Friday, August 29, 2014

Nancy Baron featured on Slate.com

Nancy Baron's photographic series The Good Life > Palm Springs has been featured on Slate.com. The article can be seen below. For more images, please refer to their full article here.

Baron's The Good Life > Palm Springs will be shown at dnj Gallery from September 6 - November 1. Her opening reception and book signing will be on September 6, from 6-8pm. For more information, please refer to our website.





Nancy Baron’s drive from Los Angeles to Palm Springs, California, is barely two hours long, but the catharsis she feels when arriving makes the distance feel far greater.
“I go there as much as I can regardless of how hot it is,” Baron said. “I always have this feeling that I shouldn’t be going, that I have so much to do in L.A., but when I get there and I get out of the car, it’s so relaxing: Everything is different. It smells different, the air feels different, it looks different and it’s completely transformative, it just has a magical feel to it.”
Baron first visited the quirky desert city in the 1970s and fell in love with it while lying by a pool and looking at the snow-capped mountains. A bit more than eight years ago she made it a part-time home. 
Like many photographers, the magic of Palm Springs’ endless and varied subject material coupled with an idyllic photographic template of incredible light and color, was alluring to Baron, paving the way for images that are often cinematic and sometimes border on the surreal. 


Baron said that regardless of the subject: architecture, design, landscape, or the eccentric people who call Palm Springs home, there is always an opportunity to capture a unique image.
“I think that kind of speaks to the idea of the town itself, it allows for people to be creative,” she said. “There’s a freedom there to be an individual.”
That freedom inspired a book, recently published by Kehrer Verlag titled The Good Life > Palm Springs. There will be an exhibition of the work at DNJ Gallery in Santa Monica, California, opening Sept. 6.
When she began working with Kehrer to edit the book, Baron said the project could have taken a number of different directions since she had a deep collection of images that criss-crossed genres. She decided to follow a theme of “the good life” since she felt in many ways, Palm Springs is a symbol of the American Dream, a friendly city with great weather, eccentric people and a love for leisure. 


The book, however, isn’t one she feels would fall into the genre of documentary, but is more of an impression of the people who live there. She said she didn’t set out to make The Good Life; the stories presented themselves to her, whether a shot of a road-runner passing in front of a house or a closet filled with leisure suits. 
Baron said once she set up house it didn’t take long for her to make new friends and included many of them in the book. Becoming a part of the community also opened up literal and figurative doors, allowing her a glimpse into aspects of the city often overlooked by tourists. 
“We kind of share a bond there because there is a thing about it, you can only get when you live there and we’re all in on it, whatever it is.”




Saturday, August 23, 2014

Current Exhibition: Ghost Dogs

Ghost Dogs, an exhibition showcasing the work of influential Japanese American artists, features work by Masami Teraoka, Sush Machida, and Patrick Nagatani, who was a participating artist in dnj's Fall 2011 exhibition Then and Now.

Ghost Dogs, curated by Sush Machida Gaikotsu, is held at Donna Beam Gallery at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. The artist reception will take place on September 12, 2014. For more information, please refer to the Donna Beam Gallery website (above).



Friday, August 22, 2014

Upcoming Exhibition: The Good Life > Palm Springs





photographs by Nancy Baron




September 6 - November 1, 2014

recently featured in The New York Times


Nancy Baron, Bob's Closet,
2013, archival pigment print, 36" x 2



Nancy Baron, Pink Shoes,
2012, archival pigment print, 19" x 13"


Opening Reception: Saturday, September 6, from 6-8 pm


dnj Gallery is pleased to announce its upcoming exhibition, "The Good Life > Palm Springs". This photography exhibition will feature artwork by Nancy Baron.
Thought of as 'Paradise,' Palm Springs is a vacation spot for much of southern California. It is located about 100 miles from Los Angeles. Palm Springs has this resort reputation, which has spread nation-wide, because of its attractions amidst the desert sun. Nancy Baron, on the contrary, highlights the community aspects of locals there, sharing the small town quality that exists. Baron does not glamorize Palm Springs; she is a part-time resident, and is able to rejoice in the everyday life of this place. As she states, "I aim to capture and celebrate the majesty in worlds that could easily be overlooked, seen as mundane, or otherwise misunderstood." Her photographs, illuminating the use of saturated colors and a specific style of decoration, emphasizes her observations and the possibility of a path to 'The Good Life.'
This is Nancy Baron's first solo show with dnj Gallery. She has exhibited both nationally and internationally, with an emphasis here, in southern California. She lives and works in Los Angeles and Palm Springs. The Good Life > Palm Springs is now a monograph published by Kehrer Verlag. It is currently available in Europe and will be available in the U.S. and Canada this fall, 2014.



2525 michigan avenue, suite J1
santa monica, california 90404
310.315.3551
For directions to our gallery, please click here
dnj Gallery is now on Artnet, so be sure to check us out!
dnj Gallery is also on Facebook and Twitter.

Thursday, August 21, 2014

El Hurgador Blog features Judy Dater and her portraits of photographers

Javier Fuentes, "The Spanish Art Blogger," recently dedicated a post to Judy Dater and her various portraits of notable photographers taken during the 1970's. Fuentes's bilingual Spanish and English blog, El Hurgador [Arte en la Red], is dedicated to sharing information about art, artists, art events, and anything related to the art world.


Javier Fuentes's full post on Dater's portraits can be seen here.


