Homage to Pine Street: the art of neighborhood

HOMAGE TO PINE STREET the art of neighborhood

NICK LEVITIN

photography SEPTEMBER 16th THROUGH OCTOBER 28th 2018

HOMAGE TO PINE STREET the art of neighborhood

NICK LEVITIN

photography SEPTEMBER 16th THROUGH OCTOBER 28th 2018

73 C Pine Street u Montclair, NJ 73seegallerydesignstudio.com 973.746.8737 Hours: Tues. – Sun. noon to 6pm Closed Mon. or by Appointment

CURATORS NOTE This exhibit is near and dear to my heart as this community has been my home for sometime now. Over the past year Nick Letivin has responded to my numerous notices that we would be doing this or that this weekend, next week, this month — can he come by and cover it? Anything from an exhibit opening (with more heads up) to a spur of the moment community pot luck. More times then not he made it down to Pine Street camera in hand. I am forever grateful.

It’s turned out to be a an exhibit of photojournalism celebrating a year on our block of Pine Street in Montclair Township New Jersey. A block that has found it hard to emerge from the dark cloud of a stigma I have come to learn was once warranted perhaps, yet a block that I have had the great experience of deep “neighborhood” during my tenure here. I can’t be sure truly, whether I chose this block or it chose me. Regardless, my neighbors and I are here together. And with this exhibit we wish to invite you to experience a glimpse of just what that means.

For most of us, when asked about our notion of “neigborhood” we wane nostalgic. A time when people sat on stoops, grandmothers sat out front to watch children playing, or in more suburban areas, cousins and aunties and uncles coming over with casseroles to share. A hyper-reality of safety.

Alternatively to that sweet imagining, when asked how we currently experience “neighborhood””, the reality is quite different. Now our “neighbors” are often found in our religious, social and supportive communities which often insulate us from others who might experience the world from a different point of view while your actual “neighbor” living next door may be having a contrasting, possibly enlightening, experience for you without your even knowing it.

This is a celebration and sharing of our neighborhood with you. With love and appreciation to all neighbors everywhere!

Mary Z, 2018

ARTIST STATEMENT The idea for this exhibit came out of a conversation Mary and I had almost a year ago. She described her fierce devotion to the neighborhood and the role an art gallery could play in the life of a community. She passionately believes that a neighborhood can be as much an artistic endeavor as a painting, a piece of sculpture, or a photograph. We wanted this project to give the people of Pine Street a chance to walk into 73 See Gallery and see themselves anew – as vibrant artistic creators of a community. Over a year has passed since our initial conversation and the photographs on exhibit, taken during the past twelve months, reflect the diversity and creativity of the people who live and/or frequent this street, as well as the role that Mary and 73 See Gallery has had on this neighborhood.

It is as the title suggests, A Homage to Pine Street: the art of neighborhood.

I was drawn to photography as a young boy. I grew up in the fifties in a house without a television. The movies, then, had a particularly powerful impact on me. The images captured my imagination. In addition, I was very fortunate in that my mother was an Art Director for Time Inc., publishers of Life Magazine. At the time, it was one of the premiere photo magazines on the stands, with photos taken by the finest photographers in the world.

Each week, I would thumb through the magazine and get to know those photographers and their work. The images and the thoughts behind the images stayed with me and to a degree have informed my work to this day. The idea embraced by the editors of the magazine was that photos could be much more than merely illustrative, they could tell a story. Mary and I wanted to tell the story of Pine Street and the Gallery through photography.

When we look at a photograph, we are either captivated by it, or we simply go on to look at the next one. What is it that makes us stop and take one in? The photographer and author, David duChemin, suggests it is that the

photograph, a good photograph, has a soul. There is life in the photo, and in some way, that life connects with us.

I have been a photographer for most of my life. Recently I decided to shift my focus from headshots, corporate portraiture and event photography to more personal work and to return to black and white photography. It wasn’t until several years ago, that I found myself yearning for something that was missing in my photographs. What was missing was the mystery of black and white. In his book “The Little Book of Contemplative Photography,” Howard Zehr says, “Black-and-white images represent a kind of abstraction. Without the realism of color, we often are encouraged to see things that we might not otherwise notice. Patterns, textures, shapes, and visual movements that we easily miss in color often are revealed more clearly in black and white.”

I bring to my work a sense of the theatrical moment, often with a focus on solitude, moments of contemplation, and a yearning for connection.

It has been an extraordinary experience working with Mary on this project. She has inspired the whole neighborhood with her vision of an art gallery as an artistic vehicle for social change. I have learned much from her and look forward to continuing to learn even more.

To Mary and the people of Pine Street, my deepest thanks. You have inspired me with your profound sense of community and the desire to have your community be a contribution to all who come in contact with it.

Nick Levitin, 2018

GALLERY INSTALLATION

Levitin Exhibit “Homage to Pine Street: the art of neighborhood” at 73 See Gallery Design Studio.

All images in this catalog are © 2018 Nick Levitin. No image may be reproduced in any form with the permission of the photographer.

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HOMAGE TO PINE STREET NICK LEVITIN Price List

Photographs up to 13 x 19 are digital prints on Canson-Infinity Baryta Photographique archival paper and signed on the front. Larger sizes are digital prints on Archival Smooth 100% Rag paper, also signed on the front. Each unframed print is presented in archival matboard with both window, and backboard. All photographs are available for purchase through the gallery. Please contact the gallery with your inquiry. Thank you.

Framed Signed 5 x 7 print in 8 x 10 frame with matboard - 8 x 10 frame

50.

Signed 13 x 19 print with 18 x 24 archival matboard - 18 x 24 frame

250.

Unframed Signed 13 x 19 print with 18 x 24 archival matboard

225.

Signed 16 x 20 print with 20 x 24 archival matboard

300.

Signed 24 x 36 archival print no matboard

500.

73 SEE GALLERY OFFERS CURATED FINE ART EXHIBITIONS & INSTALLATIONS OF CONTEMPORARY ARTISTS.

73 C Pine Street u Montclair, NJ 73seegallerydesignstudio.com 973.746.8737 Hours: Tues. – Sun. noon to 6pm Closed Mon. or by Appointment © 2018 All Rights Reserved. Catolog No. 16. 73 See Gallery & Design Studio