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Irene Fay and Davis Freeman
FromJanuary 4th until February 13th, 1999 Benham Studio-Gallery is privileged
to feature the following artists and their shows:
Irene Fay was born in Russia in 1914. By the late 1930s, she was taking
pictures with a Rolleiflex and was married and living in Poland as the
eruption of World War II became eminent. Two weeks before the war broke
out, she and her husband escaped to Zurich, where she landed a darkroom
assistant job with Gotthard Schuh, who was then
Switzerland's finest photojournalist. Here, she also studied with the
famous photographer Hans Finsler, who taught her the art of photographic
chemistry.
In 1948 she came to New York City and met some of its greatest
photographic artists, including Diane Arbus, Andre Kertesz, and Lisette
Model. Fay did portraits and freelance work to earn a living until her
death in 1986. In 1975 she joined the Witkin Gallery in New York. During
her American years she created the work for which she is most renowned.
Fay's photographic images illuminate ordinary exteriors which, in
her hands, become at once enigmatic and
straightforward. Her fastidious eye for the luminous details of everyday
objects and gestures opens the
viewer's perception to the frank, abrupt, improvisatory nature of the
world. Fay's pictures are testimony to Nabokov's aesthetic goals: to "...
obtain translucent miniatures, pocket wonderlands, that little world of
hushed luminous hues...." This exhibition of her work will help bring
attention to an undeservedly neglected modernist artist.
Davis Freeman, a local photographic artist, who will show 35 images in an
exhibition of his "illustratypes," an innovative form of Polaroid
manipulations which resemble illustrations or lithographs, but with a more
electric edge. Mr. Freeman most recently exhibited in SoHo20 and Friends, a
New York City show that met with high acclaim. He recently won First and
Second Place in Polaroid's Altered Visions photo competition and has been
featured in numerous
international publications of the photo industry.
The illustratype photos at Benham will feature Mr. Freeman's
figurative work, as well as portraits of prominent Seattle notables, such
as Jacob Lawrence, Bill Krueger, Tom Skerritt, and Stewart Stern. Most
important, however: the exhibition is the first art fundraiser for the
Boyer Children's Clinic, a non-profit,
community-based medical and research facility which has served all children
with neuromuscular disorders,
regardless of their economic status, for almost 60 years. This is one of
the few opportunities for people in Seattle to buy art and have its
proceeds benefit not just the art community, but the lives of kids as well.
The catered gala-opening will be on 7 January 1999 from 6pm - 8pm.
Davis Freeman, many of the local celebrities photographed as well as
friends and family of Irene Fay will be in attendance.
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