Owned and operated by Denise Barron and Jerry Hayes, Artistic Endeavors Gallery, in Historic La Villita, in downtown San Antonio, presents the FOTOSEPTIEMBRE USA exhibit There And Back Again: Celebrating The 40th Anniversary Of The Moon Landing. This series of images made by Apollo 11 Astronauts, Neil Armstrong, Edwin Aldrin and Michael Collins, are from the collection of Jerry Hayes.
The photography display Faces Of San Antonio by City of San Antonio Photographer Fred Gonzalez is on display at the Airport Art Space in the mezzanine level of Terminal 1. The exhibit is organized and coordinated by the City of San Antonio’s Public Art Office, Aviation Department and the Department of Communications and Public Affairs.
James Gonzalez called over two years ago with the intent of showing us his images to see if we’d be interested in presenting an exhibit of his work in FOTOSEPTIEMBRE USA. Back then, his portfolio included a smattering of very well composed images of a wide variety of subjects. We felt that his images showed promise but we were not seeing the cohesiveness or consistency necessary for a well produced exhibit. We saw several abstracted images we felt were a strong suit, and asked him to produce a series of photographs in that vein. He came back a year ago with even more images to show us. We again asked him to further refine and develop his work. Earlier this year, he presented us with an accomplished, cohesive body of work, well suited for an exhibit, which we agreed to curate and include as part of our Signature Exhibit series.
He then proceeded to find a venue for his work, in this case the American Payroll Association – San Antonio Learning Center, which has a respectable track record of providing exhibition space, promotions, and receptions for local artists.
Thus, Pictures Without A Story, an exhibit of images by James Gonzalez, the second in our series of 2009 Signature Exhibits, and another example of our festival’s commitment to developing local, talented image-makers.
In James Gonzalez’s words: Most of my photographs are in the city or in the suburbs because this is where I live. And though that environment may seem at odds with anything “spiritual”, I see the magic alongside or embedded in the concrete and the manufactured, in leaves and in water, in the sky or in shadows, inside my house or inside my car—everywhere.
Some of my pictures are experimental. It’s my belief that a camera has a unique ability to distort reality leaving for the viewer a piece of that real magic. In magic, this is called an optical illusion, like looking at a swirling disk and then looking away and watching objects and people expand. But instead, my photographs are stretched, blurred, and distorted to begin with, and what is left, is an essence of that magical experience.
One of or goals as festival organizers is to help develop local, talented image-makers, advising and assisting them to produce and promote a presentable body of work within the framework of FOTOSEPTIEMBRE USA. For the 2009 festival, we worked with two artists whose images are shown as part of our 2009 Signature Exhibits series.
One of these talented photographic artists is John Keoni Viriyapunt, whose Alapi’i series of digitally altered images of staircases is on display in the downstairs bar area of Silo Elevated Cuisine on Austin Highway. Alapi’i is Hawaiian for steps. John is a creative director and graphic designer with very impressive credentials in the advertising world. He has always been a photography enthusiast, and for years has expressed his desire to experiment with photography as an art form. Finally, over a year ago, he approached us and asked us to assist him with his project, with the goal of having an exhibit of his images as part of the FOTOSEPTIEMBRE USA Festival.
We agreed to help direct the project and curate the exhibit for him. We also encouraged him to find a venue with a track record of supporting local artists, with enough of a remove from the artsy beaten paths; helping to add a varied contextual layer to the festival. We’re glad he found and opted to show his images at Silo Elevated Cuisine.
The exhibit is already on display. The artist’s reception will be on Thursday, September 24, from 6:30 to 9 pm. We will post our photos of the opening reception after that date.
Taking a break from his day job, Ricardo Romo, UTSA President, has put together Small Town Texas, an exhibit of images that document the distinct cultures and histories of the South Texas towns of Cuero, Devine, Floresville, Kingsbury, Nixon and Yoakum. Curated by Arturo Almeida, the show, which is on display in the Witte Museum’s Focus Gallery, accurately reflects Romo’s ongoing interest in his native, South Texas roots.
Ricardo Romo became the fifth president of The University of Texas at San Antonio in May 1999. A native of San Antonio’s West Side, Dr. Romo graduated from Fox Tech High School and attended The University of Texas at Austin where he received a bachelor of science in education. He holds a master’s degree in history from Loyola Marymount University and a Ph.D. in history from UCLA.
The Witte Museum is San Antonio ‘s premiere museum of South Texas history, culture, and natural science. Located in Brackenridge Park, on the banks of the San Antonio River, the Witte offers permanent exhibits that include dinosaur skeletons, cave drawings, wildlife dioramas, and even some live animals. Several historic homes have been reconstructed on the campus, which also features the very popular H-E-B Science Treehouse. Changing galleries include Texas artists, textiles and showcase exhibits, locally produced, and traveling national exhibits.
Well folks. Here we are. Our first opening reception for the 2009 FOTOSEPTIEMBRE USA Festival and it’s only the third week in August. As our friend, Express News journalist Elda Silva says: It’ still Agosto and yet Septiembre is already kicking in.
Six more weeks of exhibits and events to follow. Yeeeha!
Gallery Nord, in Castle Hills, an airy contemporary art gallery owned and directed by Carina Gors, is hosting two FOTOSEPTIEMBRE USA exhibits. New Works by San Antonio photographer Kemp Davis, features a new series of images created specifically for this exhibit. Our favorites are his color images, all kind of wacky, all straightforward studio photography. No Photoshop, says Kemp. Just good old fashioned studio sleight of hand. Panoramic Photographs by German photographer Jaroslav Poncar, consists of an elegant grouping of, yes, panoramic images of France, India, and Burma. Made with an antique Russian panoramic camera, Jaroslav Poncar’s images are striking in their understated simplicity. You can see more of his work in his web site, http://www.poncar.de/.
