If the market regulator wants a mutual fund manager to film his/her visit to a company’s plant, one must comply. After all, no one wants to get into the watchdog’s bad books. So, a money manager on a plant tour was capturing every step with his high-end phone. All was going well, until a security guard came running out of nowhere, snatched the device and smashed it on the plant floor.
“Photography/Videography not allowed,” the guard yelled. And just like that, the mutual fund manager said goodbye to Rs 60,000! If this is not costly compliance, tell us what is!

The Frist Art Museum presents Ron Jude: 12 Hz, an exhibition of large-scale black-and-white photographs that defy customary expectations of landscape imagery, revealing the planet’s raw materials and the often-imperceptible forces that shape its appearance. Organized by the Barry Lopez Foundation for Art & Environment, the exhibition will be on view from May 26 through August 13, 2023.

In twenty photographs depicting glacial formations, lava flows, tectonic patterns, and tidal currents, Oregon-based photographer Ron Jude (b. 1965) reminds us that geological phenomena operate indifferently to our presence, even in the face of an ecological crisis. The images, stripped bare of evidence of human existence, challenge the myth of human centrality. Neither sentimental, nor moralistic, nor explicitly political, the body of work is a potent visual statement that may offer some solace in documenting the persistence of the physical world. The exhibition’s title, 12 Hz-referencing the lowest threshold of human hearing-alludes to the limits of perception as well as the powerful yet often undetectable forces that shape the physical world.

“Naming photographs after an invisible sonic property may seem counterintuitive, but just as we might strain to isolate a nearly undetectable tone, Jude’s images challenge us to consider other scales of time, motion, and light that exist at the boundaries of our awareness,” writes Toby Jurovics, director of the Barry Lopez Foundation for Art & Environment. “Rather than picturing an idyllic wilderness or one comfortably domesticated, Jude explores what lies behind and beneath the landscape-the earth reduced to rock, ice, and lava, free of our imprint.” Landscapes appear in Jude’s earlier work, but in those series, they operate as a setting, rather than the main subject. In this collection, the landscape takes center stage.

Though the photographs were made in Oregon, California, Hawaii, and Iceland, Jude omits the specific locations of each photograph to underscore the universality of the themes in the exhibition. “No matter where you live-be it here in Middle Tennessee or in California-tornadoes, floods, earthquakes, or wildfires can be abrupt, devastating reminders of the extraordinary power of the earth’s systems,” said Frist Art Museum senior curator Katie Delmez. “In surprising and challenging ways, Ron Jude’s photographs lead us to contemplate how our presence and endeavors can directly impact our environment, but at the same time, they are humbling reminders that nature marches on with or without us around.”

The first photographs from this series were made in 2017 near Jude’s home in Eugene, Oregon, a Western Cascades region that was configured by water, ice, and lava over millennia. As Jude traveled to California, New Mexico, Iceland, and Hawaii over the next few years, he found new and arresting subjects to include in the series. In Cooled Lava Flow #2 we are confronted with a dark, full-frame image of solidified lava, while in Cataract #3, water cascades over large rock formations, mist billowing into the air placing us uncomfortably close to its brink. Sky illuminates a subterranean pile of fallen rock from a collapsed cave ceiling at the center of a dark cavern in one photograph, while light reflects off crashing waves in another. “Although his prints are visually luxurious, Jude is careful not to sentimentalize the landscape. They can feel inhospitable, and their scale threatening,” writes Jurovics.

12 Hz is accompanied by an audio installation by Joshua Bonnetta, Pressure Plates I & II. Two interacting compositions combine field recordings with manipulated seismic recordings collected from an array of sensors that record vertical ground motion. Both sets of recordings are site-specific to Jude’s photographs and reveal similar imperceptible forces of the earth’s geological systems at work both above and below the surface. Continually repeating on a loop, Bonnetta’s composition weaves in and out, rising and falling from opposite sides of the gallery against the rhythm of Jude’s photographs. The seismic data was generously provided by Leif Karlstrom of the Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oregon.



