David Stock “Hard-Working Storefronts”

440 Gallery

This event has ended.

440 Gallery presents Hard-Working Storefronts, a series of color photographs by David Stock. This is the artist’s third solo exhibition with the Gallery, adding another dimension to his exploration of the urban landscape.

“Mom and pop” storefronts are an iconic feature of New York’s visual culture. For generations, their populist commercial appeals and home-made displays have added variety and flavor to our neighborhoods. Clamoring for attention on busy streets, they constitute a dense tapestry of colors, textures, viewpoints and attitudes.

Today New York’s mom and pop stores are endangered. Many are falling victim to gentrification, which has brought with it skyrocketing rents and waves of bland chain stores. Nevertheless, family-run stores still cling to life, particularly in the city’s remaining working class and immigrant neighborhoods.

David Stock appreciates these independent storefronts as compelling cultural artifacts. Full of telling details and vibrant colors, his photographs observe small dramas of class, humor and gender. They reveal striking contrasts, nostalgia, and unexpected beauty.

Stock’s photographs are enhanced by careful image preparation and meticulous printing technique. He makes his own prints using pigmented inks on fine art papers. “I worked in the darkroom for decades,” Stock says. “But then I fell in love with the amazing possibilities of ink on paper, something digital technology opened up to photographers.”

David Stock’s photography has been widely exhibited in museums and galleries in the U.S. and abroad. Venues include Fogg Art Museum, California Museum of Photography, Museet for Fotokunst (Denmark), University of Sinaloa, Powerhouse Arena, Casa da Fotografia Fuji (Brazil), Angels Gate Cultural Center and Colorado Photographic Arts Center, to name a few.

Stock’s photographs have been reproduced by diverse publications including The New York Times and The Boston Phoenix. His work was featured on the covers of Z Magazine, Canon Chronicle, Long Beach Museum Quarterly and Arts Rag. Portfolios of Stock’s work have been featured in arts magazines including Blue Sky, La Fotografia Actual (Spain) and Fotopozytw (Poland).