On Sept. 21, Mason Murer Fine Art held an opening reception for Impaired Perceptions by Atlanta artist and SCAD graduate, Brian Charles Steel, as well as a juried exhibition presented by Women In Focus, a network of female photographers based in Atlanta, GA. Both exhibitions are being held in conjunction with the ongoing Atlanta Celebrates Photography festival.
A series of black and white portraits of people with physical impairments. Impaired Perceptions challenges social constructs regarding normalcy and ideals of physicality. The portraits are intended to empower their subjects and challenge the viewer’s preconceptions. Traditional elements of photographic and painting portraiture are used to draw the viewer’s gaze to an individual subject’s face. As viewer and subject look eye-to-eye, the humanity and individuality of each subject shows that they are not limited by so-called handicaps, but by the social conceptions of their formal physical differences. Steel, who was born with short fiber syndrome, a nerve condition that affects muscle strength and development, uses himself as the subject in one of the portraits, allowing him to take control of social reactions to his bodily differences through a united display of beauty in non-traditional physical forms.
The gallery is also featuring a black and white photo encaustic series entitled Lyrical Musings by Deanne Andrus, second-year SCAD graduate photography student. Inspired by the depression she experienced after her children left home, Andrus uses people, objects, and natural spaces to create visual representations of “healing, hope, and memory.” Treating the work “like poetry”, she allowed thoughts and emotions associated with having a sooner-than-she-expected “empty nest” to guide her photography. This has resulted in a series of deeply personal imagery as her family members and familiar landscapes become her subjects.
Deanne describes memories of her childhood and of her father, “a bee man” who kept about 800 – 900 hives. “When the harvest was done, he’d gather the beeswax and he’d sell it to cosmetic companies, because beeswax contains healing elements. So for me, to put that on top of [these photographs], it was very specifically done to represent healing.” This tangibly symbolic healing element is introduced to the photos through the methodical process of melting wax smooth, starting from one side and turning the square, until four even layers create the desired foggy-sheen surface, indicative of dream space. Deanne credits the creation of Lyrical Musings and her overall experience at SCAD with helping her heal emotionally and preparing her to face the uncertainty of an unknowable future.
- Photo by Priscilla Alarcon.
Mason Murer Fine Art is located at 199 Armour Drive Atlanta, GA 30324. Exhibition runs through Nov. 1, 2012. For more information call 404.879.1500 or visit http://www.masonmurer.com
More information about these artists can be found at http://www.briancharlessteelphotography.com and http://www.deanneandrus.com
