Black & White

  I always look forward to visiting the yearly Black & White exhibition at the New Mexico Art League gallery.  As the announcement says, it features black & white drawings and black & white photographs.  About half of the pieces are photographs, and both the digital and analog offerings are generally of very good quality.  All of the art is available to view online.

I am always a little surprised to find new to me analog talent given my years in the city.  In this show it is Kirk Conrad, who has a considerable body of work including two nice film-based pieces in the current exhibit and much more on his website. I was impressed by his style, and his compositional and technical skills.
 

Dan Shaffer is a regular at the B&W shows and he also turns up at most of the other exhibition opportunities in Albuquerque.  I thought his pieces on this occasion featuring some shadow pattern work were particularly nice.

Among the digital photographers I was particularly impressed by the work of Dallas Pottinger, Lisa McBride, Thomas Fore and Virginia Mahan.  I liked Radka Toscova-Tenigan's Dragonfly, but I thought he went a bit too far with digital enhancement in his Five Goats which produced some unpleasant background textures; perhaps over-sharpening?

I'm looking forward to returning to the gallery for the Meet the Artists reception, March 21, 3 PM to 6 PM.  Being able to view the actual prints is a much more satisfying experience than looking at the online reproductions.

 Perhaps I'll try to drag along some of my camera-toting friends.

New Mexico Art League - 3409 Juan Tabo Boulevard NE