THE MONTH OF AUGUST 2023



This August, Brant Mackley Gallery has a stellar exhibition of contemporary Sikyátkii revival pottery by Hopi potter Bobby Silas in his first solo exhibition and we are thrilled to be exhibiting photographs that complement this incredible work!

Silas is the first Hopi to use the lost tradition of lignite coal-fired pottery in hundreds of years. Bobby will be bringing new works weekly until Indian Market so come before the reception if you wish, the show is up and ready for viewing!

Below is a selection of the photographic works included in the exhibition, and visit the gallery to view the entire selection.

EDWARD CURTIS, A Hopi Girl, Plate 406, 1905, 15.5 x 11.25″ Image Size, 18 x 22″ paper size, vintage photogravure on Holland Van Gelder paper from Portfolio 12.

 

WILLIAM HENRY JACKSON. View in Tewa Looking Towards Walpi, AZ, 1875, (Nampeyo the Potter and her brother Tom Polacca on the roof of the Corn clan dwelling in the village of Hano), 1875. 4.5 x 6", Vintage albumen.

 

JOHN K. HILLERS. Walpi, Mokitown, Arizona, c.1872-3, 9.5 x 12.5”, vintage albumen print

 

Obscura Gallery is thrilled to welcome Debbie Fleming Caffery back to Santa Fe for a Summer solo exhibition, Portraits of Birds, a beloved project Debbie has undertaken most of her career. At a young age growing up on the Bayou Teche in Louisiana, Debbie was inspired by her grandfather, who raised doves, pigeons, and chickens and took her on day trips to visit wild birds. Throughout Debbie's career, she continued her passion for these creatures, photographing birds in many varied settings:  living wild in Louisiana, freed from animal markets in Mexico, and most recently rehabilitated as Avian Ambassadors in New Mexico. Debbie brings the same sensitivity into this stunning collection of black and white gelatin silver portraits of birds as she is known for when photographing people of various cultures.

VIEW THE VIRTUAL EXHIBITION HERE.



The artist reception takes place on Friday, July 7 from 5-7pm.

 

DOWNLOAD THE FULL PRESS RELEASE HERE.

VIEW THE ENTIRE BIRD PORTFOLIO HERE.

 

A select survey of photogravures representing over a century, with prints dating from as early as 1897 to contemporary prints made in 2023. The earliest print in this exhibition is by Alfred Stieglitz from his 1897 portfolio Picturesque Bits of New York and Other Studies created from a steel plate.  The most recent work included in the exhibition are 2023 abstract prints of New Mexico and Patagonia created from polymer plates by Santa Fean Eddie Soloway.

The photogravure is an intaglio print process that, in the early development of photography, was invented to produce high-quality ink reproductions of photographs, featuring deep shadows and luminous highlights. Early photographic pioneers Joseph Nicéphore Niepce and William Henry Fox Talbot invented the process in the 1840s, and then it was perfected in 1879 by Karl V. Klíč. Traditionally, photogravures were photographs that were etched into a metal plate using light sensitive carbon tissue. The plate was then inked and run through a printing press to produce a positive ink print known for its distinctive, luminous tonal qualities. With most contemporary photogravures, the metal plates have been replaced with polymer plates and other less toxic chemicals are used in the process.

 

DOWNLOAD THE FULL PRESS RELEASE HERE.

VIEW THE WORKS IN THE EXHIBITION HERE.

Visit us at BOOTH #113!

Obscura Gallery is devoting the entire 2023 AIPAD booth to a survey of the late Kurt Markus’s storied photographic career. Kurt Markus was “celebrated as a fine artist and a chronicler of the American West” as Alex Williams wrote in The New York Times when Markus passed away last year. Kurt is perhaps best known for his portraits of cowboys in the American West and also enjoyed a distinguished career as one of the world’s preeminent fashion photographers. Over the course of a decade, Obscura Gallery owner Jennifer Schlesinger curated three solo exhibitions of Kurt Markus’s work including The Fashion Years retrospective, Monument Valley 2002-2017, and Dunes, Namibia 2002-2008, as well as a Cowboys in the West exhibition, all of which will be included in Obscura Gallery’s booth at The Photography Show presented by AIPAD. Kurt’s latest book published posthumously, Christy, chronicles the travels he and model Christy Turlington made over the course of a 25 year-long friendship, and the book and prints will be available for sale in the AIPAD booth as well.

VIEW OUR INVENTORY OF KURT MARKUS'S WORK HERE.

PURCHASE AIPAD TICKETS HERE!