"Fourth Wall - Room Series" New Work by Brooke Shaden

BROOKE SHADEN FOURTH WALL

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ROOM SERIES

Cover: Brooke Shaden, Unformed, 2016, Photo on Velvet Fine Art Paper (Detail) 8 x 8 in, Edition of 3 + 2AP 42 x 42 in, Edition of 2 + 2AP

FOURTH WALL - ROOM SERIES New Work by Brooke Shaden January 5th, 2017 - February 18th, 2017 511A WEST 22ND ST, NEW YORK, NY 10011 WWW.JOANNEARTMANGALLERY.COM JOANNEARTMAN@AOL.COM 949.510.5481

FOURTH WALL In film, when a character acknowledges the audience, there is a break in the fourth wall - the film becomes self-reflective in nature. The viewer becomes aware that the film itself knows it is a work of fiction. When this “wall” was first imagined in a traditional proscenium theatre, the fourth wall was an exercise in the audience’s suspension of disbelief, with the wall being merely an illusion through which the audience could look upon the play. JoAnne Artman Gallery is pleased to present Brooke Shaden’s Room series, a new body of work, which plays upon these ideas of perception and illusion by both acknowledging the viewer as well as the ideas of illusion and perception inherent in the photographic medium.

We see the figures from an advantaged angle, becoming enticed into an intimate, claustrophobic view of their inner realms and surrealistic interiors.

The aesthetic quality of the photographs bring to mind the idea of “painterly” photography, a concept developed by Alfred Stieglitz in the early 20th century. This combination of the illusion of a textural surface and the view of the “rooms” from above, entertains the notion of the “fourth wall” but with a twist-we know the image is a

Shaden’s chosen medium is by its very nature an exercise in suspension of disbelief. In the Room series, she plays with this notion by way of composition, fantastical, symbolic imagery, and an acknowledgement of the viewer’s gaze.

Breaking from her previous modes of composition with figures presented in atmospheric, almost theatrical settings, the viewer is presented with works that both force and provoke the gaze.

Brooke Shaden (b. 1987, Lancaster, PA) is a fine art photographer. She was the winner of Photographer’s FORUM 35th Annual Spring Photography Contest (2015), and one of Shutter Magazine’s Top 10 Most Influential Photographers (2014). Her work has been featured on numerous book covers and exhibited nationally.

photograph, yet it’s surface conjures other possibilities.

Fragile (Detail)

Fragile, 2016, Photo on Velvet Fine art Paper 8 x 8 in, Edition of 3 + 2AP 42 x 42 in, Edition of 2 + 2AP

Masked (Detail)

Masked, 2016, Photo on Velvet Fine art Paper 8 x 8 in, Edition of 3 + 2AP 42 x 42 in, Edition of 2 + 2AP

Locked (Detail)

Locked, 2016, Photo on Velvet Fine art Paper 8 x 8 in, Edition of 3 + 2AP 42 x 42 in, Edition of 2 + 2AP

Unformed (Detail)

Unformed, 2016, Photo on Velvet Fine art Paper 8 x 8 in, Edition of 3 + 2AP 42 x 42 in, Edition of 2 + 2AP

Remain (Detail)

Remain, 2016, Photo on Velvet Fine art Paper 8 x 8 in, Edition of 3 + 2AP 42 x 42 in, Edition of 2 + 2AP

Moment (Detail)

Moment, 2016, Photo on Velvet Fine art Paper 8 x 8 in, Edition of 3 + 2AP 42 x 42 in, Edition of 2 + 2AP

Flood (Detail)

Flood, 2016, Photo on Velvet Fine art Paper 8 x 8 in, Edition of 3 + 2AP 42 x 42 in, Edition of 2 + 2AP

Timeless (Detail)

Timeless, 2016, Photo on Velvet Fine art Paper 8 x 8 in, Edition of 3 + 2AP 42 x 42 in, Edition of 2 + 2AP

Undone (Detail)

Undone, 2016, Photo on Velvet Fine art Paper 8 x 8 in, Edition of 3 + 2AP 42 x 42 in, Edition of 2 + 2AP

Published in conjunction with the exhibition: “Fourth Wall - Room Series” New Work by BROOKE SHADEN Jan 5, 2017 - Feb 18, 2017 JoAnne Artman Gallery 511A West 22nd Street, New York, NY 10011 Catalogue © JoAnne Artman Gallery Artwork © Brooke Shaden