Francie Bishop Good traverses social and personal boundaries from beauty salons in Queens, NY to backyard picnics in suburban Colorado, and fundraisers of the art world elite. Her viscous photographs suspend the contemplative moments of women in the flux of desire, affirmation, and responsibility. Her subjects seek empowerment through local vocabularies of posture, fashion, and domestic interiors. They are stewards of unborn children, pet dogs, and public spaces where women of complex ages, races, and socioeconomic conditions find the stillness to be photographed. You consider “domestic moments and life’s stages” as your most important subjects, can you speak more to that?
I consider domestic moments and life’s stages my paramount subjects. My history (and continued work) as a painter and a lover of art, is the backbone of my work. I strive to show struggles that are unique to the individual but also transcend through psychological and geographical boundaries.
My picture structure is influenced by the sensuality in paintings that I admire from Edward Hooper to Chantal Joffe. I attempt to choreograph people and spaces into a meaningful, strong new pictorial form.
What do you want your photographs to convey to your viewers?
I do not really think about that when i am photographing, I find people and moments that speak to me. It is a bonus if the viewers relate to my work.
Everybody brings their life into the viewing of art.
How has growing up in Pennsylvania affected your photography?
This is my history all of our life experiences are in everything we do. Allentown was a beautiful city, the tiny ski area near our house was idyllic.
The changes from the ideal to decay is something that I am exploring.
Where did you get the idea to use it as inspiration for your new show?
The new show is a the very best work from the last two years. The title Far From Apple Hill refers to a tiny ski area, that was torn down and is now a housing development. It speaks to changes and sameness, I might find. I investigate the inner and outer narrative of my subjects. My particular interest concentrates on relationships, both culturally and interpersonally. I photograph people as individuals, together, yet separate (lost in their dream worlds) from the environment in which they find themselves. Through dramatic framing and lighting I hope to give the viewer a connection to my subjects' inner narrative.
How is scale a factor in Far From Apple Hill?
There is a feeling that you get in this scale that you can almost walk into the pictures.
Who has influenced you the most in your career?
My high school art teacher, James Musselman. He will be 98 this week! I just went back to Allentown to honor him at an event at the Allentown Art Museum. 500 people showed up for this event, I was sitting next to him in tears the entire night. He was the type of teacher that documentaries are written about, he changed the lives of thousands and I am one of th lucky ones.
What made you want to be a photographer?
I have been taking pictures since I traded green stamps for my first camera in 1957! I have always considered photography as magic! I have always used my photographs in my art. I consider myself an artist.
Do you define yourself as a philanthropist, a photographer, or both?
I just define myself as myself... we are all multi-faceted individuals, especially women, we juggle constantly.
Talk to me more about FAB! How did that get started?
I am the founder,here is our mission statement
Funding Arts Broward, Inc. (FAB!) was formed in the summer of 2003, by a group of dynamic women who came together to form Funding Arts Broward (FAB!) in response to a growing concern about significant cuts in government funding to the arts.
Our mission is to enrich the Broward County arts community by funding Broward County based visual and performing arts programs that meet eligibility requirements and present high quality programs to the public.
FAB!’s goal is to create a sustainable, expanding pool of monies to award as grants to eligible non-profit arts organizations. Each individual member contributes $1,000 annually and each corporate member contributes $3,500 annually toward the annual arts support fund. All FAB! programs are carried out by our volunteer members, thus eliminating the need for administrative costs. Therefore, all money that is raised by FAB! is donated through grants for programming in the visual and performing arts in Broward County.
To educate the members and the greater community, FAB! hosts quarterly luncheons for members and their guests. Luncheons feature informative panel presentations on a wide spectrum of topics, trends, and issues related to the visual and performing arts. These popular luncheons give members an opportunity to come together, share their knowledge, and stay active in the local arts scene.
All FAB! members share a commitment to support the needs of the local arts community. They share a common belief that art and culture in contemporary society transcend our differences and bring us together in celebration of the human spirit.
Can you speak to me more about your role in Girls’ Club?
Girls’ Club is a private foundation and alternative space established in 2006 by Francie Bishop Good and David Horvitz. Girls’ Club produces exhibitions, educational programming, publications and events that change lives, nurture local artists, and inspire cultural growth in Broward County.
The mission of Girls’ Club is to educate the public, nurture the careers of female artists, and to serve as a resource for art students and scholars, curators, and practicing artists. A special commitment is made to expose the work of local artists to a broader national and international audience.
What is your vision as a philanthropist? What social change should we be focusing on in 2013?
I try to share my passion for the arts in every way, philanthropy is a way my husband and I can help.
Images and Opening Text Courtesy of the David Castillo Gallery
See Works From "Far From Apple Hill" at the David Castillo Gallery
Read More About "Far From Apple Hill" on Remezcla
