Ellen Jantzen: Transcending Reality by Bruno David Gallery

E L L E N JA N T Z E N Transcending Reality

bruno david gallery

ELLEN JANTZEN Transcending Reality

November 1 - November 30, 2013 Bruno David Gallery 3721 Washington Boulevard Saint Louis, 63108 Missouri, U.S.A. info@brunodavidgallery.com www.brunodavidgallery.com Director: Bruno L. David This catalogue was published in conjunction with the exhibition ELLEN JANTZEN: TRANSCENDING REALITY Editor: Bruno L. David Catalog Designer: Yuwei Qiu Design Assistant: Claudia R. David Printed in USA All works courtesy of Bruno David Gallery and Ellen Jantzen Cover image: A Resonant Chill (detail) 2013 C-print 30 x 34 inches (76.2 x 86.4 cm) First Edition Copyright ÂŠ 2013 Bruno David Gallery, Inc. All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written permission of Bruno David Gallery, Inc.

CONTENTS

ELLEN JANTZEN by Lona Moody AFTERWORD by Bruno L. David CHECKLIST AND IMAGES OF THE EXHIBITION BIOGRAPHY

ELLEN JANTZEN by Lona Moody

Photography is the process of capturing light, of documenting it to create an image. Because of photography’s nature as a process of capturing moments exactly as they are, photographic works rely heavily on the trust of the viewer—trust that the photo has not been manipulated or changed. We gaze upon a photograph believing that it is nothing but reality looking back at us. Ellen Jantzen’s newest body of work titled Transcending Reality, however, finds a grey area in this preconceived notion of photography. Jantzen transforms visual reality without creating a falsified image. Her images depict an exploration of reality: its different states and how it is seen and revealed. It is these different states of reality that she is showing us. In her series, although the images have been altered, they have not been altered to deceive, but rather to show an unseen reality. She opens our eyes to an abstract idea that would otherwise remain unknown, allowing us to appreciate ideas that are often left unacknowledged or unexplained. To render her images, Jantzen digitally manipulates and reconstructs areas of her photographs with two distinct techniques. In the majority of her images, portions of the scenes are altered to ambiguity, creating the vertical blur that is characteristic of many pieces of this series and of her work in general. This repeated alteration allows viewers who see these photographs to project their own meanings onto them, rather than being shown a traditional landscape. Because the series centers on an idea that is without any sort of physical or visual presence, these blurred scenes allow each viewer to see something different: to interpret the images visually as well as conceptually. In addition to her blurring technique, however, she also has a number of pieces incorporating white or gold trees that have been digitally inserted into the frame. In the Field of Gold, for instance, uses this technique. The trees in these images have a very ethereal or otherworldly presence; they make no effort to blend into their surroundings. Through them, we are able to contemplate life and its cycle of which trees are so representative. Jantzen is able to convey an incredible amount of depth in the images of this series. The repetition of trees, water, and pathways indicate her themes of nature, healing, and transformation. The works in the series also incorporate light in a prominent and important manner, but never overwhelmingly so. Particularly in the images Let the Others Follow and A Resonant Chill, we see all of these themes and symbols clearly demonstrated. Beautiful and tranquil symbols of life and the passage of time lead to entranced viewers. Each of the images allows viewers moments to observe, to lose themselves, to reflect. It becomes an experience to gaze upon the scenes rather than just a passing glance.

Lona Moody is a writer who lives and works in St. Louis. She is a graduate of Truman State University. This essay is one in a series of the gallery’s exhibitions written by fellow gallery artists and friends.

AFTERWORD by Bruno L. David I am pleased to present an exhibition titled “Transcending Reality” by Ellen Jantzen at the Bruno David Gallery. Ellen Jantzen blurs the definition of photography. Her work explores the states of reality: how it is experienced and revealed. To depict something so abstract is, unsurprisingly, no easy task. Jantzen’s photographic series relies on the trust people place in the medium. She digitally reconstructs her photographs, pushing them to more ambiguous forms, allowing viewers space to project their own imaginings and meanings to them. In doing so, she is able to make visual that which has no visual component. She takes viewers beyond the surface of an image, where something deeper and unexpected is revealed. Jantzen currently lives between Los Angeles and St. Louis. She received an advanced degree in Fashion Design in 1992 from the Fashion Institute of Design, Los Angeles. Jantzen has been included in solo and group exhibitions in the U.S. and Europe. Her work has earned her several prestigious awards including a First Prize at PX3 (Prix de la Photographie, Paris – 2013). Support for the creation of significant new works of art has been the core to the mission and program of the Bruno David Gallery since its founding in 2005. I would like to express my sincere thanks to Lona Moody for her thoughtful essay. I am deeply grateful to Yuwei Qiu, who gave much time, talent, and expertise to the production of this catalogue. Invaluable gallery staff support for the exhibition was provided by Cleo Azariadis, Lona Moody, Sophie Lipman, Yuwei Qiu, Yoko Kiyoi and Alex Lasko.

