Nueva Luz Vol 1 Issue 4

N U E VA LUZ

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photographic journal Spring Issue 1987

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N U E VA L U Z Vo/. 1 No. 4, 1987

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photographic

journal Editor Charles Biasiny-Rivera Assistant Editor Betty Wilde Designer/Art Director Frank Gimpaya East Coast Distributors Total Circulation Services West Coast Distributors Cornucopia Typography Ortiz Typographies Printing Expedi Press

Nueva Luz (ISSN 0887-3833)is a photographic journal published by En Foco, Inc. 32 East Kingsbridge Road, Bronx, New York 10468, (212) 384-7718. Single issue price is $3.00, yearly individual subscription is $10.00 in the U.S. In all other coun­ tries, single issue price is $3.00, yearly subscription is $18.00, institutional subscription $23.00.

Portfolios ofat least 13 unmountedprints or copy slides may be submitted for viewing. If mailed, the prints may be no larger than 11”X14”. A selfaddressed stamped envelope and appropriate packag­ ing must accompany all mailed portfolios to insure proper return. We do not assume responsibility for un­ solicited photographs or manuscripts sent by mail.

Photographers wishing to deliver portfolios in person must call our office to make arrangements. For adver­ tising rates and distribution contact En Foco, Inc.

Copyright © 1987 by En Foco, Inc. All Rights Reserved Nueva Luz is made possible with funding by the New York City Department ofCultural Affairs, Bronx Borough President, Fernando Ferrer, New York State Council on the Arts, Bronx Council on the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.

Editorial Pa $ e

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ntrevistado recientemente por una red de television el dirigente de un equipo de pelota de las grandes ligas, adjudica el hecho de que no existan dirigentes de la raza negra en este deporte a la creencia de que estos no poseen la capacidad mental o inteligencia que requiere el puesto.

Al dia siguiente fue despedido de su trabajo. Repentinamente los medios noticiosos cobraron conciencia de que este ejemplo de racismo puede encontrarse en toda la sociedad norteamericana. Como postula un intelectual afroamericano “estamos ante una situacion parecida a la de las Haciendas donde los trabajadores son altamente visibles, pero son los duenos y capataces los que tienen las riendas y mantienen bajo controla “esos buenos muchachos".

En el campo del arte no hay mucha diferencia y muchos de nuestros curadores, directores de museos, editores de revistas, y las fuentes de subvencion de las artes reflejan este mismo dogma de las 'Haciendas".

Es aun mas estremecedor la influencia que estas per­ sonas pretenden tener en el arte; ejerciendo presion sobre el artista a que este se atenga a las corrientes ariisticas mas aceptadas, para que de este modo sea considerado.

Nunca la situacion es tan sencilla; el racismo en el mundo del arte posee mas sutilezas. La ausencia de criticos artisticosprovenientes de culturas “Nhnontarias", no solo es una injusticia sino que resulta en una perdida para el desarrollo del arte en America del Norte.

Esta relacion incestuosa existente se debe, entre otras cosas, al mito de la tribu isolada que solo tiene contactos con su membrecia.

Lo que se promueve actualmente como nucleos innovativos y atrevidos en el campo de la fotografia que prevalece es reflejo de un actitude bochornosa. Para nosotros que transitamos al otro lado de la montana, y que mantenemos una continua lucha para ser fieles a nuestra cultura, es nuestro deseo ofrecer un punto de vista distinto del sol que nos alumbra a todos por igual.

ecently, a manager for a major baseball league club being interviewed on network television inadvertently credited the absence ofBlack managers and coaches in baseball to the belief that Blacks did not possess the mentality and intelligence for such a job.

The next day he was fired and suddenly the media noticed that this obvious example of racism could be easily applied clear across the American arena. As one noted Black scholar responded, we are presented with the Plantation Principal whereby the workers are highly visi­ ble but the management and ownership remains in the control of the ubiquitous Good 01' Boys.

The arts are no different; many curators, museum directors, critics, art publication editors andfunding sources still reflect the Plantation Principal. Even more disturbing, they influence the direction of art by pressur­ ing artists to conform to current trends if they want ac­ ceptance.

It is not always as simple as that; the racism within the art world is a lot more subtle. The absence of critics from the minority cultures is not only unjust, but results in a loss to the development ofAmerican art. The inces­ tuous condition of contemporary art in the United States can be blamed, in part, on an isolated tribe that has been having relationships only with its own members.

