Foley Gallery is pleased to announce its first exhibition of 2012. Inspired by artists who interrupt and otherwise compromise the integrity of the precious negative and paper used in photography, Penetration showcases several approaches that reveal the presence of the artist's hand in their photographic work. The result is a concept of its own, represented by four artists who puncture, penetrate, scratch and even recreate the photographic image.
Danielle Durchslag looks back at her own ancestral history through photographs of family whose names and identities have been forgotten with the passing of time. With hundreds of pieces of cut paper, she recreates these portraits in a layered mosaic to acknowledge their disappearance and elevate the original photographs from anonymous objects to revered memorials of those whose actions and decisions ultimately affected her.
Joseph Heidecker marries vernacular photography with ornamental beads and sewing thread. In these theatrical and often humorous portraits, Heidecker constructs contemporary identities of anonymous subjects by masking parts of the original figure. His infused portraits ponder who we present ourselves to be and raise questions on just how our own identities are made and shaped in the age of multi-platform social media and invasive technology.
Marco Breuer's unique method of creating photographs without a camera is often completed by making abrasive scratches or scrapes on light sensitive paper. His approach produces dimensional, conceptual and abstract images that challenge the viewer's basic assumptions about photographic image making. Photography has underlying principals by which its subject can be judged, but Breuer asks us to experience the nature and the capabilities of the paper itself.
Jowhara AlSaud's portraits of faceless figures are inspired by the practice in Saudi Arabia of censoring certain imagery deemed unsuitable for viewing. She takes this concept and applies it to her personal photographs by making drawings that are etched into the surface of a photographic negative. Based on everyday experiences with friends and family, the finished photographs share a tension between warmth and intimacy and their anonymity.