Thursday, August 3, 2017

Exhibition - Forged Worlds - United Photo Industries

We visited Dumbo, in Brooklyn to view Forged Worlds outdoor exhibition curated by United Photo Industries' Sam Barzillay.

"The summer of 2016, a time for a change; time for new experiences and new adventures....Time to share new stories, while we continue to explore the depths of the photographer’s imagination. Working in partnership with the DUMBO BID and the NYC Department of Transportation, UPI shares with you work by seven talented visual artists, whose photographic practices revolve around the physical construction of fictional landscapes." - Curator Sam Barzilay




Sam Barzilay, Dave Shelley, Barb Ciurej at UPI

Forged Worlds features the work of Lori Nix, Bill FingerJulia Fullerton-BattenNadine Boughton, Justin BettmanBarbara Ciurej & Lindsay Lochman, and Jie Ling He.

Exhibition Visit - Yale Center for British Art

We visited the Yale Center for British Art (YCBA) in New Haven, Connecticut, where six images from our Natural History portfolio are displayed as part of "A Decade of Gifts and Aquisitions".

"The Yale Center for British Art opened to the public forty years ago, on April 19, 1977. The Center's building, collections, and the endowments on which it operates were Paul Mellon's greatest gift to Yale University, from which he received his bachelor of arts degree in 1929. Throughout his life, Mr. Mellon continued to add to the Center's collections, and after his death, in 1999, hundreds of additional works were bequeathed, along with final monetary donations of substantial proportions. In the forty years of the Center's existence, the collections have grown considerably, not just through Mr. Mellon's immense generosity but through that of many other benefactors. In celebration of the institution's fortieth anniversary, this suite of small exhibitions highlights some of the splendid gifts and acquisitions that have enriched and expanded the Center's collections over just the past decade. It includes a display of the final works from Mr. Mellon's collection, which came to the Center after the death of his wife, Rachel Lambert Mellon, in 2014.

"As part of Mr. Mellon's provisions for the ongoing maintenance of the building and its contents, and the support of its staff and programs, he left an endowment for growth of the collections. Many works purchased with this Paul Mellon Fund are included in the small exhibitions that make up this presentation. It is intended as a celebration of both the legacy of Mr. Mellon's gift fo rthe Center to the university and other donors and supporters who have contributed to the project of presenting the richness and complexity of British art to our multiple audiences."

Images from Natural History on display at the YCBA

"A Decade of Gifts and Aquisitions has been curated by Elisabeth Fairman, Chief Curator of Rare Books and Manuscripts; Matthew Hargraves, CHief Curator of Art Collections; Lars Kokkonen, Assistant Curator of Paintings and Sculpture; and Sarah Welcome, Assitant Curator of Rare Books and Manuscripts; under the direction of Scott Wilcox, Deputy Director for Collections."



Barbara Ciurej and Lindsay Lochman photographed twelve women "in the attitude of Roman portrait busts [to] honor lineage and express the authority and dignity of their subjects." After the application of light-sensitive cyanotype solution, the digital portraits were overlaid with plants and exposed to sunlight, "leaving shadowy blue impressions. The variations of blue veiling on the portraits are a combination of exposure and brush application, making each image unique."

Ciurej and Lochman work from an understanding of early photographic techniques, and are particularly influenced by the work of the nineteenth-century British botanist Anna Atkins, who made cyanotype impressions to document natural specimens. The artists believe that their prints "reveal rich alignments of nature with history...Flowers that we raise now for ornamental beauty were once essential in culinary, medicinal, and magical arts. They were used symbolically in literature, religion, and mythology as connections to the mysteries of birth, death, and regeneration. Overlaying the portraits with flowers reconnects and evokes these histories, providing a context for considering maturity in a culture preoccupied with the preservation of youth."

The portfolio was published in 2014, limited to four copies, each one containing twelve unique prints.

