Sohns Gallery presents “Constructed Photos”

The Sohns Gallery, located in The Rock & Art Shop at 36 Central Street in Bangor , presents “Constructed Photos” by MaryJean Viano Crowe, from May 9 – July 1. An artist’s reception will be held on June 10, at 6:30 with the artist talk at 7:00.

Much of MJ Vaino Crowes Constructed Photos are influenced by over nine years of teaching in Paris every January during the 1990’s for Rhode Island School of Design.  Scouring ancient collections at the Musée de L’Homme, Louvre and other obscure museums. When asked about her process the artist responds  “I cobble together negatives from an array of subjects that I’ve photographed over time; then, scratch into and scotch tape them together.  Printing in sections 24” x 32”, I assemble and overlap sheets to create a large-scale composite, later to be polychromed with photographic toners. Although this work is frequently mistaken for painting, the process is entirely photographic.”

Regardless of the format she uses, representations of the female figure typically perform on the various stages MaryJean creates for them. Cloistered within their own private universes, her subjects’ expressions seldom reveal more than subtle hints about their actual inner selves. Orbiting the background, often structured in the style of manuscript illuminations, is a complex planetary arrangement of fanciful ephemera from birds to insects, to flora and fauna, visually suggesting an extension of the central figures’ intricate, emotional worlds.

For more information contact the Sohns Gallery at (207) 947-2205 or at [email protected]