CHECKLIST & IMAGES OF THE EXHIBITION

A Resonant Chill, 2013 C-print 30 x 34 inches (76.2 x 86.4 cm)

Evidence of Myth, 2013 C-print 24 x 30 inches (60.96 x 76.2 cm)

After Hours, 2013 C-print 24 x 24 inches (60.96 x 60.96 cm)

Assurance, 2013 C-print 26 x 24 inches (framed) (66.0 x 60.96 cm)

Wearing Down the Past, 2013 C-print 34 x 24 inches (86.4 x 60.96 cm)

Proximity, 2013 C-print 34 x 24 inches (86.4 x 60.96 cm)

Undertow, 2013 C-print 24 x 36 inches (60.96 x 91.4 cm)

Undercurrent, 2013 C-print 24 x 36 inches (60.96 x 91.4 cm)

Promise of Spring, 2013 C-print 34 x 24 inches (86.4 x 60.96 cm)

Enchanting, 2013 C-print 34 x 24 inches (86.4 x 60.96 cm)

Tranquility, 2013 C-print 24 x 32 inches (60.96 x 81.3 cm)

Disturbing The Balance, 2013 C-print 24 x 30 inches (60.96 x 76.2 cm)

Encounter, 2013 C-print 36 x 24 inches (91.4 x 60.96 cm)

Let The Others Follow, 2013 C-print 34 x 24 inches (86.4 x 60.96 cm)

Promise of Summer, 2013 C-print 36 x 24 inches (91.4 x 60.96 cm)

Continuing Onward, 2013 C-print 36 x 24 inches (91.4 x 60.96 cm)

In The Field of Gold, 2013 C-print 30 x 45 inches (76.2 x 114.3 cm)

Whetting The Waters, 2013 C-print 24 x 34 inches (60.96 x 86.4 cm)

Leading Home, 2013 C-print 34 x 24 inches (86.4 x 60.96 cm)

Toward Profusion, 2013 C-print 36 x 24 inches (91.4 x 60.96 cm)

The Back of Beyond, 2013 C-print 36 x 24 inches (91.4 x 60.96 cm)

Attaining Bliss, 2013 C-print 26 x 24 inches (66.0 x 60.96 cm)

ELLEN JANTZEN: Transcending Reality. at Bruno David Gallery, 2013 (installation view - detail) 30

ELLEN JANTZEN: Transcending Reality. at Bruno David Gallery, 2013 (installation view - detail) 31

ELLEN JANTZEN: Transcending Reality. at Bruno David Gallery, 2013 (installation view - detail) 32

ELLEN JANTZEN: Transcending Reality. at Bruno David Gallery, 2013 (installation view - detail) 33