Judy Dater
Autorretrato / Self Portrait, "La Maga / The Magician", 1981 © Judy Dater

In June this year I published a post dedicated to the remarkable American photographer Judy Dater. While I was selecting pictures, I noticed that during the decade of 1970, Judy portrayed a number of notable photographers. All her photographs are really good. I'll dedicate two posts to this collection of portraits, which will serve me well to provide some information and present some of their works.




André Kertész, 1979 © Judy Dater


Brett Weston, 1978 © Judy Dater

Brassaï, 1973 © Judy Dater

Thursday, August 14, 2014

dnj Gallery Listed on Artnet's Must-See Art Guide to LA





dnj Gallery's current exhibition, The Faces of America, was listed on Artnet's guide for this week's "Must-See Art" in LA.

"With its countless cultural landmarks and artistic hot spots, America’s second-largest city delivers on its reputation as the creative capital of the world. This week’s shows are all about photography, so if you find yourself in sunny LA during the month of August, and want to swap the selfies for some seriously powerful pictures, don’t miss these must-see events. Japan is in the spotlight, with curated exhibitions at Fahey/Klein Gallery and the Getty, each exploring the aesthetics of modern Japan. In addition, the Japanese American National Museum has a special show focusing on the life of Japanese Americans during World War II. You can also keep it local with Made in L.A. 2014 at the Hammer Museum, or Driving L.A.at Craig Krull Gallery, a show whose theme will feel very familiar to anyone who has navigated the city’s infamously congested freeways. There is also The Faces of America at dnj Gallery, a survey of the cultural and environmental elements that shape national identity. Or Allan Sekula: Ship of Fools at Christopher Grimes Gallery, which documents the process of adapting a cargo vessel for a multimedia exhibition site. A more experimental experience can be had at Wild Nights at Boîte Noire Gallery and Soft Target at M+B, Whatever your artistic inclinations, be sure to check out these exciting exhibitions."

The Faces of America will be on display through Friday, August 29. For more information, please refer to our website.

Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Dan Shepherd selected for Feature Shoot competition



Dan Shepherd's Alaska Trees #6 was recently selected for an online Feature Shoot multiple exposures competition.


"The ethereal and multi-layered outcome of double exposures is a timeless technique in photography. Austin, Texas-based photo editor, Alyssa Coppelman — who is a picture researcher for Harper’s Magazine and Oxford American, and a contributor to Feature Shoot, among other publications — chose the following photographers for their talented interpretation of the theme." (See selected photographers here.)


Dan Shepherd, Alaska Trees #6, 2013, archival pigment print on Hahnemuhle fine art
parchment paper with a hand torn deckle edge, sizes vary


Alaska Trees #6 was on display this past spring at dnj Gallery for Shepherd's solo exhibition, "Blinded by Science: Alaska & California Collection". With an M.A. in Environmental Science from Columbia University and an International Diploma in Plant Conservation from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, England, Dan Shepherd uses his expert knowledge of plants to capture their most interesting and graphic features.  As he explains, he seeks to “use the power of abstraction to filter out the science details in his head” so that he can focus on the purely visual elegance of nature.


Friday, August 8, 2014

Upcoming Exhibition: Nancy Baron



dnj Gallery presents


 Recently featured in The New York Times Sunday Review 

September 6 - November 1, 2014

Nancy Baron, Palm Tree Window
2010, archival pigment print, 17" x 22" 

Nancy Baron, The Girls
2012, archival pigment print, 17" x 22" 

Opening Reception: Saturday, September 6, 6 - 8 PM


Thought of as 'Paradise,' Palm Springs is a vacation spot for much of southern California. It is located about 100 miles from Los Angeles. Palm Springs has this resort reputation, which has spread nation-wide, because of its attractions amidst the desert sun. Nancy Baron, on the contrary, highlights the community aspects of locals there, sharing the small town quality that exists. Baron does not glamorize Palm Springs; she is a part-time resident, and is able to rejoice in the everyday life of this place. As she states, "I aim to capture and celebrate the majesty in worlds that could easily be overlooked, seen as mundane, or otherwise misunderstood." Her photographs, illuminating the use of saturated colors and a specific style of decoration, emphasizes her observations and the possibility of a path to 'The Good Life.'   

  
This is Nancy Baron’s first solo show with dnj Gallery. She has exhibited both nationally and internationally, with an emphasis here, in southern California.  She lives and works in Los Angeles and Palm Springs.  The Good Life > Palm Springs is now a monograph published by Kehrer Verlag.  It is currently available in Europe and will be available in the U.S. and Canada this fall, 2014.



2525 michigan avenue, suite J1
santa monica, california 90404
310.315.3551

For directions to our gallery, please click here.
dnj Gallery is now on Artnet, so be sure to check us out!
dnj Gallery is also on Facebook and Twitter.

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

dnj Gallery's Current Exhibition: The Faces of America


dnj Gallery presents

June 28 - August 29, 2014



Sia Aryai, Eternity I #4050,
2013, photograph on hand painted water color paper, 20" x 20"



Dan Shepherd, Alaska Trees #8,
2013, archival pigment print on hahnemuhle fine art parchment paper with a hand torn deckle edge, 34" x 36"


dnj Gallery is pleased to announce its current exhibition, “The Faces of America”. This group photography exhibition features artwork by dnj Gallery’s artists. These artists explore various themes including self-identity, culture, and environment, while using an array of traditional and experimental photographic processes.

Please note the closing date of the show has been changed to August 29


2525 michigan avenue, suite J1
santa monica, california 90404
310.315.3551

For directions to our gallery, please click here.
dnj Gallery is now on Artnet, so be sure to check us out!
dnj Gallery is also on Facebook and Twitter.