Park Row Gallery News

"AMERICANA," an exhibition of works by artist Joel Seaman, will be on view at Park Row Gallery, 2 Park Row, from Aug.1 through Sept.8. An opening reception will be held Saturday, Aug.4 from 4 to 6 p.m.

The works on display are part of a three-year endeavor in which Joel has explored man's evolving relationship with nature through a fusion of imagery based in the photographic process but more painterly in style.

"The presentation of the relationship between humans and nature has changed throughout the history of art," explains Joel. "Traditional art shows nature and humanity in equilibrium, or people at peril from nature, people at the mercy of nature, people supported and nurtured by nature, people living in their rightful place within nature, people reaping nature's bountiful harvest, people fighting nature and people controlling nature. Most species modify and at least partially construct their environment. Our species' ability to construct and alter our environment is unparalleled during the history of our planet."

His work -- both traditional photographs and Giclee prints -- has a timeless quality about it that makes it difficult to place in a contemporary setting, however his ideas are gleaned almost entirely from current events.

The artist has created an online catalog of the show.

"My work is really about everything that's affecting us now; the environment, politically, culturally, socially ... all of it is part of the conversation," he says.

"The conjunction is between still life, landscape and wildlife painting" said Seaman, noting that his works are meant to be seen as landscapes. "I started this series putting artifacts into the compositions. Over time the artifacts became the landscape."

Joel said that it takes him a year to make a picture. He collects objects and props and then spends three months shooting his creations -- usually during the spring and summer months -- and spends the remaining seasons in post production.

He also explains that while he has chosen photography as a medium, it's a process that he believes shouldn't constrain artists to capturing of actual events or of specific moments in time. "I create pictures that are based on concepts similar to those of painters. My conversation is based in the image, rather than the medium. We have a lot of preconceptions about photography. Photography has, since it's invention, been engaged in an ongoing dialogue with painting. Photoshop has given the photographer the same control over an image as a painter. It's liberating to be working at this time."

Joel says his pictures are rooted in both Japanese and Western artistic traditions. Western artistic traditions provide a stylistic foundation, particularly in the use of form, color and light. The Japanese artistic tradition contributes a unique aesthetic with a directness of expression, the sensibilities of wabi and sabi, of asymmetry, of uneven numbers, and of pattern and space.

And while the process is precise, the message is paramount.

"To quote Susan Sontag, 'nature has ceased to be what it always had been - what people needed protection from. Now nature - tamed, endangered, mortal - needs to be protected from people'," remarks Joel. "Contemporary naturalist art, if it is relevant, reflects current knowledge of humanity's dramatic effect on the natural world or risks being an exercise in romantic nostalgia."

Part of the proceeds from the show will benefit the Columbia County Land Conservancy. This show also coincides with an afternoon of music in the Village Green and a wine tasting at the gallery with Chatham Wine and Liquor.