The Dazzling Damaged Photographs of Paul Anthony Smith
Paul Anthony Smith pierces & picks the surface of his photographs thousands of times to create a surface that is both scarred & dazzling.
Paul Anthony Smith pierces and picks the surface of his photographs thousands of times to create a surface that is both scarred and dazzling; that is visually magnetic and yet obscuring. The textured images are on view in a double-venue show titled “Junction” at two Jack Shainman Gallery locations in Chelsea, New York through May 11th, 2019.
Lands Apart (detail)
Paul Anthony Smith uses a technique he calls ?picotage?, to cut into and lift the surface of the photograph into geometric patterns over images he personally photographs. When viewing the works in person, the greatest surprise is that the white sections change and introduce NEW patterns when viewed from the right or the left. Visible in the two images below, this strange phenomenon is the result of the angle he gouges the paper. When viewed from an angle, the scars in the paper will either mask their damage or reveal more of the torn white paper. So the thick white bars in “Junction” (below) will split into a dark stripe and a light stripe when viewed from the side, and then reverse when viewed from the opposite side. In the same way, Smith can reveal or hide select portions of the image when viewing from an angle. Junction, 2018
Junction (detail)
The content of the images explores “the rich and complex histories of the post-col...
Paul Anthony Smith pierces and picks the surface of his photographs thousands of times to create a surface that is both scarred and dazzling; that is visually magnetic and yet obscuring. The textured images are on view in a double-venue show titled “Junction” at two Jack Shainman Gallery locations in Chelsea, New York through May 11th, 2019.
Lands Apart (detail)
Paul Anthony Smith uses a technique he calls ?picotage?, to cut into and lift the surface of the photograph into geometric patterns over images he personally photographs. When viewing the works in person, the greatest surprise is that the white sections change and introduce NEW patterns when viewed from the right or the left. Visible in the two images below, this strange phenomenon is the result of the angle he gouges the paper. When viewed from an angle, the scars in the paper will either mask their damage or reveal more of the torn white paper. So the thick white bars in “Junction” (below) will split into a dark stripe and a light stripe when viewed from the side, and then reverse when viewed from the opposite side. In the same way, Smith can reveal or hide select portions of the image when viewing from an angle. Junction, 2018
Junction (detail)
The content of the images explores “the rich and complex histories of the post-col...
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