Ron Jude was born in Los Angeles in 1965 and raised in rural Idaho. He earned a BFA in studio art from Boise State University, Boise, Idaho, in 1988, and an MFA from Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in 1992. His photographs have been widely exhibited around the world and are held in the permanent collections of the George Eastman Museum; the J. Paul Getty Museum; the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, among others. Jude is also the author of twelve books-most recently, 12 Hz (2020). He has received grants or awards from Light Work; San Francisco Camerawork; the Aaron Siskind Foundation; and the Friends of Photography and was the recipient of a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship in 2019. He lives and works in Eugene, Oregon, where he is a professor of art at the University of Oregon.

Program

Friday, May 26, 12:00-1:00 p.m.

Conversation: Ron Jude with Toby Jurovics

Gordon Contemporary Artists Project Gallery

Free to members; gallery admission required for not-yet-members

Join artist Ron Jude for an in-gallery conversation with Toby Jurovics about the exhibition 12 Hz.

Aurélien Bouvier : Photography as an outfall

Aurélien Bouvier was born in Normandy to a veterinarian father and a teacher mother. He learned very quickly that autonomy was priceless.
After a complicated school career because the traditional framework of the school was not made for him, he found his way to cinema. He is also fascinated by music and by so many other things as long as they have a link with beauty, that they are alive and that he can always discover something new…
It is certain that routine is not for him! He always needed to test what he didn’t know, to understand, to question himself.
With his training as a sound engineer in the cinema, having made a general course related to image and shooting, he very quickly drifted towards the world of show business especially on the technical side working abroad for most of his projects.
And what about photography in all this?
For Aurélien, photography is basically a way to remember his travels and the strong, happy, sad or enriching moments of these encounters abroad.
Spontaneously he chose black and white, which he finds more personal: “I already have a problem with color and black and white gives me a break. A choice that allows him to focus on the pure form of the image.
He does not like to take pictures of people or faces, preferring to focus on the form, the movement, thus realizing photos, videos, or paintings.
In September 2020, he was contacted by a gallery in Jersey near New York. That was intrigued by one of his photos.
It is at this time that he began to pick up on the game of Instagram and hashtags.
Then he continued to take pictures more freely, got some publications, in magazines and an award last year for the magazine 256 photos.
He created “Colorpissedmeoff” an idea behind which he does not use colors that for him are visual messages that confuse his purpose. The idea is to focus on the visual form of a moment, a movement or a sensation.
Photography and art are, in general, an outlet for him. By his own admission, he has no real photographic technique, which gives him the impression of being free to do what he wants.
He takes all his images with his iPhone and does very little processing afterwards to present all his spontaneity.
To be continued!

Instagram : @ Colorpissedmeoff

Your first photographic trigger?
Aurélien Bouvier: The photo “Braquage” by Ladj Ly, I was in film school at the time, what a slap!

The man of images who inspires you?
Aurélien Bouvier: Alain Laboile, all his pictures are crazy, spontaneous. I like the fact that he is an artistic concept in himself.
”Fisherking

The image you would have liked to make?
Aurélien Bouvier: We agree that an image is not necessarily a photo? Then I will say “White square on white background” of Kasimir Malevitch. This painting is just crazy, removing as many visual signals as possible and making a painting is genius.

The one that moved you the most?
Aurélien Bouvier:”Napalm Girl” by Nick Ut, always current, cruel truth. I understood that day the power of the image, whether in photo, video or other. As long as people do not see things with their own eyes, it remains a “it seems”.

And the one that made you angry?
Aurélien Bouvier: Not very artistic, but the image of Balkany dancing during the 2020 music festival, freshly released from prison for health reasons, tends to irritate me a little. Here it is, just for fun… 🙁

A key image in your personal pantheon?
Aurélien Bouvier: An image of mine? I’m not very comfortable with this because I hardly feel legitimate showing my pictures. I would say “Splashing Pool”, I like it and it is very personal to me…

Without any budget limit, what would be the work you would dream of acquiring?
Aurélien Bouvier: It would be “Black Flag” by William Forsythe. It’s two robotic arms dancing together with a huge black flag. It’s precise, it’s beautiful, the sound of the flags is wonderful, it’s poetic and chilling at the same time.

