted eye of the artist. The lesson to be learned
by viewing these photographs is that form, function, and color, used in the proper way, are tools
that allow a talented artist to create masterpieces. McCormack’s images are truly masterpieces.
Twentieth century photographer Andre Kertesz once commented "...anyone can make a
photograph of the human body. It is the sign of a true artist when he can infuse the ordinary figure
with a special sense of wonder." How true this is of Dan McCormack’s work! He takes the
literal and allows us, the viewers, to be transported to worlds without boundaries. The female
nude is no longer just a nude female but a supple and allusive form bordering on the poetic and
the profound.
While pinhole images have enjoyed a long and illustrious history, McCormack’s images, made by
using this simple and direct method, are far from being simplistic. His female nudes gyrate with
energy. They sing to us sweet arias. They challenge our perception of how the human body
should look. Yet, more importantly, they transport us to a dream-like environment where
anything and everything is possible. In the stillness of these delicate images there is a powerful
voice calling out. As viewers we must stop and listen for it is only then that the true meaning of
each work rises to the surface.
Wayne Lempka
Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art
State University of New York - New Paltz
February 2001
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