Barbara Vaughn - MAYDAY, May 24th - July 7th, 2018  

MAYDAY

May 24 - July 7, 2018 (opening reception with the artist: June 2, 2018, 3-7pm)

KMR Arts is proud to present MAYDAY, an exhibition of new photographs by Barbara Vaughn. In this exhibition, Vaughn's second solo show at KMR Arts, the artist combines disparate imagery culled from her personal and professional archive to create new compositions which address gender issues and societal shortcomings.

The MAYDAY series explores the connection between two distinct bodies of work that stretch back 25 years: a study of decrepit ramshackle structures and a series of female nudes from the same period. In this unlikely pairing, Vaughn creates a psychologically charged narrative that obliquely references Louise Bourgeois' "Femme Maison" ("Woman House", or "Housewife"), albeit in the medium of photography.  Vaughn’s figures here are confined in angular architectural environments that are not necessarily houses, but the body language and compositional dialogue evokes Bourgeois' imagery.  The geometric forms in these images created by the varied construction materials, colored paint, architectural elements and shadows are sharply juxtaposed with the curves of the figure. The visual tension between the female form and the decaying, splintered structures creates a metaphor addressing the reckoning in our society today.

The architectural images were all photographed in Maine, on the wharves of the Old Port in Portland and tiny coastal towns, some dating back to 1992. The nude series was created over a similar timeframe and comprises an earlier body of work. The subjects in these photographs were professional models, clients of the artist, and sometimes the artist herself. Joyce Tenneson and Ralph Gibson were early mentors to Vaughn, as was Greg Gorman who remarked of her nude series that, "Barbara is unique in her ability choreograph the human body."

Included in the MAYDAY exhibition at KMR Arts is a group of Vaughn’s mesmerizing water abstractions. These signature photographs were thoughtfully selected to complement the new compositions in their portrayal of the turbulence and shifting of our modern day world.

"Almost inevitably, there are tensions in the picture, tensions between the outside world and inside world. For me a successful picture resolves these without eliminating them"  - Aaron Siskind

Barbara Vaughn graduated from Princeton University and attended the International Center of Photography in NYC, in addition to other photography programs. She is represented by several galleries in the US and her artwork is in numerous noteworthy private collections.

Print information for Barbara Vaughn:
All work archival pigment prints, editions of 5 in dimensions shown plus 2 artist proofs in variable sizes.