Johnson Museum presents The Architect's Brother, Photographs by Shana and Robert ParkeHarrison
Apotheosis - Grapevine - Robert ParkeHarrison
From the website: ParkeHarrison makes work that mixes photography, painting and sculptural props with old-fashioned darkroom techniques. Primitive yet elaborate constructions are photographed and the resulting creations are collaged into other image sources; some from his picture archives, others from the history books of photography (e.g., for Mending the Earth (1999) Timothy O'Sullivan's Steamboat Springs, Nevada (1867) was revisited). The process frequently Involves paper negatives that are cut and pasted together before a final image is contact printed. Flaws that are revealing of the process-strings used to suspend props and the hard edges outlining layers-are then retouched in numerous washes of monochromatic paint. Final prints are mounted to wood panels with an elevating frame behind them (envisage a canvas on a stretcher), and a finishing touch takes the form of an application of beeswax. The end result is a photography of mythical proportions that is camouflaged in paint and operates in singles rather than multiples.
