Gallery Presents Photographic Art of Al Wildey
Photographs that illustrate street life, landscapes, domesticity and traveling using multiple camera techniques are highlighted in an exhibit at Alma College.
The Flora Kirsch Beck Gallery at Alma College presents the photographic art of Al Wildey from Monday, Feb. 15 through Thursday, March 18. Admission is free and open to the public. Gallery hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays.
A gallery reception and artist’s talk will take place at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 18.
"Corinne," photo by Al Wildey
The exhibit offers a retrospective of Wildey’s career as a photographer and digital artist. Works on display include digital images on aluminum, silver gelatin prints, mixed media, Polaroid integral dye prints, and digital composite prints.
"His work is fascinating," says Sandy Lopez-Isnardi, gallery director at Alma College. "In one case Wildey hooked a trailer installed with a camera to his car and turned the trailer into a camera obscura in which he could capture his travels.”
The exhibit includes some of Wildey’s earliest photos, including landscapes reflecting work published in his book, Public Places, Private Spaces. The work was inspired by a group of street photographers in the 1980s.
"Another area is an exploration of the domesticity of family,” says Wildey. “The collection is terribly diverse incorporating various digital media. I investigated relationships as brothers and fathers.”
His most recent photography is in digital media.
"I investigated the photography medium itself,” explains Wildey. “I questioned how photography functions and explored photography as a metaphor for our lives. I found it ends where we began, in landscapes, in the paths we travel.”
Wildey is an associate professor of photography and digital imaging at Central Michigan University. He has a bachelor of fine arts degree from the Rochester Institute of Technology and master of fine arts degree from the University of Idaho.
His works have been displayed at the Midland Center for the Arts and in galleries in Los Angeles, Detroit, Dearborn, Buffalo, N.Y., and Sheboygan, Wisc.
Posted: Wed, February 17th, 2010 at 8:41AM