According to you, what is the necessary quality to be a good photographer?
Aurélien Bouvier: Spontaneity. I have the impression that many photographers are a bit stuck or put technical or stylistic barriers. For me a photographer takes what he likes at the moment he decides. I don’t have any photographic technique, that leaves me free, I don’t feel stuck in any technical straitjacket, if it doesn’t work in photography, maybe it’s a painting, a video, or a piece of music. The important thing is to say what you want to say, no matter the format.

The secret of the perfect image, if it exists?
Aurélien Bouvier:  Photography is spontaneous so it’s impossible to know if the shot is perfect or not… Would it have been better 1 second before or after? The photo is what it is, like all things perfectly imperfect, that’s what makes us like it.

The person you would like to photograph?
Aurélien Bouvier: I don’t like humans in general and even less in photography but I would say Guillaume Sanchez to have a good time.

An essential photo book?
Aurélien Bouvier: Any of Alain Laboile’s.

The camera of your childhood?
Aurélien Bouvier: In general, I had a camera when I went on school trips, the Fuji disposable with 12 exposures and sometimes there were 24 exposures and then it was a feast! Already no classic photos of the places I went to at the time ; and especially, I kept some frames to make photos on the way back .

The one you use today?
Aurélien Bouvier: Iphone 12 Pro, always in the pocket, efficient, fast. I process my photos very quickly for lack of time, when I take one in general it is published in the minute, I like it like that at the moment.

Your favorite drug?
Aurélien Bouvier: Uh… Can everything be said?  Travelling definitely, during the Covid I was trembling. It’s not easy to reconcile everything when you’re going away a lot, but damn it’s good.

The best way to disconnect for you?
Aurélien Bouvier: Putting myself in a plane or in my studio…

What is your relationship with the image?
Aurélien Bouvier: I am someone who comes from techno music, I have long denigrated images especially in my studies where photography and video seemed elitist. Music was more accessible financially. When I started to grow up, I understood that art could be a profession, I opened myself to all forms of art and the image appeared… and in the end it is as accessible as music !

What I like about images is that they leave you no choice but to look at them whether you want to or not.
A music, a movie you can cut, an image you see it and it stays in a fraction of a second. It’s like an artistic hold-up, you’re not given a choice, a visual flash is put in front of your eyes, then it’s up to you to see what you want to do with it.

Your greatest quality?
Aurélien Bouvier: I think I want to try everything in every field and quickly, I don’t know if it’s really a quality at all.

Your latest folly?
Aurélien Bouvier: I think it’s a VR headset, I wanted to understand what the metaverse is, I understood, and it’s promising.

An image to illustrate a new banknote?
Aurélien Bouvier:”Rage, the Flower thrower” by Banksy.

The job you would not have liked to do?
Aurélien Bouvier: Surgeon and anything related to medicine or something like banker, trader.

Your biggest professional extravagance?
Aurélien Bouvier: Once I made a video, I was swinging a can of paint over a canvas to make a painting. I received a message from someone who wanted to see the painting, so I replied with a new video in which I burned the painting. Simple, effective, what was beautiful in this painting was the movement, the sequence, the path taken to make it, not the result.

What city, country or culture do you dream of discovering?
Aurélien Bouvier: I have never been to South America. I would love to go to Peru and all that. Cape Horn is part of my “to do list” 😉

The place you never get tired of?
Aurélien Bouvier: My place!!! In the countryside, it is top.

Your biggest regret?
Aurélien Bouvier: Maybe I was late to realize the importance of art for me, to exploit it…

Social networks wise, are you rather Instagram, Tik Tok or Snapchat and why?
Aurélien Bouvier: Only Instagram, it is with this network that the photo started for me so I surfed, even if it becomes more and more TikTok this story…
There are other emerging platforms in the metaverse but still a bit early, On the other hand, if the idea that each artist can have a personal gallery in a virtual place is crazy. It will never replace the physical one but for people who are starting out like me, I think it’s great.

