Two photography shows at the Durango Public Library signal a revival that’s worth noting.
Dan Brown’s forthright photographs of wild creatures are arresting. In particular, bold portraits of birds, bears and pikas demonstrate the power of direct eye contact – beyond riveting. If Brown’s images don’t pull you up short, you’re half asleep.
If you go
WHAT: Photography Exhibitions: Dan Brown, Waldemar Winkler
WHERE: Durango Public Library, 1900 East Third Ave.
WHEN: Now through March-April. Regular library hours.
ADMISSION: Free
SPECIAL EVENT: Winkler Reception, 4-5:30 p.m. Friday
MORE INFORMATION: Call 375-3380 or visit https://tinyurl.com/ytb7w38f
Waldemar Winkler’s photographs have the same compelling effect but through a different lens. Dramatic and close to calamity, the astonishing rafting images pack an emotional wallop. His stark, black-and-white skateboarders are balletic in their abstract silence. And his museum meditations are as layered and mysterious as shadow glass.
Works by these two Durango-based photographers are on display at the Durango Public Library for a nice stretch. Spare some time for a long look. And thank Darcy Poletti, adult services librarian, for rekindling the library’s community exhibitions.
“We’re hosting rotating community exhibits – art displays and cultural events – generally every 30 days,” she said.
It wasn’t always so. When the new library opened back in December 2008, the prospect of community exhibits became a short-lived reality. Director Sherry Taber and a team planned opening events. Taber asked me to organize the first art exhibit, so I chose an appropriate theme from art history: “Evoking the Inner Life: Images of Reading.”
Local artists submitted paintings, drawings, prints and photographs to fill the lobby and program rooms. Opening night, Dec. 4, 2008, drew a large, celebratory crowd. When the new tech system sputtered, I gave a slide talk without images – every art historian’s nightmare. The moment required a sense of humor and a crowd willing to go along with imagination. It worked.
For that exhibit, Brown submitted a whimsical photo that has reappeared in his current exhibit. In 2008, he photographed a resting (and reading) hiker in a mountain meadow. A curious wild goat has wandered into the scene.
His photograph was the most unusual offering in the first DPL show, and it has returned 18 years later. Raise a glass for communal memory.
Brown says he will change up images because his works will be up through April. All are aluminum prints – sharp and brilliant. All proceeds go to the Navajo Water Project.
In the small lobby area outside the program rooms, Winkler has mounted three photographic projects. The long wall features 18 images that reflect experience. That’s his super power as a photographer. He’s a storyteller, and in every image, he speaks through light, color, space, shadow – and a fresh sense of composition.
“Beyond Van Gogh: The inner Experience” succeeds in communicating the confusing new phenomenon of immersive art exhibits. In “Three Versions of Red,” he reveals how his eye and mind linked one color in three very different places.
For the six-photo rafting sequence in Smelter Rapids, Winkler said he tested a new telephoto lens. The still photos border on the filmic.
Nine starkly beautiful images of skateboarders at an annual memorial event fill the display case. Wisely printed in black and white, they are elegant scenes of stark beauty.
View any time the library is open. A reception for Winkler’s work will take place from 4 to 5:30 Friday.
“Libraries create space for the community, so opening up our walls to local artists comes naturally. Public libraries are known as the ‘great equalizer,’ and by providing display space we are creating a public gallery accessible to all. The new yearly Community Art Show provides space for artists who want to just submit one piece to show at the library rather than having a whole show. Our first year was a resounding success with over 35 different artists of varied mediums showing their work.” – Darcy Poletti, DPL adult services librarian
Judith Reynolds is an arts journalist and member of the American Theatre Critics Association.