ELLEN JANTZEN

EXHIBITIONS 2014 2013 2012

Bruno David Gallery, OVERVIEW_2014, St. Louis, MO Susan Spiritus Gallery, PHOTO LA, Los Angeles, CA Santa Monica Museum of Art, Incognito, Santa Monica, CA Fontbonne University Fine Arts Gallery, Liar, Liar, St. Louis, MO The Center for Fine Art Photography, Natural World, Fort Collins, CO Laguna College of Art+Design, Alive-Moving Nature, Laguna Beach, CA Bruno David Gallery, Transcending Reality, St. Louis, MO (Catalogue) The New Mexico Museum of Art, Fear And Loathing, Curator of Photography Kate Ware, Art at Photo Eye, Photo Index, Santa Fe, NM The Light Factory Contemporary Museum of Photography, 32nd Annual Art Auction, Charlotte, NC Santa Monica Museum of Art, Incognito, Santa Monica, CA The Texas Photographic Society, 26th Annual Exhibition, Johnson City, TX PhotoPlace Gallery, Mysterious Visions: Dreams, Fantasies and Mirages, Middlebury, VT The Center for Fine Art Photography, Stories, Memories and Histories, Fort Collins, CO Contemporary Museum of Photography-The Light Factory, 31st Annual Art Auction, Charlotte, NC Qlick Editions, Group Show, Amsterdam, Netherlands C-Train Gallery, Losing Reality; Reality of Loss, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO Santa Monica Museum of Art, Incognito, Santa Monica, CA Orange County Center for Contemporary Art, Give Us Your Best Shot, Santa Ana, CA FotoWeekDC, FotoweekDC International Awards Competition, Washington DC PhotoPlace Gallery, Windows and Mirrors, Middlebury, VT The Center for Fine Art Photography, Green, Fort Collins, CO The Center for Fine Art Photography, Illusions, Fort Collins, CO Griffin Museum of Photography, 18th Juried Exhibition, Winchester, MA Women in Photography International, 2012 Annual Juried Competition Exhibition, Los Angeles, CA Professional Women Photographers at .NO Gallery (PWP), 31st International Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Exhibition, New York City, NY

2012 2011 2010

The Texas Photographic Society, Members’ Only Show, Johnson City, TX The Center for Fine Art Photography, Dreams, Fort Collins, CO The Light Factory Contemporary Museum of Photography, 30th Annual Art Auction, Charlotte, NC Wall-Space Gallery, Life-Support Japan, Santa Barbara, CA Santa Monica Museum of Art, Incognito, Santa Monica, CA PhotoPlace Gallery, Wonderland: Photographic Fantasies, Middlebury, VT Frank M. Doyle Arts Pavilion, Orange Coast College, Speak For the Trees, Costa Mesa, CA Griffin Museum of Photography, 17th Juried Exhibition, Winchester, MA Digital display at California Museum of Photography, Rancho Mirage Library, Earth Through A Lens, Palm Springs, CA Hinterland Artspace, Down the Rabbit Hole, Denver, CO The Center for Fine Art Photography, Portraits, Fort Collins, CO PhotoPlace Gallery, Pose and Gesture, Middlebury, VT Women in Photography International, 2011 black & white & color, Los Angeles, CA Fringe Festival, 11th International Digital Print Exhibition part of the, Science Exchange Building, Digital ’09: Mysteries in Science, Adelaide, Australia Texas Photographic Society, Exhibition, Johnson City, TX The Light Factory Contemporary Museum of Photography, 29th Annual Art Auction, Charlotte, NC George Eastman House, Benefit Auction, Sotheby’s, NY A.I.R Gallery, Wish You Were Here 9, New York, NY Santa Monica Museum of Art, Incognito, Santa Monica, CA Midwest Center for Photography, Center Gallery Benefit Auction, Wichita, KS The Center for Fine Art Photography, Natural World, Fort Collins, CO PhotoPlace Gallery, Wide-Awake Dreaming, Middlebury, VT Photo Media Center, online venue, The Photo Media Center’s Open Exhibition Packer Collegiate Institute, 11th International Digital Print Exhibition, Digital ’09: Mysteries In Science, Brooklyn, NY Gertrude Herbert Institute of Art, A Sense Of Place, Augusta, GA Maryland Federation of Art (MFA), American Landscapes, Annapolis, MD Center Gallery, Ten X Ten, Wichita, KS Columbia College, Paper In Particular 2010, Columbia, MO

