‘Enlightened Dogma II”, an exhibit of photographs by Curtis Salonick, will be shown at the AFA Gallery from March 5-28. There will be an opening reception on First Friday, March 6th, from 6-9 PM, with an artist talk at 5:30 PM. As a special treat, you are invited to be a part of Curtis’s ‘Birthday Photo’ at 7:30 PM at the reception.
Curtis is a self-taught, freelance photographer who has always been fascinated by art, with its creativity and discipline. His artistic direction began when he received his first 35 millemeter camera at age 16. He soon moved from 35 mm. to medium format, developing his skills both in the darkroom and in the field. Not content with traditional aspects of photography, he wanted to find a more creative outlet to express himself.
His images revolve around the interaction with the model. Most of the images taken are not totally themselves; they are just one component of several images used to complete a final, dramatic image. The process - developed over the years of searching – uses black-and-white, 4″ x 5″ duplicating film to transfer individual parts of an original negative to create a multi-layered negative, from which the final prints are made. The style that results he likes to refer to as Gothic Surrealism.
Curt describes it as follows: “Photography, long seen as the depiction or reflection of what is, provides for me the starting point of what is a creative process that transforms and manipulates several simple images into a final composite. My work is an on-going exploration of what I view as the four pillars that support the Human Condition. They are:
#1 – LIFE That which defines our physical being in the present.
#2 – DEATH Defined by the end of our physical being, an unknown of which we posses no comprehension, so we can neither accept nor deny it. Therefore we mourn it.
#3 – SEXUALITY The driving, dominant force that perpetuates the species.
#4 – RELIGION The golden parachute: a means to an end, a reason for being, a flicker of hope in the Great Unknown, defining man from birth to death and beyond.”