"Pinholio" is just that: "An Exhibition of Pinhole Photography." The show opened at Good Citizen Gallery, www.goodcitizenstl.com, on November 18 and continues through December 17, 2011. The gallery's hours are noon-5:00p.m., Fridays and Saturdays, or by appointment to 314-348-4587.
This unique gallery is easy to find because of the billboard on its roof. An artist from each show gets a piece of his art work blown up to and installed on the billboard. In the current exhibition, the first prize winner, Matthew Harting, has this privilege. Alison Oulette-Kirby and Mark Fisher, teachers at , curated "Pinholio". The call for artists in this juried show went out nationally and yielded 35 entries.
A pinhole camera is basically a lens-less camera. It consists of a light-tight box and a pinhole-sized aperture. Pinhole cameras can be made from oatmeal boxes and the Internet lists simple directions. Or, they can be purchased on-line like the Holga, a cheap plastic one.
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Several pinhole cameras are included in the exhibit including three created and used by Pinky MM Bass. One is made from a hollowed out Bible, another from a Bakelite purse, and a third, "The Two Tassel Non-Stereoptic Pinhole Camera Bra", is just that! Ms Bass uses large scale (4" x 5" Polaroid film) to make her images and then enlarges them to poster size.
Her three photographs are priced at $1,000.00 each and include "Crista's Egg", "Spiral Mask", and "Banana Baby". Her "Christa's Egg" is a disturbing female nude in stark contrast to the photographic style of S. Strembicki's "Nude Photography" (currently on display at the Regional Arts Commission). The married couple, Eric Renner and Nancy Spencer, collaborated on a series of six pinhole photographs.
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The photographs of toys and figurines appear more like masks and the colors are a disturbing contrast. These archival pigmented ink prints cover the back wall of the gallery in two marching rows of images. The majority of entries (23) are hung salon-style on the left wall and range in price from $100.00-675.00. A mixture of student or amateur photos and professional ones, these are mostly landscapes and mostly in black and white.
However, Cheryl Childress' "Untitled" of a prairie in bloom and a small bird is in full color and almost appears Impressionistic when viewed from afar. Ryan Duffy, a talented young student from Webster University, had two entries: "Toss and Turn, 12:00a.m.-8:00a.m." and "Wooden Home". "Toss and Turn" is an autobiographical eight hour exposure of him sleeping and the figure is reminiscent of Rembrandt's "The Artist in His Studio (1628)"."Wooden Home" is a sepia-colored photo of a dilapidated house in Oakland, MO---surely haunted!
Another young talented artist is Hillary Hitchcock; her "Lil Pardner" earned second place recognition and is a scary clown-faced "Howdy Dowdy" in neon. Matthew Harting's entry was photographed in Le Belle, Mo, and shows a rocking horse strung up on a pole and the town in the background and was the first place winner.
The next exhibit at Good Citizen Gallery is "The Indeterminate Length", a sculptural installation by L.A. artist, Mike Calway-Fagen. The opening reception is January 20th and the show will run through February 25. 2012. The billboard will also be by Mr Calway-Fagen.