My husband came to visit me for lunch today. After we ate, we took a quick peek into American Horizons: The Photographs of Art Sinsabaugh. The exhibition ends April 6 so I'm glad he had a chance to see it.
As we walked through, I was once again reminded of Sinsabaugh's ability to convert the details of ordinary compositions into extraordinary visions. I was particularly amused with a quote from Sinsabaugh on the wall text.
The text explained how he was frustrated at one point in his career with a lack of a signature style. One day he drove into the country outside Chicago to find inspiration. Sinsabaugh said that he "drove and drove and drove and drove" until he was literally in the middle of nowhere. Unfortunately, he was so much in the country, there was nothing there to see. Having spent many years of my life living in and driving through the Midwest, I knew exactly what he meant.
Fortunately, Sinsabaugh persevered and was able to capture the details in the midst of a bunch of nothing. For me, the beauty is in the tiny water towers, farm houses and power lines dotting the vast landscape. By trimming some of his images to one inch in height (which removed a great deal of the sky), Sinsabaugh focused on the presence instead of the emptiness.
Make sure to visit this exhibition if you haven't yet. It is quietly beautiful with splashes of humor and humanity.
Comments (2)
I had the chance to check out both Sinsabaugh and Shore's work last weekend, and had a tasty dinner at the Bloch Building Cafe, too.
I've checked this blog several times over the last few months and always thought it was never updated because all the new posts are at the bottom! Just a thought: reverse the order of posts with new ones at the top. This way visitors instantly see the new stuff!
Posted by Cate | April 11, 2008 10:02 AM
Posted on April 11, 2008 10:02
Cate,
I'm so glad you were able to catch the Sinsabaugh exhibition before it ended. I agree about the Cafe fare. They have wonderful desserts, too.
I'm not sure if I understand your comment about the blog entries. The archives are in order from oldest to newest (which bugs me) but the Main page is in order from newest to oldest. Please let me know if I misunderstood. I appreciate all feedback! Thanks for reading!
Posted by Jodi | April 11, 2008 1:54 PM
Posted on April 11, 2008 13:54