| In Black and White |
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| Apr 8 - May 10, 1997 | |
During April the George Adams Gallery will show a new series of works on paper by Lesley Dill. This series is comprised of unique large-format silver gelatin prints from which most of the emulsion has been removed and the exposed paper covered over in a variety of media. In this series Dill continues her work with photography that first began over four years ago. She also continues to incorporate the poetry of Emily Dickinson as well as Rilke, Kafka and a contemporary poet who, as it happens, appears in several of the images. In Black & White includes nine works that combine language with image to create a link between the two that is intentionally oblique and evocative. Dill's interest in photography is as a means to an end, however. The original photographs, with most of the emulsion scraped off, are further manipulated with oil paint and charcoal, with stitched threads and horse hair or letters stamped in india ink to form the words. For Dill, these works are more sculptural than photographic in the emphasis on surface, and perhaps even theatrical with their representation of animated figures. In fact, her early work with photography led to a series of stage performances, the most recent held at the Maison Creteil in Paris last spring. Exhibition Checklist 1. Ghost Eyes, 1997 scraped silver print photograph with thread, charcoal and oil 70 x 51 1/2 inches "It is in fact intercourse with ghosts and not only with the ghosts of the recipient but also with one's own ghost which developes between the lines" R.M. Rilke 2. Untitled, 1997 scraped silver print photograph with thread and charcoal 65 x 51 1/2 inches "We like a hair breath escape" Emily Dickinson 3. You Taught Me, 1997 scraped silver print photograph with charcoal, thread and oil 69 3/8 x 51 3/4 inches "You taught me waiting with myself Appointment strictly kept You taught me fortitude of fate This also I have learnt" Emily Dickinson 4. The Dreamer, 1997 scraped silver print photograph with horsehair and charcoal 49 1/4 x 70 1/4 inches "If you are the Dreamer I am what you dream But when you want to wake, I am your wish and I grow strong and turn into a vast magnificence" R.M. Rilke 5. Flower Hand, 1997 scraped silver print photograph with wire, thread and collage 65 1/2 x 51 1/2 inches "and look at all the motionless and fragile butterflies pinned for their beautiful wings" R.M. Rilke 6. Homage to N.S., 1997 scraped silver print photograph with thread, charcoal and oil 57 1/2 x 64 3/4 inches "Your thoughts don't have words every day They come a single time Like single esoteric sips" Emily Dickinson 7. Untitled, 1997 scraped silver print photograph with thread and charcoal 66 1/4 x 51 3/8 inches "A faith like a guillotine - as heavy as light" Kafka 8. Man Reaching, 1997 scraped and collaged silver print photograph with thread and oil 65 x 51 1/2 inches "Only the man who has raised his strings among the dark ghosts also should feel his way toward the endless praise" R.M. Rilke "I have whittled away my body--I say--there was nothing inside--and no lid either" Edward Morris (model) 9. A Mouthful of Words, 1997 scraped silver print photograph with charcoal 51 1/2 x 52 inches poetry by Emily Dickinson |