PUBLICATIONS/REVIEWS 2014 2013

Splendid, “States of Reality” a photo essay, March Photo District News; Emerging Photographers, Spring Rfoto Folio, Interview, January Creative Quarterly/34, Spring My Modern Metropolis, Digitally Altered Trees Resemble Ghostly Spirits, November 28 Hungry Ghost Collective, Ten Questions with Ellen Jantzen, November 27 Riverfront Times, “Disturbs Reality”, November 22 Itch, Transplanting Reality, Transforming Nature, October 24 Photographer’s Forum Magazine, Finalist in the 33rd Annual Spring Contest Creative Quarterly/32, Autumn Tribe Magazine, Issue #21, “Disturbing the Spirits” series Lancia TrendsVision, “Trees, Nature and Mysticism” Visual Artbeat Magazine, Art Projects Section, “Disturbing the Spirits” series Clickblog, Italy features “Disturbing the Spirits” series Tonelit Magazine, Issue 4, “Disturbing the Spirits” series The Paris Review, Thursday, August 29 Lenscratch, Sunday, August 25, “Disturbing the Spirits” The Shpilman Institute for Photography, Blog, “Disturbing the Spirits”, August 22 The Truth of Beauty, Blog by Michael Werner, “Disturbing the Spirits”, August 7 Elizabeth Avedon Blog, “Disturbing the Spirits”, July 31 F-Stop Magazine (True/False), Issue #59 Creative Quarterly/31, Summer Pattern/Prints Journal, Wednesday, April 17 Issue; “Textures and Structures into Pattern Forms” Creative Quarterly/29, Winter Le Journal de la Photographie, March 6 featuring photo series: “Compressing Reality” Lenscratch, Thursday, February 14 Issue; Self-Portraits Le Journal de la Photographie, February 14 featuring photo serious, Love Pictures Issue “Sweet Dreaming” In their Valentine’s Day Lenscratch, feature article, Tuesday, January 22 Issue Design World, feature article, January 21 Issue Dr. Hurley’s Snake-Oil Cure, Arts/Literature Journal, Exposure No. 105: Ghost Writer

2013 2012 2011

Lenscratch, The 4th Annual Favorite Photographs of 2012 Exhibition F-Stop Magazine, The Landscape Issue, Issue #56 Tribe Magazine, International Creative Arts Magazine, Issue #10 Le Journal de la Photographie, November 7 featuring photo series: “Ghost Writer” Only Designed, “Transforming Nature Art by Ellen Jantzen” Window & Mirror, A Photography Catalog, accompanying the exhibition at PhotoPlace Gallery, on cover: “San Andreas’ Fault” Self-Contained, Book curated by Christopher Paquette, “Incorporating Memory” Diffusion Magazine, Muse Group Showcase, “Hibernation” Le Journal de la Photographie, featuring photo series: “Vacation Photos of a Different Sort” PhotoArts Magazine, “Embracing Banality” Christopher Paquette addressing issues brought forth in series “Banal” Winchester Star, Interview/feature about the Griffin Museum of Photography Exhibition and Award, July 19 Visual ArtBeat Magazine, Issue #9,“Transplanting Reality; Transforming Nature” TrendHunter, “Hot Photo Galleries” Section titled “Barely-There Blurred Portraits” by Sarah Moore, March 22 Chaotic Black Sheep’s Rants & Raves, Review of exhibition “Losing Reality” at the C-Train Gallery, March 24 My Own Wilderness, Book Curated by Christopher Paquette, photos from LANDeSCAPES series SuperMassiveBlackHole (Ireland’s leading international online photography magazine), Issue #9, Theme: Alternative Vision. “Losing Reality: Reality of Loss” Two Way Lens, Interviews with Contemporary Photographers by Michael Werner. December; New Interview with Ellen Jantzen PH Magazine, Issue #13, Portfolio Issue,“Losing Reality” series iDMAa, The Journal of the International Digital Media and Arts Association, “Space/Time, A Revisited History”, photo series: LANDeSCAPES & more recent works TreeHugger, Online Environmental Blog, “Point & Shoot @70MPH”, October 19 Umter Magazine, Issue #III, “Point & Shoot @70MPH” series, October GUP #31, The Experimental Issue, half page feature photo “Mandrake”, October LaLettre de la Photographie, Weekend Portfolio, January 10 Space Cool Hunting, “Losing Reality, Reality of Loss” series September 27 Shots Magazine, Summer Issue Featuring photo, Departure Adore Noir Magazine, Issue #2, June Visual ARTBEAT Magazine, Issue #6, Photo Synthesized” RAGAZINE, featuring “Ellen Jantzen/Photography”, March-April Exploring Color Photography, Film to Pixels by Robert Hirsch: Published by Focal Press

