@Aaron R. Turner, Meanings of the Past, 2020, Inkjet Pigment Print, 3 + 1AP, Black Alchemy: If this one thing is true, 40in x 50in. Framed and mounted on 6mm black sintra. © Aaron R.Turner courtesy of Penumbra Foundation.

Penumbra Foundation | Aaron R. Turner : Black Alchemy : Resolve (Attempt #1), July 6, 2023 - September 30, 2023

“Resolve (attempt #1) explores the linear movement of light, desire, and time. In the pursuit of abstraction to create speculative narratives, Turner uses various photographic techniques and processes, including reflective and archival materials, and in-camera and darkroom manipulation. This exhibition combines works from multiple series within and outside of Black Alchemy, and is a non-representational response to and visual analysis of objective and subjective ideas in photography as it relates to the individual lived experience of everyday life and internal contemplations.”

“Black Alchemy provides a lens through which I see the world while simultaneously considering the past, present, and future,” said Aaron Turner in a recent lecture at Penumbra Foundation. “I use light in combination with influences of geometric abstract painting to shift questions of identity within an established, often monolithic historical narrative.”

To view more information visit Penumbra Foundation.

@Akihito Yoshida, The Dialogue of Two,©Akihito Yoshida, courtesy of Iris Arles.

Iris Arles | Akihito Yoshida : The Dialogue of Two, July 4, 2023 - August 20, 2023

“This series is a sequel to his previous 2017 project The Absence of Two, in which Yoshida photographs the daily life of his grandmother and his cousin, Daiki, who live together. This irreplaceable time comes to an unexpected end when Daiki disappears and is found dead (The Absence of Two was exhibited at Kyotographie in 2017).”

“The Dialogue of Two, its first exhibition outside of Japan, consists of a series of photographs of his grandmother taken over the two and a half years after Daiki is gone leading up to her passing at the age of 88.”

“Shortly after Daiki's passing, the grandmother told the photographer several times "Daiki has returned."

"Daiki came home yesterday."

"It wasn't a dream. He was there. He really came back there."

Even after the loss of her loved one, she continued to feel his presence by her side. What if Daiki, who was supposed to be gone, had also turned his gaze to his grandmother? Yoshida realizes that a "dialogue" is taking place between them on the uncertain border between life and death.”

To view more information visit Iris Arles.

@Erik Östensson, The circle and the line #, 2009 - 2019, 25” x 31”, Inkjet print, $2,000 © Erik Östensson courtesy of Blue Sky Oregon Center For The Photographic Arts.

Blue Sky Oregon Center For The Photographic Arts | Erik Östensson : Tjärnen, July 6, 2023 - August 12, 2023

“Tjärnen

(a small forest lake with no water coming in and no water going out)

It lies there quiet and dark, far up in the north of Sweden. The forest stands densely around its edges as if to hide a secret. To find it, you must know the right path. If you follow the path, you suddenly stand there in front of the black and almost always glossy surface. The lake lies there like the black eye of the forest looking up at the sky.

I moved from the north of Sweden a long time ago. But every summer I return to rest and meet my family. That’s when I visited the lake. During the day to take a swim and to cool down and at dusk to examine its surface.”

“It was not a conscious choice, but again and again I carried the heavy large format camera out into the woods to the edge of the lake. There was something about that dark surface that fascinated me. It seemed bottomless but at the same time it reflected the stars. The surface was like a border between two worlds. For me, the surface became a symbol of everything that lies between me and what I strive and long for. Many of the photographs in this project are made by the lake. Maybe you could say that they all are, because it was the same surface I examined when I came home. Even though I was sitting at home in my kitchen, it was as if I was sitting there by the edge of the lake, looking down into its darkness.”

To view more information visit Blue Sky Oregon Center For The Photographic Arts.