Thanks to everyone who joined us for Vernissage yesterday! We had a great opening night and are looking forward to the first full day open to the public! Read on to learn more about some of our featured artists, many of whom are debuting new work at booth 402.
Omar Imam
In 2012, Syrian activist turned photographer Omar Imam (b. 1979 Damascus) was kidnapped and tortured by a militia and only let go when a friend intervened. Soon after, Imam left Damascus with his parents and wife, settling in Beirut where he and his wife started a family. In 2016, he moved to Amsterdam, where he currently resides. His wife and children finally received the paperwork that allowed them to join him. In his photographic works, Imam uses irony and a conceptual approach to respond to the violent situation in Syria, often publishing his work under a pseudonym. After leaving Damascus in late 2012, he began making fictional short films that often focus on the Syrian refugee experience. Individually and with NGOs, he has produced films, photographic projects, and workshops for Syrian refugees in Lebanon.
Imam’s newest project, Syrialism, directly confronts the reality of torture experienced by the artist himself, and other Syrian refugees who settled in Lebanon and various European countries. Like his earlier project Live, Love, Refugee, Imam met and talked with numerous Syrians, this time focusing on those who were abducted. Syrialism recreates painful memories to bring awareness about the psychological and physical torture that persists in the ongoing Syrian civil war. This new series seeks to question the perception of justice, revenge, home, assimilation, religion, and most importantly, how we receive facts and build connections. Omar Imam is both a witness and survivor, whose photographs reveal the human face of suffering.
Michael Koerner
Michael Koerner (b. Okinawa, Japan, 1963) is the oldest of five brothers. Due to genetic abnormalities and cancer, he is the only remaining living son. His brothers’ fates (and potentially his own one day) can be linked to their mother, who was eleven years old on August 9, 1945 when the atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. She lived in Sasebo, Japan, 45 miles away from the blast. The long-term effects of severe, acute exposure to gamma radiation led to his mother’s death at an early age, and all of his brothers. Koerner’s work explores his family history and genetics through small tintypes, using photographic chemistry to assimilate the bursts and biochemical fallout from the atom bomb. Koerner is the newest represented artist with CEG and over 30 of his plates are available for viewing at our booth.
Ysabel LeMay
Quebec born Ysabel LeMay found photography later in life, after a successful career working as a graphic artist for prominent advertising agencies. Seeking greater fulfillment, she turned to painting, and in 2002, left the corporate world to pursue painting full time. Eight years later, she turned her attention to photography, garnering significant success in a few short years. Combining her technical expertise with her painterly eye, LeMay creates photographs that challenge our perception of the landscape.
Lemay’s technique is very straightforward, yet extremely time consuming. She photographs flora, birds, tree limbs, flowers, and anything else she finds along her daily walks. Once back in the studio, she assembles all her files into her computer and starts layering images, using hundreds of individual files to construct each final photograph. Balancing color, light and subject, Ysabel LeMay creates pieces that vibrate with an intensity often experienced in dreams. Two of Ysabel’s newest pieces are on view in booth 402.
Serge Najjar
Six years ago Najjar started photographing the interaction of people and architecture in his native Beirut. Influenced by the work of Kazimir Malevich, Josef Albers, Ellsworth Kelly, Frank Stella, and Alexander Rodchenko, Najjar took to the streets, focusing his lens on daily routines: construction workers sitting on a building ledge during lunch break, the sharp lines of a high-rise facade, a man looking out an open window, and children sitting on a windowsill. Whether working in Beirut, Munich or other places he visits, Najjar’s vision is unwavering – to show other people what they may not see themselves. As he states:
“There is no such thing as an ideal place to photograph, or an ideal city. Architecture inspires me, but my whole approach towards photography is to focus on what people consider as common… the people I photograph are complete strangers. I never plan where I go and what or who to shoot. My images are faithful to what I see. And every single Saturday morning I am convinced that I will never capture the picture I had the chance to capture the week before…. It is a thin line between the ugly and the beautiful, the ordinary and the extraordinary, between chaos and order.”
As always, you can view the entire booth on our website here. Follow along here, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook for highlights and behind-the-scenes images throughout the week.
The Photography Show, presented by AIPAD
Pier 94, 711 12th Avenue at 55th Street
New York, NY 10019
Hours:
Thursday, April 5 through Saturday, April 7, 2018
VIP Hours: 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Public Hours: 12:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Sunday, April 8, 2018
VIP Hours: 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Public Hours: 12:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
#AIPAD2018 #ThePhotographyShow @AIPADphoto @edelmangallery
Catherine Edelman Gallery 