2010 2009 2008 AWARDS 2014 2013

2012

RAP 10, An International Photographic Survey, Published by Crussell Fine Arts, Los Angeles, CA LENSCRATCH, Blog Post, by Aline Smithson, October 13 “Alternate Realities”, Ellen Jantzen’s Photography Art Book “Ellen Jantzen: Alternate Realities”, Sunbury Press, Camp Hill, PA, Oct 2 Contemporary Impressions, Journal of the American Print Alliance; Commissioned Article: “Photo (UN)Finish” 13 Miles From Cleveland, Art & Literary Journal, Volume 2 number 1 13 Miles From Cleveland, Art & Literary Journal, Volume 1 number 2 Broken Pencil, Magazine of Zine Culture and the Independent Arts, issue #40, Interview by Liz Worth, Summer “How to Promote Yourself Online”, “Mythmaker” Trendsetter, Magazine out of Turkey, Issue #68, “Beneath the Surface” Drunken Boat #9, Online Journal of the Arts, PanLiterary Award Winner for Photography

Honorable Mention, Natural World exhibition at the Center for Fine Art Photography, photo: “Harmonic Progression” Honorable Mention, The Life/Framer Beauty in Life exhibition, photo: “Remaining a Mystery” Nominee, for 5th edition of the Julia Margaret Cameron Award for Women Photographers, Fine Arts Category Honorable Mention, The Texas Photographic Society’s 26th Annual Members’ Only show, photo: “Reaching the In-between” Winner, Landscape Section, Spring Awards at The Worldwide Photography Gala Awards Winner of Px3, Prix de la Photographie, Paris awarded First Prize in category Fine Art, Series: “Transplanting Reality; Transcending Nature WPGA Gallery of Photographers, selected for a year’s representation and website, winner for several weekly contests Top 20, Best Submitted Photos: Fine Art, 2013 Raymond Weil International Photo Competition, photo: “In The Field of Gold” Contemporary Imagemakers, 1st Inductee, PhotoMedia Center’s “Contemporary Imagemakers Program 2013” First Place, Single Image: Fine Art, in 2012 FotoWeekDC International Awards Competition. November 9-18 Short Listed, series “Transplanting Reality; Transforming Nature” from the London International Creative Competition, LICC Bronze Award; International Loupe Awards, Illustrative category, photo: “In The Field of Gold” Honorable Mention, in PWP’s 37th Anniversary International Women’s Call for Entry, photo: “In The Field of Gold” Four Honorable Mentions, in WPGA’s 2nd Urban & Country Landscape, “Transplanting Reality; Trans- forming Nature” Honorable Mention, International Photography Awards (IPA), series: “Transplanting Reality; Transforming Nature” Honorable Mention, PX3 Prix De La Photographie, Paris

2012 2011 2010 2009

Awarded the Professional Fine Art/Digitally-Manipulated category, PX3 Prix De La Photographie, Paris Awarded an Adoration Award of Excellence, Adore Noir magazine Griffin Award, Griffin Museum of Photography’s 18th Juried Exhibition Top Ten Award, Women in Photography International (WIPI), Annual Juried Competition Exhibition Bronze Award, Epson’s International Pano Awards, in category of Nature 3rd Place Professional Women Photographers 36th International Exhibition Bronze Award, International Loupe Awards, photo: “Losing Reality” 1st Place People’s Choice Award (digitally enhanced), PX3 Prix De La Photographie, Paris 2nd Place in the Portrait category, 2011 black & white & color, Women in Photography International (WIPI), photo: “Mystify” Mid-Career Photographer, Texas Photographic Society, body of work: Reality of Place, October Silver Honorable Mention for photo/art piece, Worldwide Photography Gala Awards in their Urban and Country Landscape Contest, photo: “California/04/13/1:43PM” Honorable Mention, Center for Fine Art Photography’s exhibition NATURAL WORLD, piece: “Back to Nature” Artistic Selection Award, 17th Annual Juried Exhibition of Contemporary Art, Korean Cultural Center, Los Angeles CA, piece: “Emanation”

ARTISTS Laura Beard Martin Brief Lisa K. Blatt Shawn Burkard Bunny Burson Carmon Colangelo Alex Couwenberg Jill Downen Yvette Drury Dubinsky Beverly Fishman

Richard Hull Kim Humphries Ellen Jantzen Michael Jantzen Kelley Johnson Howard Jones (Estate) Chris Kahler Bill Kohn (Estate) Leslie Laskey Peter Marcus

Judy Pfaff Daniel Raedeke Tom Reed Chris Rubin de la Borbolla Frank Schwaiger Charles Schwall Christina Shmigel Thomas Sleet Shane Simmons Buzz Spector

Damon Freed Douglass Freed Joan Hall

Patricia Olynyk Gary Passanise

Cindy Tower Mario Trejo Ken Worley

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