Bay Bridge Light Show
Last night I checked out the current exhibit at Pier 24 called “Secondhand” here in San Francisco, CA. If you haven’t visited Pier 24, it is a photographic wonder. Pier 24 on the Embarcadero promenade was built in 1935, but stood vacant from 1980 until it was purchased by philanthropist and investment manager Andy Pilara. Following two years of extensive remodeling and improvements, the Pilara Photographic Collection is now a permanent exhibit. The Pilara Foundation works closely with local institutions and aims to advance the creation and understanding of the photographic medium. As the largest exhibition space in the world dedicated solely to photography, it is not uncommon to see world class photographers like Richard Avedon, Diane Arbus, Larry Sultan and Cindy Sherman, among others, displaying their art.
One series that I was especially excited to see was from distinguished food artist Daniel Gordon. Gordon has quite the resume, including being a winner of the 2014 foam Paul Huf award. His notable group exhibitions include New Photography 2009 at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and Greater New York 2010 at MoMA PS1. He is the Author of Still Lifes, Portraits, and Parts (Mörel, 2013), Flowers and Shadows (Onestar Press, 2011) and Flying Pictures (powerHouse Books, 2009). This reinforces the fact that food in art is still very relevant. Here are some of his photos:
Another interesting installation last night was an exhibit called Employee Badges. The exhibit showcases two hundred and fifty photo-identification badges from the nineteen-thirties, forties, and fifties. This was an interesting glimpse into the American corporate world before the world of plastic and instant printers. Of special interest to me was the Eastman Kodak identification and the Campbell’s Soup Company ID.
The last project that I really enjoyed on a few levels was an installation by Erik Kessels, which show a series by Hironori Akutagawa called Oolong the Rabbit. As a former bunny owner, I had to smile at photos of Oolong balancing food on his head. Oolong apparently had a flat head, and became an internet sensation when his owner and photographer Akutagawa documented him balancing foodstuffs like pancakes on his head. (Thus his nickname “pancake bunny”.) Over the course of Oolong’s life, Akutagawa took hundreds of photographs of his rabbit, which he called “head performance.” Kessels acquired the collection of photos of Oolong the Rabbit, and can be purchased in book form here.
If you are planning on coming to San Francisco anytime soon, definitely see Pier 24, which is free but by appointment only. You can view a list of all artists represented here.
You can follow these artists and read more about them at the following links:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Pier-24-Photography/114021695318519
http://instagram.com/pier24photography
http://www.danielgordonstudio.com/
https://twitter.com/GordonStudio
https://twitter.com/KesselsKramer
https://www.facebook.com/Kesselskramer
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oolong_(rabbit)