AIPAD – my dose of paradise

I spent four blissful hours at AIPAD on Thursday – The Association of International Photography Art Dealers’ annual exhibit at The Park Avenue Armory in NYC. If you are a photographer, curator, dealer or photographs afficionado and have not darkened this annual event’s doors, you can not begin to imagine what you are missing.

© Irving Penn. All Rights Reserved.

Approximately 70 dealers from all over the world set up booths to present the photographs they sell – whether vintage, historic or contemporary. With only a 15 minute break for lunch, I spent four solid hours taking my time, visiting every exhibitor’s display and enjoying being in a place that is about nothing but photographs. And nothing short of absolute bliss.

But I was instantly in familiar territory – within the first 10 minutes on the floor, I met Kim Bourus of Higher Pictures – Scott Peterman’s dealer. In that booth, I saw the very work by Sam Falls I had just included in my 3/11 blog posting “ARTnews continues the discussion”. Immediately after I saw eight new (2010) Cig Harvey images at the Joel Soroka Gallery and then at another gallery discovered that last year Harvey published a book of her work titled “The Hope Chest” and I spent a long time looking at it.

The best single moment for me was seeing my first arrowroot print – an Atget from 1921 of a scene on L’ile Saint-Louis. When I got back to my computer to look up exactly what that means, I found that some photographers thought it gave their work better color and detail. Every time I go to AIPAD, I see historic processes photographs by the great photographers – and opportunities to study them are important occasions for a photographs dealer based in Maine.

© Irving Penn (self-portrait). All Rights Reserved.

The “master photographer prize” of the show goes to Irving Penn as far as I’m concerned. Was there ever a photographer who created more consistently arresting images than Penn? Every time I saw an image of his at AIPAD I knew the Penn “handwriting”  immediately – the clarity, the drama, the absolute originality – his work jumped off the walls as the work of a master. AIPAD does that for you – there is so much classic and contemporary work being presented for comparison, it’s the best place to understand what makes the giants of the medium tower above everyone else.

©Irving Penn. All Rights Reserved.

The next best thing is discovering new (to me) contemporary photographers. My favorite discovery this year was Kamil Vojnar – a very new artist on the scene and represented by VERVE Gallery of Photography in Santa Fe, NM. I’m going to do a separate blog posting on him in the next week, but  here’s a sneak preview of his style:

©Kamil Vojnar. All Rights Reserved.

Along with this Vojnar, here is the short list of photographs I saw at AIPAD that I would snap up in a minute if I had a pocketful of cash:

Bibi at the Eden Roc © JH Lartigue, 1920/1921

AIPAD is an extraordinary opportunity to see the masters’ work – I had a blast seeing some J.H. Lartigue prints at Halsted Gallery (Michigan). His “Bibi at Eden Rock” is an ektacolor print that is almost too beautiful to bear. If I owned this image I would never tire of its pastel power -and even though it is very different from any other Lartigue I’ve seen, it is unforgettable.

Nakazora #1151©Masao Yamamoto

Masao Yamamoto – his exquisite Nakazora #1151 with its tiny hint of blue on the butterfly wings (4.5×7.5 silver print/mixed media) is only $1200. His work was represented by five exhibiting galleries at AIPAD.

Susan Paulsen, represented by Deborah Bell Photographs has a show opening fall 2011 called “Sarah Rhymes with Clara” and the book and works I saw at AIPAD are standouts. This young artist works hard and it shows. I will be very interested in following her work through the years ahead.

Breve orrizonte©Augusto Cantamessa, 1955

Keith De Lellis Gallery has a show up now “Paesaggio – Post-War Italian Landscape Photography” that is simply inspired. I noticed the ad in PHOTOGRAPH with the 1955 image by Augusto Cantamessa “Breve orrizonte” and saw the print at AIPAD. I’ll take it.

Lake Swim©Rita Bernstein,, 2006

Rita Bernstein, represented by Gallery 339 (Philadelphia) had a show  there last fall called “Ghost of Summer”. Her 10″x10″ (liquid silver emulsion applied to Japanese Gampi paper) images are terrific, very beautifully presented and are a steal at $1200.

©ParkeHarrison. All Rights Reserved.

Catherine Edelman Gallery had a lot of work by Robert and Shana ParkeHarrison. Talk about original. I was unaware of this couple, but I have a feeling I’m in the minority. Surrealist, uniquely crafted work that I would love to own.

©Pentti Sammallahti. All Rights Reserved.

Pentti Sammallahti (for a feast, visit this link at Nailya Alexander Gallery) is an artist I discovered at the last AIPAD I attended and I recognized his work immediately.  I would kill for a (very reasonably priced) print of ” Paanajarvi, Karelia, 1992, Dog Chasing Bird”.

©Kenneth Josephson. All Rights Reserved.

“Chicago, 1959” a silver gelatin print by Kenneth Josephson joined my list. Josephson is represented by five galleries but this link is to the Stephen Daiter Gallery (IL).

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I don’t think you could name a master photographer whose work is not represented at AIPAD. A major high point for me was viewing the three Hill & Adamson calotypes and salt prints from the 1840’s. I’ve never seen originals of their work, so couldn’t believe my good fortune.

So… AIPAD – land of discovery of the new, and endless opportunity to see historic works from the beginning days of photography. The four hours I spent there doesn’t end when I walk out the Armory door, I can assure you. What’s not to like? For $35 including a thick show directory and catalog, it’s a steal.