April 10 - May 4, 2007
Reception April 10, 5 - 8 pm

Hrs. M - F, 11 - 4pm & by appointment

The Harris Art Gallery
The University of La Verne
1950 3rd Street
La Verne, CA 91750
http://www.ulv.edu/art/harris.phtml
Directions: http://www.ulv.edu/art/harris_map.phtml

When synthetic cubism integrated collage elements and extended the picture plane into the viewer's space, using domestic material such as chair caning and newspaper, it created a bridge from painting that led to performance and installation art. This reorganization of three-dimensional space is an essential component in the creative processes of Bari Ziperstein and Jonathan Furmanski. Their work blurs the line between the space for making art and the space for viewing art, encouraging viewers to look at something strangely familiar from a fresh perspective.

Ziperstein’s photographs present her home environment being overtaken by temporary site-specific sculptures. In them white foam core and plaster structures, which occupied her apartment for three months, alter and interact with comfortable interiors creating a new order and flow of space. Her pictures, shot by architectural photographer Grant Mudford, capture this physical negotiation between the intrusive objects and the inviting spaces and preserve the dialog of these delicate scenarios.

In a concurrent series of collages, Ziperstein employs images taken from home décor magazines. Idealized pictures of domestic interiors spaces and homes are politely violated by Ziperstein’s careful hand. The photogenic settings are reconfigured with e-xacto editing. She inserts white planes, beams and pillars that resemble the fantastic structures in her sculpture and temporary installations.

Furmanski analyzes atmospheric experience in a set of minimal interior photographs. He interweaves digital and darkroom processes to photograph small-scale models. The resulting pictures show luminous spaces, which invite curious investigation. In the soft glow of these stark interiors, architecture and light fuse to present a haunting vacuum.

In another photo set Furmanski has taken detail shots of fluorescent light sculptures by the Minimalist artist Dan Flavin with a mobile phone camera. The mechanics of digital representation record feedback lines emanating from the fluorescent glare. While these patterns are invisible to the naked eye, the printed harmonic pulsations read as a phantom energy.

By Dion Johnson