Color or B&W ?
Aurélien Bouvier: B&W definitely !!! The choice of Black and White for me is important. Life is in color, we are overwhelmed with colors, ads, lights… Black and white allows you to give your brain a break and focus on the form and the moment. Color adds visual information that I don’t want. I’m not at all saying that there are no beautiful things in color, it’s just not my language.

Daylight or artificial light?
Aurélien Bouvier: It doesn’t matter, it’s the way it comes. I never change the environment, I don’t know what a studio is, or a light projector and any  other accessories.

The most photogenic city according to you?
Aurélien Bouvier: Paris of course !!! but I am not objective. Otherwise I would say New York or a big city in Asia like Bangkok or Tokyo.

If God existed, would you ask him to pose for you, or would you opt for a selfie with him?
Aurélien Bouvier: If he existed, I would already have a few questions to understand 2 or 3 things, and then maybe I would take a little selfie to show my mother that she was right.

If I could organize your ideal dinner, who would be the people around the table?
Aurélien Bouvier: Ooh the question is difficult, but in no particular order I would say: Tom Yorke, Aphex twin, Snoop Dog, Yves Klein, Jackson Pollock, Christopher Nolan, Albert Dupontel, Benoit Poelvoorde, Guillaume Sanchez.

The image that represents for you the current state of the world?
Aurélien Bouvier: The last report of the Giec…

What is missing in today’s world?
Aurélien Bouvier: A bit of common sense and benevolence.

If you had to start all over again?
Aurélien Bouvier: All the same, but taking the opposite way each time, just to see what it offers.

In his photography, Justin de Villeneuve captures the heart of the swinging 60’s in London, a youth-obsessed period defined by a revolutionary freedom of expression. The energy of the period was reflected in the world of fashion and music, exemplified by Twiggy and David Bowie, two cultural icons who became symbols of creativity and defiance of traditional notions of gender and sexuality. Justin de Villeneuve’s pastel-filtered photographs of these two icons capture their individuality and their cultural significance.

The 1960’s was a period of immense social change; the teenagers and young adults coming of age in the 1960’s were born and raised in a time of prosperity in contrast to their parents, who lived through world wars and economic depression. With a liberal government coming in in 1964, censorship was relaxed, and a more permissive British society saw a rise in social movements such as feminism and the gay rights movement. Young people had more time, money, and freedom to explore their identities, and to stand in rebellion to the aspects of society they felt were outmoded.

The times allowed young people to not only explore their identity, but actively create it. The 1960’s saw the rise of youth subcultures like beatniks, rockers, bikers, and hippies, who were defined by the clothes they wore and the music they listened to. You could change who you were and how you related to the world with a shopping trip. This looseness and fluidity was reflected in the creative minds of the time, who constantly reinvented themselves.

Justin de Villeneuve was born Nigel Jonathan Davies in London in 1939. Curious and enterprising, he constantly created new identities to get ahead in life. He was a boxer, a profession which fostered his criminal side, leading him to trade black market goods and smuggle bottles of wine for Vidal Sassoon’s wedding which “tasted like paint stripper” but impressed guests with the vintage labels he’d put on them. The latter job landed him a role as a hairdresser in Sassoon’s Mayfair salon, which fostered another identity change; he assumed the name of Christian St. Forget, thinking he needed a French name to fit the role of a high-society hairdresser. He was also a bodyguard, an auction barker, a bookmaker, an erotic film salesman, an antique dealer, an interior designer, and a singer, taking on new names and personas to fit each profession, though he is best known for being a photographer and for his personal and professional relationship to supermodel and “swinging 60’s” cultural icon, Twiggy.

Justin de Villeneuve met Lesley Hornby by chance in the early 1960’s. The aspiring model came into his friend’s salon, where de Villeneuve convinced her to chop her hair into the signature pixie; he immediately saw the potential for him to reform her identity, and his own with it. He assumed the role as her manager, shedding his hairdressing persona for a new one: Justin de Villeneuve, a French-sounding name co-opted for its cultural capital. The teenaged Lesley became Twiggy, androgynous, mysterious, and snappy. He then set out to get her behind a camera. Of course, no one else could photograph the icon-to-be, he only trusted his own eye. Thus, Justin de Villeneuve was born again as a photographer.