Workshop - Natural History as Inspiration

Summer camp instructors at YCBA used images from our Natural History to inspire students to consider their place in the cycles of the natural world. They used images from the botanical illustration collection to overlay their iPad selfies.





Wednesday, August 2, 2017

Documentation - Pliant History Book

The first dummy proof of Pliant History is complete!
Matt Austin is a Chicago-based artist, publisher, and educator. His work is focused on the importance of honesty and learning from others. Matt founded Candor Arts publishing, he provides design and production services, creating editions addressing life, learning and healing. After discussion and consultation, he constructed and bound the final draft of Pliant History. It is a thrill to see this project is realized so beautifully.  Onward to the edition production!
Receiving the news of the finished prototype from Candor Arts
Latitude is a non-profit organization based in Chicago, IL. Latitude maintains a community digital lab with high-end scanning and printing equipment, as well as operate an artist in residence program, and organize ongoing arts programming. Using the piezography process, Barb printed all the images for Pliant History, designed and printed the text. She has now vowed never again make a book using vellum overlays....
Working on Pliant History at Latitude Chicago

Pliant History responds to Michelangelo's Sibyls and Prophets on the Sistine Chapel ceiling and considers the nature of power, authority and wisdom through history.

Thursday, June 29, 2017

Exhibition - Strange Fire Collective

Exhibition: Call and Response: Art as resistance 
March 31 
 Syntax Physic Opera, Denver, CO
Curated from our first open call for work, Call and Response: Art as Resistance features artists making work in response to the current social and political climate in the United States. This exhibition is hosted in collaboration with the Center for Fine Art Photography, Colorado Photographic Arts Center and Month of Photography Denver. 
About Strange Fire
The Strange Fire artist collective is a group of interdisciplinary artists, curators, and writers focused on work that engages with current social and political forces. We seek to create a venue for work that critically questions the dominant social hierarchy and are dedicated to highlighting work made by women, people of color, and queer and trans artists. 
Our collective practice is centered around increasing the visibility of meaningful work and creating dialogue and community through publications, exhibitions, and events.   We are committed to making our projects accessible, affordable, and socially relevant. 
Strange Fire was formed in 2015 by Jess T. Dugan, Rafael Soldi, Zora J. Murff, and Hamidah Glasgow.
Political Intervention #1 - response to Trump Candidacy 

























Political Intervention #2 - In response to Trump Travel Ban  1/27/17 -Executive Order 13769, titled Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United .... The Visa Waiver Program Improvement and Terrorist Travel Prevention Act of 2015, which was previously passed by ... shooting that occurred on the same date, Trump used Twitter to renew his call for a Muslim immigration ban.

Wednesday, June 28, 2017

Exhibition - FEED zine

Our FEED zine was created as a reaction to the first one hundred days of the new regime.
Barb had been following the Twitter feed @RogueSNRadvisor as a respite from the REAL news.  Lindsay had been exploring neuropsychological marketing by rendering industrial and fast food logos as abstracted feel-good auras. These elements came together in FEED, a compendium of Trump crisis and diet-management reports.
"The notion that decent, well-meaning folks are keeping vigil on Trump from inside the palance walls is a form of escapism, like alcohol or James Bond movies. Properly understood, it's not fake news; it's fiction as self-care."  --Katy Waldman  "Rogue Twitter Feeds as Liberal Self-Care"  - Slate Magazine































The project, #3 of our "political interventions,"  was recently exhibited at Magnum Foundation's AWAKE Book and Zine Bazaar.
also featured at the Ithaca College - ITI Symposium exploring creative, publishing and curatorial work by an international roster of artists, June 30 and July 1, 2017




Research - Industrial Food News

Both General Mills Inc. and ConAgra Brands Inc. are facing lower sales due to the lessening demand for processed foods. General Mills has found that removing synthetic food dyes promotes sales, as consumers turn to organic and synthetic-free foods.

