TUCK FAUNTLEROY
FAUNTLEROY TAYLOE PIGGOTT GALLERY BURN
09 SEPTEMBER — 16 OCTOBER 2022
TUCK
DEFAMILIARIZING THE FAMILIAR 2
Fauntleroy chased the capricious moment and the colossal beauty realized as autumns are engulfed by winters, and winters give way to spring. Utilizing rivers and lakes as the subject matter, sharp visual lines are accentuated by the snow-covered earth from an aerial perspective to create works that visually displace the viewer and push the boundaries of realism and abstraction. Burn , a new series of large-scale photographs, still gives way some sense of seasonal change but focuses on the wildfire burn regions in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. Burn similarly showcases the artist’s scrupulous ability to play between negative and positive space, yet this time, Fauntleroy focuses on the elegant lines and forms created by a landscape scarred by flame. Taken over the course of three winters, the series is a mixture of aerial and ground shots of the regions of Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks that have been drastically changed by wildfires over the past four decades. As with his previous work, Fauntleroy took many of the photos from the open windows of singleengine planes he chartered to fly over the areas, while other shots were taken by hiking into remote areas of the parks in different phases of the harsh Wyoming winters. Though edited into grayscale, Fauntleroy remarks that, in person, these landscapes are essentially black and white, with everything hidden under the thick, white veil of snow but the burnt timber.
Tuck Fauntleroy has become well known for his fine art photography practice which focuses on the medium of water and its expansive relationships since his release of Waterline (2018). Fauntleroy has spent over a decade taking flight over the American West to capture bodies of water at a critical moment of the change for the creation of Waterline (2018), Snake River (2019) and Elements (2020).
"Some of these places are from the 1988 unbelievable Yellowstone fires, and the reality is that that was a very real canary in the coal mine...”
Although much of Fauntleroy’s previous works embrace undercurrents of environmentalism, Burn embraces more directly to the issues affecting Fauntleroy’s backyard, and slowly but surely our world, than his previous work. “This body of work is definitely more head on in looking at and making one think more about what is happening. Some of these places are from the 1988 unbelievable Yellowstone fires, and the reality is that event was a very real, canary in the coal mine for what the future hold with lack of forest management, destructional fires, and global warming. The point is that this work really speaks authentically to that issue.”
The stark contrast of charred, disfigured trees against soft, untouched snow or serene waters makes for photos that are as peaceful as they are compelling. In Burn , the silence of these remote, charred spaces is palpable. Burn is timely in the face of the proliferation of recent fires across the western United States and globally. The massive 1988 Yellowstone fires were a wake-up call, foreshadowing the future climate catastrophes that have recently become the norm. Regions affected by these 1988 wildfires remain scarred and are depicted in the series, as well as abutting areas also altered by the numerous fires that have since followed. Warming, drought, and the resulting fires have never been more of a threat, and it is impossible to separate the beauty of these images from the destruction they were born of.
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4 Despite these underlying themes that Fauntleroy admits can be depressing, Burn still captures both the beauty and hope in the unspoken regeneration of the life affected by fire. Ecological succession, the pattern and process of recovery after a wildfire, begins with the rapid growth fragile wildflowers and, later grasses and pioneer trees which, in Burn, are hidden by snow but inherently present. These wildfires essentially hit the reset button on the environments they tear through, but implicit in that process is growth. Critical to the series is the notion of taking something more widely perceived as unsightly and destructive and making it aesthetic and engaging. “I like to think of the winter season as a time for the land itself to rest. Zero human activity, the silence of falling snow in one of the most remote places on earth is enchanting and reflective. In that space, there's hope of discovering a healing element that a landscape at rest is pristine and peaceful - it inspires promise.” Despite the implicit chaos that created this landscape, Fauntleroy’s artful documentation, paired with his keen sense of space, lends to create images that edge on abstraction and even impressionism through the presentation of very real areas of our National Parks that have been touched by flame. By defamiliarizing the familiar, Fauntleroy is able to create a beguiling series of images that are, above all, meditative, invoking pure serenity in the face of arrant desolation. Works in each of Fauntleroy’s series are connected by the intentionality of photographing landscapes devoid of human interruption. Noting the transitional progressions in these remote locations, Fauntleroy expresses a profoundly human desire to capture and chase the ephemerality of seasons and time. His keen sense of composition and scrupulous play between negative and positive space lend to
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challenge our perception of these well-known environs in an original presentation that hovers between the recognizable and the sublime. Each image in Burn engulfs the viewer into a mysterious environment- one that seems familiar yet out of reach. Standing in front of these large photographs one becomes lost in a visual journey rendered almost painterly in one frame and conjuring minimalist constructivism in the next.
Tuck Fauntleroy lives and works in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
"...the winter season as a time for the land itself to rest. Zero human activity, the silence of falling snow in one of the most remote places on earth is enchanting and reflective. In that space, there's hope of discovering a healing element that a landscape at rest is pristine and peaceful - it inspires promise."
Tuck Fauntleroy grew up in a small waterfront town on the eastern shore of Maryland. He graduated with a B.A. from Bucknell University in 2000 and moved west to Jackson Hole. Combined with his personal photographic practice, Fauntleroy developed a professional foundation as a photographer in the fields of architecture and interior design over the past 20 years. Published in recognized outlets such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, Dwell, Conde Nast Traveler, and Town & Country, Fauntleroy’s fine arts photography is committed to utilizing the aesthetics of the natural world.
BURN I , 2019-2022 Archival pigment print Editions and sizing variable 6
BURN II , 2019-2022 Archival pigment print Editions and sizing variable 8
BURN III , 2019-2022 Archival pigment print Editions and sizing variable 10
BURN IV , 2019-2022 Archival pigment print Editions and sizing variable 12
14 BURN V , 2019-2022 Archival pigment print Editions and sizing variable
BURN VI , 2019-2022 Archival pigment print Editions and sizing variable 16
BURN VII , 2019-2022 Archival pigment print Editions and sizing variable 18
BURN VIII , 2019-2022 Archival pigment print Editions and sizing variable 20
BURN IX , 2019-2022 Archival pigment print Editions and sizing variable 22
BURN X , 2019-2022 Archival pigment print Editions and sizing variable 24
26 BURN XI , 2019-2022 Archival pigment print Editions and sizing variable
EDITIONS2820 x 30 inches | edition of 11 26 1/2 x 40 inches | edition of 9 40 x 60 inches | edition of 9 53 x 80 inches | (some) edition of 3
This catalog compliments Fauntleroy's Exhibition BURN 09 SEPTEMBER - 16 OCTOBER 2022 | Tayloe Piggott Gallery © 2022 All Rights Reserved
62 SOUTH GLENWOOD STREET JACKSON HOLE, WYOMING TEL 307 733 TAYLOEPIGGOTTGALLERY.COM0555
