civilized ku # 59 ~ New York, New York pt. II

Aaron's opening night • click to embiggenNow the real game begins.

There is nothing like seeing a body of work all together on the wall(s). Even after be privy to Aaron's pictures right from the start, they really didn't hit me in the eye like a big pizza pie like they did when viewed together in a show.

An aside - IMO, if you are trying to find your voice/vision photography-wise, you must have a wall on which you can mount (tape, tack, whatever) a number of prints (of almost any size) - get as many on the wall as you can - in order to get a feel for how the 'speak' as a group.

Aaron's body of work speaks very well. While his individual images can be very interesting and engaging as 'stand-alones', their effect on the senses is magnified greatly when viewed as a whole. In a very real sense, for me, seeing the show was a 'new' look at his work. I was able to draw away from the personal connection I have to the artist and see it in a new light - something I had previously been unable to do.

I'll have much more on that topic in later post but the thing I wanted to mention today is note of encouragement to Aaron. Aaron is an impatient type - he wants everything now and I think he may have been a bit disappointed with the opening. In his head and heart I think he was hoping for a banner headline on the front page of the Sunday NY Times Art section that read something like, "NEW ART SENSATION! Gallery goers spend millions!! Ticket-tape parade planned for next week."

Needless to say, that didn't happen. What did happen was that a few more contacts were made and some more valuable feedback on the work was heard - things that, in due time, can prove to be very important. It's time (and his continued dedication to making pictures) that are the thing right now. He has accomplished extraordinary stuff in a very short period of time. It would not be inaccurate to say, an inordinate amount of stuff in a ridiculously short period of time.

Aaron's show will hang until the end of the year in a gallery that is geographically and figuratively on the very fringe of the epi-center of the Fine Art gallery world. Aaron's show is on display just a few blocks from shows of Edward Burtynsky and Andre Kertesz (more on both shows later). His pictures do not suffer by comparison - speaking metaphorically, he may not be in the same building, but he is in the same neighborhood with some mighty fine neighbors.

In addition to the aforementioned 'dedication', what Aaron needs to do is to keep the hustle going (the same one he used to get where he is now) and get out and meet the neighbors.

PS - on the subject of patience, Aaron should heed the words of his son Hugo who, on the drive to NYC with me, literally answered his own question - "Are we there yet?" - with this reply - "We'll be there when we get there." At which point, we just kept on trucking.

Comments

[Jean-Pierre Lavoie]

I like a lot Aaron's panoramic images and the fact that they almost all tell somekind of story. I'm sure there are some genes that Aaron got from someone "visually" gifted...

Unfortunately, I won't be able to go to see his exposition but I will try to follow his work from home.

Good luck for the NY show and hope to see a lot more.