Photography reflects this embarrassment by virtue of what is being promoted as the new, inventive and dar­ ing. To those of us who live on the other side of the mountain, struggling constantly to remain true to our cultures, we offer a different view of the same morning sun.

Charles Biasiny -Rivera Editor

Table of Coplepl?

---- page 1 . pages 2-11 pages 12-21 pages 22-51 ... page 52 . . ■ page 55

Editorial..................

Ani Gonzalez Rivera Frieda Me din..........

Shawn Walker ....

Commentary..........

Comentario............

Cover Photographs: Ani Gonzalez Rivera, Totentanz #38, The Monk, 1981, Silver Gelatin Print, Manipulated Negative, 20' x 24"

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Ai)i Gopzalez Rivera

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s Ani Gonzalez Rivera grew up in the South Bronx and East Harlem, New York. He studied at the High School ofArt and Design, Bard College, and Pratt Institute. In 1978, he apprenticed with Carol Brower in the fine craft ofconserva­ tion matting of works of art on paper. Contacts with the work of Man Ray, Moholy Nagy, and Val Telberg, had a tremendous impact on his work. In 1979, he received a C.A.P.S. (New York State Creative Artist Public Service) Fellowship. His current work including the Totentanz series and Memento Mori, is the culmination ofefforts that began seven years ago. This series has been accepted into private as well as major public collections at Ciba-Geigy Corporation and the University Gallery at the University ofMassachusetts and Amherst. It will also be on view this Octoberfor acquisi­ tion by the Department ofPhotography at the Museum of Modem Art in New York City. Selected group exhibitions include the Bronx Museum ofthe Arts, New York, and the San Francisco Camera Work, California (1986), the Maine Photographic Workshop (1984), and the State Museum at Albany, New York and the Brooklyn Museum, New York (1981).

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Api Gopzalez Rivera

Totentanz #42, The Astrologer, 1983, Silver Gelatin Print,, Manipulated Negative, 20' x 24"

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Ai)i Gopzalez Rivera

Totentanz #50, Lady, 1984, Solarized Gelatin Print, Manipulated Negative, 20" x 24"

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Api Gopzalez Rivera

Totentanz #54-The Child', 1984, Solarized Silver Gelatin Print, Manipulated Negative, 20' x 24"

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Ar>i Gonzalez Rivera

Totentanz #25, The Empress, 1983, Silver Gelatin Print, Manipulated Negative 20" x 24"

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Arji Gopzalez Rivera

Totentanz U20, Bones ofAll Men, 1983, Silver Gelatin Print, Manipulated Negative, 20' x 24�

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Ai)i Gopzalez Rivera

Totentanz U30, The Abbess, 1983, Silver Gelatin Print, Manipulated Negative, 20' x 24"

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Api Gopzalez Rivera

Totentanz #44, The Merchant, 1984, Silver Gelatin Print, Manipulated Negative, 20' x 24"

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Api Gopzalez Rivera

Totentanz U17, Temptation, 1983, Silver Gelatin Print, Manipulated Negative, 20' x 24"

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Api Gopzalez Rivera

Totentanz #23, The King and Queen, 1983, Silver Gelatin Print, Manipulated Negative, 20' x 24"

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Frieda Medip

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Frieda Medin Ojeda, was bom in SanJuan, Puerto Rico. She began her photographic studies at Sacred Heart College in Santurce, augmented with workshops under the tutorship of John Betancourt. Besides a freelance photographer and As­ sistant Producer for Guastella Films, Frieda is also a model/actress, and associate ofZoom Photographic, Inc., a custom lab, with her partners Jose Ruben Gaztambide and John Betancourt. Exhibitions include: GaleriaBotello /Plaza Las Americas, series, “La Maldita Inseguridad”, “Aguas Que Corren, Piedras Que Fsperan---- ", “Kill You”, “Interioridades Rotas”; Zoom Photographic Art Gallery, “Desnudos” series “La Maldita Inseguridad”; New Museum ofContemporary Art, “La Gran Pasion" (traveling exhition); Tony's Place, Graphic Exposition; International Women's Festival, series from “Confrontaciones', “Variacion de un mismo Tema I”, Galeria MSA, San Juan; “Cruces y Sombras”, Museo Bellas Artes, Old San Juan.

