August 15 - September 27, 2008
opening reception on august 15 at 7pm
opening reception on august 15 at 7pm
San Francisco Grown: Photographs by Daniel Cheek, Amy Regalia, and Michael McCauslin posits the work of three photographers whose environmental and urban landscapes illustrate the relationship between human and nature and distill moments at which the two face off. Bringing to the foreground what might otherwise go unnoticed, the images favor the inconspicuous as opposed to the obvious subject in the picture plane. As the title of the show suggests, the flora of the Bay Area is the apparent over-arching theme shared by the set of images. Yet it is the documentation of nature's expression in relation to and in spite of human's attempt to control it that makes these images provocative.
Michael McCauslin, Untitled, 2006
In a digital world, where technology has increased the production of images and speed of accessing them, Michael McCauslin invites the viewer to slow down in the act of looking. A modern-day street photographer with work methods inherited from turn-of-the-century photographers such as Eugene Atget, McCauslin captures the minute details within a city’s street. The tool of choice is a digital camera, which facilitates a deliberate and spontaneous capture. McCauslin’s images are fueled by an emotional response to his surroundings. McCauslin is a teacher and teacher’s mentor for the San Francisco Unified School District. This is McCauslin’s third exhibition organized by Cara and Cabezas Contemporary.
Amy Regalia stumbled upon the subject of her series, Leavings, while on a separate self-appointed assignment in San Jose, California. The attention to craft employed by the creators of these pre-mulch piles of yard waste attracted Regalia’s eye. In an approach similar to that of Bernd and Hilla Becher, whose work classifies buildings of the same function, Regalia set out to make portraits of these organic refuse piles. In her process, Regalia paid careful attention to keeping certain factors consistent throughout the series, such as her distance from the sidewalk. Seemingly simple street-side scenes open up a complex layering of information about the lives of the residents, their practices, and what lies beyonc each fence. Regalia studied at California College of the Arts and has exhibited at San Francisco Camerawork, Southern Exposure, and the Oliver Arts Center.
Daniel Cheek has been traveling California back roads with his large-format cameras since his arrival from Michigan in 1998. Though often void of humans, his photographs always illuminate evidence of the human fingerprint on the land. Taken with an 8 x 10 large format camera, the photographs exhibited are direct contact prints from his negatives rendering the sharpest, purest representation of his image. Cheek received his BFA from the Academy of Art College, San Francisco. His past exhibitions include showings at the Academy of Art College, Sutter Street Gallery, San Francisco; Northeastern Nevada Museum, Elko, 2006; and Nevada Museum of Art, Reno, 2006.
Amy Regalia, Leavings # 3
Amy Regalia stumbled upon the subject of her series, Leavings, while on a separate self-appointed assignment in San Jose, California. The attention to craft employed by the creators of these pre-mulch piles of yard waste attracted Regalia’s eye. In an approach similar to that of Bernd and Hilla Becher, whose work classifies buildings of the same function, Regalia set out to make portraits of these organic refuse piles. In her process, Regalia paid careful attention to keeping certain factors consistent throughout the series, such as her distance from the sidewalk. Seemingly simple street-side scenes open up a complex layering of information about the lives of the residents, their practices, and what lies beyonc each fence. Regalia studied at California College of the Arts and has exhibited at San Francisco Camerawork, Southern Exposure, and the Oliver Arts Center.
Daniel Cheek, Pinnacles National Monument, CA 2007
Daniel Cheek has been traveling California back roads with his large-format cameras since his arrival from Michigan in 1998. Though often void of humans, his photographs always illuminate evidence of the human fingerprint on the land. Taken with an 8 x 10 large format camera, the photographs exhibited are direct contact prints from his negatives rendering the sharpest, purest representation of his image. Cheek received his BFA from the Academy of Art College, San Francisco. His past exhibitions include showings at the Academy of Art College, Sutter Street Gallery, San Francisco; Northeastern Nevada Museum, Elko, 2006; and Nevada Museum of Art, Reno, 2006.
