PRESS RELEASE May 10, 2005

Upcoming Show

WHAT: CONVERGE

7 Photographers point of view (Click names for individual pages of artists works)
Bret Aaker
Michael Berman
Jennifer Foxley
Charles Ruger
Mike Slack
Sarah Spengler
Celeste Tammariello

WHEN:

June 30^th - July 31^st 2005
WHERE:
GALLERI URBANE / MARFA
203 San Antonio ST
POB 1506

CONTACT:

Ree Willaford
432.729.4200
art@galleriurbane.com
www.galleriurbane.com

*Press images available upon request, see enclosed CD or attachments to view artist works.

Galleri Urbane/Marfa… is pleased to announce an upcoming exhibit “ CONVERGE” - 7 photographers point of view.
The artists are from Texas, New York, New Mexico and California.
CONVERGE will feature new work by gallery artists: Bret Aaker, Michael Berman, Jennifer Foxley, and Mike Slack, Also included in the show are visiting artists: Sarah Spengler, Celeste Tammariello and Charles Ruger.

Gallery artist Bret Aaker’s recent digital photographs series titled “ Hyper-Fake “ will be featured in the show.
On first observation one might be fooled into thinking the subject is “real” but on closer inspection they are obviously miniature plastic models. The objects reside in a world of enigmatic theater, akin to models in a wax museum, except the context is askew; there is no defined place to understand them. The work is so fake that it starts becoming something other than what is obviously depicted.
The digital photograph is a constructed scene using HO scale models. While constructing the scene Mr. Aaker has a specific perspective in mind, He then lights the scene using a variety of light sources such as led lights, daylight lamps, and flashlights.

Also showing photographer Sarah Spangler of San Antonio “Encapsulate” series, which is a series of stereo slides and text intimately presented in handheld 3D viewers. Also included are selected C-prints from Ms. Spengler’s “ TRASH” series.

For most of us, the West is a grand, unexplored idea; for gallery artists Michael Berman, it is a well-explored reality. The show will feature Mr. Berman’s large format prints and his Compo – Sites; silver gelatin prints mounted on painted aluminum surfaces.
Mr. Berman’s work can be found in the permanent collection of the Houston Museum of Art, The Met, Amon Carter, The Hallmark collection and many others museums and universities across the U.S.

Gallery artist Mike Slack residing in Los Angeles will exhibit a new series of large scale photographic prints based on his original Polaroid images. Slack’s work as a photographer begins with what is readily available and ends with the manmade and the familiar, especially if it involves bright artificial colors and harsh sunlight. The resulting image either describes the strangeness of human space, or refers to the limitations and charms of the image.

Also included in the show is N.Y based artists Charles Ruger, Charles focus’s on New York City, Palm Beach, Florida and West Texas, three distinct American locales where he spends much his time. Exhibition images from his work includes formal society portraiture, “contextual portraits,” and architectural and nature studies. The July show will feature a selected image from his work in West Texas and in fall we will feature Mr. Ruger’s Portraiture work.

Gallery artist Jennifer Foxley of Berkeley California most recent series explores how our internal desires, motives and dreams interact and coalesce with the external environment. This project is about the journey we take within our own lives and the ways in which it can alter the landscape of our existence. Taking the symbols of dreams (as drawings through this gesture, investigating the notion of boundaries and the degrees of separation that exist within our lives, and the possibility of transcending them.
Designer Celeste Tammariello from Houston, TX work could be described as abstract photo minimalism, there is often more to Celeste Tammariello’s work than meets the eye. Her intention is to draw you in with soothing and effortless images, while subtly evoking questions and considerations about the complexities of the basic necessities of life, human interactions, the expression of emotion and what drives it, and often times… food. It is in her love affair with minimalism that she has found the depth of life and therefore her work, which is somehow simultaneously simple, rich, provoking and beautiful.
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Please go to the website to view the show at www.galleriurbane.com after June 20^th 2005,or please contact Ree Willaford at 432.729.4200 for more information. The show begins June 30^th through July 31^st.