De Villeneuve didn’t have photography experience, but he did have a precise eye, an ability to blend into any social scene, and a relationship with photographer Richard Avedon who helped him set up a studio. By 1965, he was not only Twiggy’s manager but also her boyfriend. The next year, Twiggy was declared “the face of 1966” by the Daily Express. She would dominate the fashion world for the next several years.

In 1973, David Bowie’s 6th album Aladdin Sane had just been released, referencing Twiggy as “Twig the Wonder Kid” in the song “Drive in Saturday.” David Bowie was a force in the 1960’s, constantly reinventing himself not only aesthetically, but with entire personas in a manner not dissimilar to de Villeneuve’s own chameleonic shifts in identity. Bowie’s changing persona allowed him to explore sexuality and expression, to the adoration of a devoted group of subculture-aligned fans.

Bowie wanted to be the first man on the cover of Vogue, and Justin De Villeneuve proposed he pose with Twiggy and negotiated the cover with Vogue. However, Bowie’s ambitions for the photographs changed when he saw them, and he now wanted them for his new album cover Pin Ups. Justin de Villeneuve, in a move consistent with his opportunistic, ever-changing past, went back on his agreement with Vogue, ruining his relationship with the magazine forever. A few weeks later, he and Twiggy were driving down Sunset Boulevard and when they passed a 60-foot billboard depicting the iconic photo of Twiggy and Bowie on the cover of Pin Ups. That’s when the photographer knew he had made the biggest risk but also the best decision of his career.

The cover of Pin-Ups features Twiggy leaning on the shoulder of David Bowie. Everything about the photograph shimmers: their skin has a pearlescent glow, their faces outlined in makeup masks have an intense shine, the gold beads on Twiggy’s headpiece catch the light. Despite the softness of the image, there is something visceral and intense about it, caught in the eyes of the stars; while Twiggy gazes softly at the camera, her eyes are leveled straight ahead, while Bowie locks the viewer in an intense, wide-eyed gaze. The spotlights mirror in the blue of their eyes. Although the photograph is surreal with its pastel color palette and ethereal styling, there is something very intimate about its simplicity, the power of their gazes with minimal styling.

While the images are compositionally simple and elegant, the styling is subtly exaggerated in the context of these icons. Justin de Villeneuve was always at work creating personas, and these images are case studies. Bowie’s face is expressionless, emphasizing the angularity of his features and the harshness of his expression. The makeup is abstract, a nod to Bowie’s extreme personas on stage. Bowie’s hair strikes a balance between feminine and masculine, speaking to his experimentation and sexual openness. Although Bowie is stripped of costuming, the force of his presence and the key elements of his artistry are all conveyed through the expert eye of Justin de Villeneuve. Twiggy is also angular and androgynous, consistent with the thin, childlike beauty she ushered into the fashion world. Yet, she is softer than Bowie; with a gold-adorned headpiece and more shimmering, softening makeup, the image captures the balance between femininity and masculinity which were her signature.

These images have the staying power they do because they capture the essence of the icons that have become part of our cultural consciousness, even in a stripped, minimal form. While we associate Bowie with theatrical shows, dramatic makeup, and bold fashion, and Twiggy with a playful, childlike take on high-couture, the key elements of their identities shine through. The 60’s was a time when identity was visual, and therefore could be shifted with the right aesthetics. De Villeneuve was a master at forming identity, choosing the right signifiers for any persona he wanted to assume. He was able to not only cultivate this shape-shifting for his own purposes, but turn it on others with a camera, drawing out their most defining features and solidifying them as unique and iconic. His mastery shines in the images of Twiggy and David Bowie, two icons of the 60’s who tapped into fluidity to take full advantage of everything the decade had to offer.

Marie Audier D’Alessandris

Marie Audier D’Alessandris is the founder of The Selects Gallery founded in February 2018 in New York as a platform to discover, learn and acquire the fine art photographs of the best fashion photographers in the world.

www.theselectsgallery.com

@theselectsgallery