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Frieda Medip

Series: Imageries Arrancadas “Devoutly Yours�, 1984, Silver Gelatin Print, 11" x 14"

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Frieda Medip

Series: Cruz y Sombras, 1986, Silver Gelatin Print, 20' x 16"

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Frieda Med ip

Series: Imageries Arrancadas, 1984, Silver Gelatin Print, Manipulated Negative, 11" x 14"

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Frieda Medip

Series: Imageries Arrancadas, 1984, Silver Gelatin Print, 11" x 14"

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Frieda Medip

Series: Imageries Arrancadas, 1984, Silver Gelatin Print, 11" x 14"

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Frieda MediV)

Series: Imageries Arrancadas, 1984, “Confrontaciones�, Silver Gelatin Print, Photomontage, 11" x 14"

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Frieda Medip

Series: Imageries Arrancadas, 1984, Silver Gelatin Print, 11" x 14"

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Frieda Medip

Series: Imageries Arrancadas 1984, Silver Gelatin Print, Manipulated Negative, 16" x 20'

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Frieda Medip

Untitled, 1982, Silver Gelatin Print, Burnt edges, 6V1" x 4"

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Bom and raised in Harlem, Shawn Walker has a B.F. A. de­ gree from Empire State College and has also studied with The Kamoinge Workshop, Columbia University, C. W. Post College, andEordham University. His work has been exhib­ ited throughout the world, including: The Arthur Schomburg Collection in Harlem, The Studio Museum in Harlem, The Brooklyn Museum, The Museum of Modem Art, The Whitney Museum, The International Center of Photog­ raphy, Notre Dame University, The San Francisco Museum of Modem Art, and The Harvard University School of Art and Design. His photographs were exhibited with Edward Steichen’s at The Danbury Academy ofFine Arts. Some of his published works include: The Black Photographers An­ nual, Camera Magazine, Essence Magazine, Third World Newsreel, City College, Oberlin College, along with poster publications by the N.A.A.C.P. and The Brooklyn Mu­ seum. He also teaches photography and cinematography at York College, Queensborough Community College and at the Otto Renee Castillo Center for working class culture.

Permanent collections include the Museum ofModem Art, The James Van Der Zee Institute, The Charles Penny Rand Foundation. Grants include two CAPS Fellowships, 1971 and1978 and Columbia University’s Film Board. He has also lived in Nigeria, Cuba, Mexico and Guiana, South America.

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Sl?awi) "Walker

Cloud Series, 1986, Sepia Toned Silver Gelatin Print, 11" x 14"

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Sfyawp “Walker

Cloud Series, 1979, Sepia Toned Silver Gelatin Print, 11" x 14"

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Sbawp Walker

Cloud Series, 1973, Sepia Toned Silver Gelatin Print, 11" x 14"

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Sljawp Walker

Cloud Series, 1982, Sepia Toned Silver Gelatin Print, 11" x 14"

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Sbawr) “Walker

Cloud Series, 1973, Sepia Toned Silver Gelatin Print, 11" x 14"

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Sl?awi) "Walker

Cloud Series, 1979, Sepia Toned Silver Gelatin Print, 11" x 14"

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Sfyawp “Walker

Cloud Series, 1985, Sepia Toned Silver Gelatin Print, 11" x 14"

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Sljawr) "Walker

Cloud Series, 1979, Sepia Toned Silver Gelatin Print, 11" x 14"

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Sfyawp "Walker

Cloud Series, 1986, Sepia Toned Silver Gelatin Print, 11" x 14"

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^ photographer is the artist who stalks his subject matter, domesticates it and weds it to his world of ideas. The artist is always a humanist, as opposed to a scientist. It is his vision that we must ultimately confront and mingle with. To see a photograph partakes of the ex­ periences we share with the image as well as our knowledge of the state of the art and its idiosyncracies. With the photographer we entrust our appreciation of his art, leaving the burden of our pierced consciousness and the possibility offuture repair.

