Leading off the exhibition season...
Click here for my curatorial statement.
Snowbirds, An exhibition of photographs by Stephen Chalmers
January 4 – 30, 2010 | Exhibition Reception: January 15, 6-9 PM
Sushi Performance and Visual Art presents Snowbirds, an exhibition of photographs by documentary photographer Stephen Chalmers. Riffing on the popular term that describes retirees who spend the snowy winter months in warmer regions, Snowbirds reveals a much more diverse cross section of the RV lifestyle that abounds in the desert Southwest.
The exhibition contains domestic portraits of people “at home” in and around their RVs interspersed with landscape imagery representing the region in which they live. Taken as a whole, the imagery offers glimpses of how identity is constructed in these mobile, domestic spaces while it points to ideologies of transience that have developed over the last century.
Stephen Chalmers has been an emergency medical technician, taught gang-affected children photography, and worked as a counselor to severely emotionally disturbed children. His photography practice deals with the psychology of loss and raises questions about the nature of representation. Chalmers has taught workshops in alternative photographic processes and digital imaging, and has been a visiting artist at numerous colleges and universities. He has been contributing photographer to several books, and has exhibited throughout the US and as well as in Australia, Ireland, British Columbia, England, South Africa, and China. Stephen Chalmers earned his MFA in Cinema and Photography from Southern Illinois University. His work can be found in several collections including the Museum of Contemporary Photography, Light Work, Polaroid, and the Getty Research Institute. Selections from his projects and more biographical information can be seen at www.askew-view.com.