"Reddi-Whip is advertising its use of 'real cream' rather than hydrogenated oils, and 'no artificial growth hormone'. Hunt's is promoting how it peels its tomatoes with steam, rather than chemicals. ConAgra's website for Hebrew National hot dogs brags that they have no artificial flavors, no fillers and no byproducts because 'the shorter the ingredients list, the better.'" writes Annie Gesparro.

Grocery stores are seeing a growing demand for hot, fresh foods as opposed to boxed pasta with powder sauces. Grocers are promoting their fresh goods instead their cereals, cookies, and other processed treats.
"...Grocery-store chains around the country are building new stores that have less space for traditional packaged foods in the center aisles and more for in-store restaurants and fresh meals shoppers can take home." writes Annie Gesparro.
In other news, Pringles can inventor Frederic J. Baur had a bizarre final wish - to have his ashes buried in a Pringles can. Upon his passing, the family chose to place his ashes in a can of the original flavored Pringles, at rest with his invention forever.
Image result for fredric j baur pringles
RIP Frederic J. Baur

Wednesday, May 24, 2017

Publication - Chaeg

We were pleased to have our work included in Chaeg Magazine - Food Issue, no. 26, May 2017.





 Chaeg is a Korean produced periodical that specializes in all things culture, art, and books. Chaeg was first published in November 2014 and continues to release monthly issues.

Friday, March 24, 2017

Publication - Mockingbird

We were please that our work was included in the The Mockingbird Magazine  - Food and Drink Issue, volume 9, Winter 2017


The Mockingbird is a not profit periodical published by Mockingbird Ministries, an organization and media platform seeking to connect the Christian faith with the realities of everyday life in fresh and down-to-earth ways.

Exhibition - Center for Fine Art Photography - Ft. Collins CO

Processed Views    
Fort Collins, Colorado

Janury 13 through March 19, 2017
Artists' Talk February 17, 6:00 -7:00pm
Public and Artists' Reception  7:00 -8:00pm

Installation, including Sugar Geology

Installation:  Enhanced Varieties

many thanks for a beautiful installation to Hamida Glasgow, Director
Sunshine Divas and Ren Burke

Processed Views Installation  with Sugar Geology and Cola Sea in foreground

Publication - Internazionale Magazine

 We were requested by Photo Editor, Melissa Jollivet for work to illustrate their article in Internazionale Magazine, an Italian independent weekly magazine publishing the best articles from the worldwide quality press translated into Italian.  Our Images, Moonlight over Bologna and Saturated Fat Foothills accompanied a cholesterol research article by science author, journalist and broadcaster, Michael Brooks. The author reminds readers that “after it was shown that there is a  connection between cholesterol and diseases of the heart, people have increased theuse of statins around the world.Some studies, however, question the preventive use of these drugs and warn of the array of side-effects.”
Brooks is contributor to New Scientist, a magazine with over three quarters of a million readers worldwide. He is the author of At The Edge of Uncertainty, The Secret Anarchy of Science and the bestselling non-fiction title 13 Things That Don't Make Sense.
Internazionale Magazine   via Volturno, 58    00185 Roma – Italia      0039 064417301

Radio Interview - WBUR - Processed Views

Radio Interview - WBUR - Processed Views


As Americans dive into Thanksgiving leftovers, it's a time to reflect on how far some of our favorite foods have ventured away from "fresh and natural" to "highly processed" with fats, sugars and salts.

On November 25, Barbara joined  WBUR  Here & Now reporter and host, Peter O'Dowd  to talk  about depicting Carleton Watkin’s epic scenes from the American west — with junk food.

"One woman who thinks a lot about how we got to this point in modern consumption is Barbara Ciurej. She and her longtime art collaborator, Lindsay Lochman, have an exhibit on that very subject on display now in Denver at the Colorado Photographic Arts Center called "Processed Views."

Images from the exhibit, along with their original inspiration, were shown