Juli Lowe is the Director at Catherine Edelman Gallery located in Chicago, IL. During her nine years at the gallery, she has helped implement new initiatives including, Ctrl+P: Photography Taken Offline, now is in its fifth year; Art Mixer, special events that engage younger collector groups; and the gallery’s web series, Chat Room. With a background in photography, Juli has previously worked at The Maine Media Workshops and as a producer for print and television campaigns. While traveling internationally with the gallery, she is constantly engaged with contemporary photography and art.
It is our pleasure to speak with curator and director of Catherine Edelman Gallery (Chicago, IL), Juli Lowe, about their most recent exhibition “New Formations”. on view now through March 7, 2020. New Formations bridges one-of-a-kind collages, painted photographs, a large-scale site-specific installation, and video works of four international photographers:
“Aimée Beaubien (b.1966, Fort Campbell, KY) is strongly influenced by her great
grandmother, art history and gardens. To bring these aspects together, she weaves photographs, drapes brightly colored rope and suspends old photography books in large site-specific installations that emulate plant growth. Nicolás Combarro (b. 1979, A Coruña, Spain) paints, collages and draws on architectural photographs in his series, Spontaneous Architecture, in an effort to isolate geometric forms within structures. By focusing on these shapes, he bridges the gap between architecture and fundamental forms found in art. Hannah Hughes' (b. 1975, Essex, United Kingdom) new series, Mirror Image, focuses on the overlooked and in-between spaces surrounding subjects found in glossy magazines. By cutting repetitive shapes from these sources, she produces small fragments of paper that is then layered, creating photographic sculptures. These new formations invert the significance of the original object while magnifying the beauty of color and form. In Lilly Lulay’s (b. 1985, Frankfurt, Germany) series Mindscapes, she creates a shattered perspective of a place by cutting and collaging found images. These works are made in response to the quantity of photographs made in cities and public spaces and the resulting collective memory they create.”
Hothouse Picture-Cyclopedia, 2019 © Aimée Beaubien / courtesy Catherine Edelman Gallery, Chicago
New Formations / courtesy Catherine Edelman Gallery, Chicago
New Formations
New Formations includes one-of-a-kind collages, painted photographs, a large-scale site-specific installation, and video works of four international photographers: Nicolás Combarro, Hannah Hughes, Lilly Lulay, and Aimée Beaubien. Together, this exhibition of new photographic art references sculpture, painting, architecture and the natural world through the visual exploration of the photograph as material.
It is widely understood that the sheer quantity of photographs in our digital culture are growing exponentially. In response, more and more artists are exploring unique ways of working with photographic images. New Formations features works by four artists who are reinventing how photography is used to represent a place, object or memory. Sourcing images from a variety of archives, these artists cut, collage, weave and paint to reconstruct photographic prints. As the works become more complex, memories are fragmented, places are deconstructed, and objects are recontextualized. Situated between photography and sculpture, the works in the exhibition go beyond the content of a singular image, introducing a new visual language.
Untitled (Spontaneous Architecture. Color Collage II), 2017 © Nicolás Combarro / courtesy Catherine Edelman Gallery, Chicago
Untitled (Spontaneous Architecture. Color Collage VIII), 2017 © Nicolás Combarro / courtesy Catherine Edelman Gallery, Chicago
Kyra Schmidt: What/who was the starting point for New Formations?
Juli Lowe: The starting point for the exhibition was the work of Lilly Lulay. In her series Mindscapes, she reconstructs found photographs by cutting them apart and reassembling them, creating new landscapes. Her work led me to think about other photographers who physically alter photographs, changing the image and its intent.
Kyra Schmidt: As the curator of this exhibition, how did your vision lead you to bridge this dynamic group of artists together?
Juli Lowe: I saw Lilly’s work in 2014, and Nicolás Combarro’s work in 2016. The show took shape when I saw Hannah Hughes’s work last year. Each of these artists create new objects by physically cutting and pasting, or, in Combarro’s case, painting on the surface. Even though Aimée Beaubien lives and works in Chicago, I hadn’t seen her work until last summer. I had two studio visits with her, and experienced her immersive installations, which include woven photographs. With the addition of her work the show was solidified.
I am drawn to the way these artists challenge how a photograph is used to represent a place, objects or memory. Each artist in the exhibition has a unique approach to manipulating photographic images [cut, collage, weaving, painting, etc.] to create photographic objects that impose a new perspective.
Untitled (Spontaneous Architecture. Croquis VII), 2017 © Nicolás Combarro / courtesy Catherine Edelman Gallery, Chicago
Untitled (Spontaneous Architecture. Painted X), 2017 © Nicolás Combarro / courtesy Catherine Edelman Gallery, Chicago
New Formations / courtesy Catherine Edelman Gallery, Chicago
United Colors of Venice, 2012 © Lilly Lulay / courtesy Catherine Edelman Gallery, Chicago
Kyra Schmidt: The artist’s work in New Formations seem to share a connection with the archive in that they are all working with found imagery. Why was this an important detail for you? What does this say about the state of contemporary photography?
Juli Lowe: They aren’t all working with found images, but they all collect photographic images and material to create their own archive. The massive number of images in our digital culture is astonishing. It can create the feeling that everything has already been photographed; nothing is new. In response, these four artists draw from the massive number of images available to them to form their own archive. From this archive, a new visual language is created that challenges the proliferation of photographs available on a daily basis.
Kyra Schmidt: Well said! And I think in response to this sheer quantity of images and information that is out there, the unique photographic object is making a comeback. How do you find the market is responding to this trend toward artist experimentation?
Juli Lowe: Artists are exploring more unique ways of working with photographic images as a way of confronting the abundance of images in our culture. As seen in this exhibition, these explorations often result in hand-made or one-of-a-kind pieces. The market is responding well to these unique works partly because they do not (and perhaps cannot) exist in the digital world. These works are situated between photography and sculpture and are best experienced in person. Their uniqueness offers a tangible experience that is different from the digital culture we live in today. It’s safe to say the art market isn’t the only place we’re witnessing this trend either.
Mindscapes No. 106, 2019 © Lilly Lulay / courtesy Catherine Edelman Gallery, Chicago
Mindscapes No. 79, 2014 © Lilly Lulay / courtesy Catherine Edelman Gallery, Chicago
New Formations / courtesy Catherine Edelman Gallery, Chicago
Kyra Schmidt: Lastly, to indulge us (the sea of photographers out there) if you will; As the curator and director for a major photo gallery, how do you find new artists?
Juli Lowe: I am constantly looking… I am fortunate to be able to travel extensively with the gallery for art fairs and I try to see as much artwork (in person) as I can. In the last few years, I have been actively trying to engage with artists even more. To do this I participate in portfolio reviews and juried competitions. I also spend a lot of time looking at images online through blogs, artists’ websites and Instagram. Looking at images is one of my favorite aspects of working at a gallery, so I try to focus on it as much as possible!
Mirror Image #30, 2019 © Hannah Hughes / courtesy Catherine Edelman Gallery, Chicago
Mirror Image #21, 2019 © Hannah Hughes / courtesy Catherine Edelman Gallery, Chicago
New Formations / courtesy Catherine Edelman Gallery, Chicago
To view more from the Catherine Edelman Gallery please visit their website.