“Simple Forms and Complex Systems,” an exhibition of recent work by Photographer Gregg Stanger, opens Thursday, Sept. 22, in The Teaching Gallery. The day’s events – a talk by the artist at 3 p.m. in the BTC Auditorium and an opening reception from 4 to 6 p.m. in The Teaching Gallery, located in the Administration Building – are open free to all.
With a background in fine art and biology, Gregg Stanger’s artwork merges traditional photographic processes with geometric abstraction to explore the relationship between order and disorder. This exhibition includes collages on stretched linen canvas and cyanotype grids on handmade paper.
The works on canvas incorporate simple, monochromatic photographs, while the folded paper grids are created with layers of a light-sensitive cyanotype emulsion – eliminating the camera all together. After multiple exposures to indirect window light, “the irregularities in the handmade paper, the inconsistencies in the hand folding, and the unevenness of the coated layers of emulsion resulted in an imperfect grid. Every azure square was unique.” For Stanger, “This repetitive process became an exercise is letting go. I didn’t know where each piece would take me. I thought that by casting off my human instinct to order things, the outcome would be chaos. But instead, I discovered an equilibrium, a harmony more akin to the order of nature.”
A native of Massachusetts, Stanger now lives and works in Queens, NY. He earned a Master in Art degree in Art/Photography from New York University in New York City, a General Studies certificate degree from the International Center of Photography (NYC) and a bachelor’s degree from Hartwick College (Oneonta, NY). He has exhibited his work widely for two decades, frequently in New York City, throughout New England, as well as in Los Angeles, Berlin, Budapest and Shanghai. Since 2004, Stanger has served as studio manager at the Hiroshi Sugimoto Studio in NYC.
Gallery hours through Thursday, Nov. 10, when the exhibition ends, are 10 a.m.- 4 p.m. Tuesdays, 11 a.m.-noon and 3-7 p.m. Wednesdays, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays, noon-4 p.m. Saturdays; admission is free.
Teaching Gallery exhibitions are installed and assisted by students enrolled in Gallery Management courses and supported by the Department of Fine Arts, Theatre Arts and Digital Media, the Cultural Affairs Program and the HVCC Foundation.