Though a great responsibility, the photographer; akin to all artists, is willing to take on the sacrifice. Tor his perception and ability in the darkroom are but an extension of our senses and\ in terms of history, will provide evidence of our esthetics and visual preferences. The three artists viewed in this issue bring us extremely close to the “self'; it is similar to being witness to an act ofa secret or private nature. Within their respective styles, each affectionately bring us near the rumblings of the psyche. The bridge between the subjective and objective are part of the scaf­ folding the photographer has built with his art.

Frieda Me din looks at her world on the island (Puerto Rico) as a cloistered one which she may not surmount but into which she can dig ever deeper. The house she has selected to sym­ bolize her psycho-drama provides both a stage and a prison in which images unfold. Her art is nourished and replenished by the never ending conflict. Like the Phoenix, her art rises from the flames; her “burnt negatives" are images of destruction and subsequent re-birth. The emphasis on the self-portrait and the mirror images convey her presence as an entity, a presence that is firm and ontological and which refuses to go away.

The photographs ofAni Gonzalez Rivera makes us aware of his personality in their preoc­ cupation with a theme — death and all that abides by it. A person can only talk of his death in terms offoreboding (“How will I experience it? How will it touch me?') The romantic tradition used death, as well as love and other emotions, to exalt the self for how can one better empha­ size existence than through its antinomy? This theme is explored by Gonzalez Rivera by looking at decay or giving the illusion of it as it affects surfaces and what lies beyond them. Walls crum­ ble with brittleness as the manipulatedprint-gives the impression ofpeeling and dissolving images. Even a shadow, as it falls on a face, seems to wear it down as though dissolved by darkness itself. These are monumental and apocalyptical thoughts over which the artist is able to reign and master only through his proficiency in the techniques of his art. The image transcends the thought or intent behind it only through the artists sense ofform. Compositions with strong patterns of black and white characterize the sights seen by Gonzalez Rivera; in this manner he transmutes them to the realm of art.

The most personal and evidently visionary of these three artists is Shawn Walker, a photog­ rapher of the sky as seen by an eye that rambles on the edge of darkness and light. His images are of dusk or early morning as the battle between light and dark takes place. The artist is there as the scenario unfolds, a key witness to the permutations of the sky. We, as spectator, par­ ticipate in his walk to the horizon and, with him, we arrive at the edge of time. We feel the planet moving as it passes from one phase to another. The clouds, as gaseous matter, absorb light and give an inkling ofshapes that seem to announce doom or some catastrophe. But the photographer, tongue-in-cheek, lets us know he is there and is able to image himself into these wandering clouds. As a teacher, he tells us it is a question ofpatience; if one waits long enough the right cloud will pass by and take one with it. The external is somehow made to reflect Shawn Walker, the itinerant artist, who follows a luminous path to the “eternal''.

Within these photographs, three levels of consciousness are to be experienced: Frieda Medin —personal and hermetic, Ani Gonzalez Rivera—symbolic and elliptical, Shawn Walker— visionary and mystical. While they may be described in terms of different states of awareness, each must be studied and appreciated within the context of the art ofphotography.

Under this jurisdiction, the artistic product finds its home. This ever expanding horizon is nourished by their images and replenished by the uniqueness of their vision. It is a good omen for these times that the “vision of the soulis still guarded and comforted by artists such as these who keep the fire within alive.

RAFAEL COLON MORALES

Rafael Colon Morales is a painter and a curator at El Museo del Barrio in New York City.

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conje ptario

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lfotografo es el artista que va al acecho de u tematica, la domestica y casa con su mundo de ideas. El artista es siempre un humanista, lo opuesto al cientifico. Es su vi­ sion la que nosotros tenemos que confrontar finalmente. El ver una fotografia conlleva compartir las experiences con la imagen asi como el conocimiento del estado del arte y su ideosincracia. Es elfotografo en quien confiamos la virtud de nuestra apreciacion de su arte, y es con el donde nosotros dejamos reposar nuestra conciencia herida por el trafin diario ante la posibilidad de una reparacion futura.

Es una responsabilidad hacer descandar todo esto sobre una persona, mas elfotografo se asemeja a los demas artistas, esta dispuesto a pasar por grandes sacrifices. Su percepcion y habilidad con las tecnicas solo es una extension de nuestros sentidos colectivos y en terminos de la historia proveenan evidencia de una preferencia estetica y visual.

