Dan Torop "Skydiving"

Derek Eller Gallery

poster for Dan Torop "Skydiving"

This event has ended.

Named for a poem by Ishmael Reed, Skydiving is a novelistic series of images with moral and psychological dimensions. Torop explains, “It’s about finding subtle feelings and letting them live in a picture, rather than an easy beauty.” Emotional objects, the photographs explore mortality, suffering, and pathos as well as optimism and happiness. They convey epic subject matter on a modest scale.

Nature - from rocky landscapes, to humble houseplants, to wounded tree branches - is a focal point for Torop. The other-worldly Cocteau-Orphic reflections in Point of Rocks become a metaphor for the land of death, as does the shadowy woods by the dark river in Heron. Seizure recalls the harshness of Garry Winogrand’s zoo photographs: humans perceive their own miserable state through images of suffering animals. At the same time, Sunset and Sheep portray contented animals in hopeful environments.

Another group of photographs investigate formal concerns within a natural setting. Taken in 2009 at particularly high altitudes, these works include Pass, Tortilla, and Blue Tarp. Torop writes, “In the thin air, where the mind barely functions, form becomes all. I’m exploring the edges and flatness of the image plane, the balance and sequence of objects, and the blankness of the skies.”

Media

Schedule

from November 18, 2010 to December 23, 2010

Opening Reception on 2010-11-18 from 18:00 to 20:00

Artist(s)

Dan Torop

  • Facebook

    Reviews

    All content on this site is © their respective owner(s).
    New York Art Beat (2008) - About - Contact - Privacy - Terms of Use