Through Nov. 19: Themes and Variations at Studio Gallery
“Once again, Studio Gallery has pulled off an annual group photography show that is consistently inspired. Langley Spurlock documents architectural tiles from the island of Ischia off Naples; he crops his in situ subjects so closely that the works appear, on first glance, to be not photographs at all, but rather unrefined sketches in primary colors. Jo Levine offers finely detailed close-ups of bark, twigs, and leaves rendered in understated earth tones, while Gary Anthes pairs divergent images of people and cats tied together by one simple theme: They’re all stretching. Steven Marks provides a triptych of three figures in urban settings who are distracted from themselves, and from everyone else. Bob Burgess produces atmospheric landscapes, including one image of pink fog permeating a forest and another of farmland in a yellow haze.
Frail Deeds Dancing by Steven Marks
Beverly Logan offers a matrix of images that smartly blend the urban documentary work of Camilo José Vergara with the structure of Paul Fusco’s “RFK Funeral Train.” Logan took photographs out the window of a D.C.-to-New York train ride, recording the decaying structures that line the path between the nation’s two power centers. If Logan’s work is the exhibit’s most thematically compelling, the images with the most visual intrigue are the small, square, aerial photographs by Lynda Andrews-Barry. Her images of tract housing and other terrestrial surfaces come in shades of yellow, blue, and pink and are printed on aluminum, producing a shimmering three-dimensionality. Fittingly, Andrews-Barry’s works mirror those shown by Yve Assad in the Studio Gallery photography group show a dozen years ago. Themes and Variations runs through Nov. 19 at Studio Gallery, 2108 R St. NW. Wednesday through Friday, 1 to 6 p.m., Saturday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. studiogallerydc.com. Free. — Louis Jacobson”
Review by Lou Jacobson, Washington City Paper, November 2022. Thank you!