Los tres artistas que aparecen en este porfolio nos llevan muy cerca de si mismos. Es similar a ser testigo de un acto con una naturaleza secreta o privada. Dentro de sus respectivos estilos cada uno de ellos nos arrima afectuosamente a la intranquilidad del subconsciente.

Los puentes entre la parte subjetiva y objetiva de la vida son parte del andamiaje que el fotografo ha creado con su arte. Frieda Medtn ve su mundo en la isla como un claustro que ella quizas no ha podido superar, pero si puede abrir un camino mas hondo en el. La casa que ella eligio para simbolizar su psico-drama provee un escenario y una prision en donde las imdgenes se desenvuelven. Su arte es alimentado y reabastecido por este conflicto. Similar alfenix su arte nace de las llamas. De este modo sus “negativos quemados” son imdgenes de destruccion y subsecuentemente de renacimiento. El enfasis en la autoretrato y en las imdgenes frente al espejo transportan su presencia como un ente, una presencia que es firme y ontologica, la cual se niega a irse y hay que entenderse con ella.

En sus fotografias Ani Gonzalez Rivera nos hace conscientes de el por su preocupacion con un tema, la muerte, y todo lo que conlleva. Una persona solo puede hablar de su muerte como un presagio. Como voy a pexerienciarla? Como me va a tocar? La tradicion romantica utilizaba la muerte (asi como el amor y otras emociones) para exaltar el ser. Como puede alguien enfatizar mejor la existencia si no es atraves de su antonimo? El tema es explorado por Gonzalez Rivera logrando la ilusion de estar mirando la descomposicion de las superficies y de lo que hay debajo de ellas. Las paredes crujen al quebrantarse, la fotografia esta manipulada con quimicos dando la impresion de ser una imagen gastada y disuelta. Incluso una sombra que cae sobre una cara parece que se desnuda asi como se disuelve en su propria oscuridad. Estos son pensamientos monumentales y apocalipticos que el artista tiene la capacidad de controlar por medio de su profesionalidady las tecnicas de su arte. La imagen trasciende delpensamiento unicamente mediante el sentido de la forma que le imparte el artista. Composiciones basadas en un arraigado patron de bianco y negro caracterizan las escenas captadas por Rivera Gonzalez; de esta manera las transmite al reino del arte.

El mas personal y evidentemente visionario de estos tres artistas es Shawn Walker, es un fotografo del cielo raso visto por un ojo que divaga por la orilla de la oscuridady la luz. Sus imd­ genes son crepusculos o amaneceres, como si la batalla entre la luz y la oscuridad estuviera llevandose a cabo. El artista esta presente segun el escenario se despliega, como testigo principal de las permutaciones del cielo. Nosotros como espectadores participamos junto con el en esta trayectoria hacia el horizonte y con el llegamos a la orilla del tiempo. Sentimos como el planeta se mueve de una fase a otra. Las nubes como materia gaseosa absorbem la luz y sugieren formas que parecen anunciar un destino nefasto o alguna catastrofe. Eero elfotografo nos deja saber, entre dientes, que el esta presente ye que es capaz de imaginarse a si mismo entre estas nubes ambulantes.

Como buen maestro nos dice que es cuestion de paciencia, si esperamos lo suficiente la nube adecuada pasard sobre nosotros y nos leevara con ella. Esta vision del exterior de alguna manera refleja al propio artista itinerante que es Shawn Walker, aquel que sigue el camino luminoso hacia la “etemidad”.

En estas fotografias se tiene consciencia de tres niveles a ser experimentados: Frieda Medin es hermetica y personal; Ani Gonzalez Rivera enfatiza lo simbolico y eliptico; Shawn Walker es un visionario mistico para todas las edades. Para ser preciso y nitido pueden ser emplazados en diferentes estados de conciencia. Para ser justo, cada uno debe ser estudiado y apreciado dentro del contexto del arte fotografico. Es bajo esta jurisdiccion que su producto artistico encontrara su lugar. Es un horizonte en expansion cuyas imdgenes se nutren, y la singularidad de sus visiones dan un nuevo acabado. Es un buen augurio para ellos que el tiempo del “subconsciente”, “la vi­ sion del alma”, sigan protegidas y acomodadas con el artista que mantiene elfuego vivo.

RAFAEL COLON MORALES

Rafael Colon Morales es un pintor y un curador del Museo del Barrio en Nueva York.

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