Red: A Photographic Exhibition by John Middelkoop
For the last thirty years John Middelkoop has toiled in his advertising and entertainment industries. "I always wanted to be an artist and I approach every job from an artistic view point," he says. "It all started with my interest in images and my dad had plenty of lenses and optical devices for me to play with." At ten years old John received his first camera and the rest is history. Since then he has shot numerous films, taught at UCLA extension, published a book of his images, 'Seeing the Unseen," and is currently producing and directing a documentary on the spiritual aspects of Navajo Cooking. John is a Los Angeles native and his studio is in San Pedro, CA.
"Inside Red" explores the symbolism of the color red. Red is on the far left side of the spectrum and extends beyond what is visible to the human eye. We think of red as a stop sign or a danger signal. Throughout history the color red has symbolized prosperity, strength and fertility. It is also used for protection from evil. "Making red" is synonymous with killing someone, evil doings are referred to as "red affairs."
John says, "I was attracted to the red cloth immediately. The shapes it makes and the way it integrates into different environments intrigues me. Combining it with the female form is the best of both worlds to me." "Inside Red" shows red in a new way. The photographs are hyper-realistic with brilliant colors and lyrical themes, illustrative of the sub-text and subtlety in the color red.
The only public reception will be on San Pedro's 1st Thursdays Art Walk Night, January 3, 2008 from 7-11 p.m., ADULTS ONLY (18 and over). "Inside Red: A Photographic Exhibition" can be seen by appointment. Please call, 310.833.3633 or flazhalley@aol.com. Flazh!Alley Studio is located at 1113 S. Pacific Ave., San Pedro, CA. Park in the large city parking lot behind the Ramona Bakery at Pacific Ave. & 11th Street. Enter Flazh!Alley from the alley, of course. [ read more ] »
Flazh!Alley Studio - Web site »

2007 - Asia: an itinerary on the silk way
The Cultural Activities and Assets Councillorship in San Vito al Tagliamento Commune, in collaboration with the C.R.A.F. (Photograph Research and Registration Center) in Lestans, the Civic Gallery in Modena, and the library in San Giovanni al Natisone, present a photographic exhibition to be realized from July 1st to August 26th within the wonderful rooms of the Battuti building complex in San Vito al Tagliamento.
The main themes will be focused on Asia. The photographs, made by world-wide renown artists of the XIX and XX Centuries, will be exclusively dedicated to it.
All the works come from prestigious Institutions, among which the C.R.A.F. itself, the Brandis Collection in San Giovanni al Natisone, the Historical Archives of the Diocese in Concordia Pordenone, as well as the Civic Gallery in Modena and further more private archives. The cultural itinerary about the “silk way” will be based on the photographs’ chronology and will represent the course of photography itself and of its, both European and Asian, authors. It will moreover emphasize the progressive standing out of the Asian ones on the international cultural scenes, as well as the events and personalities that have characterized Asia during the last 168 years, since photography has been invented.
The exhibition is made of about 180 pictures by the main authors of world-wide photography history in 1800 and 1900, of which a selection of 130 images is presented in the consequent catalogue. The catalogue, which is cured by the C.R.A.F. manager Walter Liva, will also contain a text by Gilberto Ganzer, who is the manager of the Civic Museum in Pordenone.
The successful and fortunate key Seidenstrasse, that is the “silk way”, was coined by the German scholar Ferdinand Von Richtofen in order to effectively synthesize the intense commercial trades and cultural exchanges that had intercoursed between the Eastern and the Western world since at least the III Century before Christ up to nowadays. Such name is still today a synonym for exoticism, adventure, journey towards distant lands. Besides pointing to a close communication net extending itself for thousand of kilometers all over central Asia and the nearby regions, the silk way has, by this time, become a synonym for the intense and prolonged relationships between East and West. It is a symbol for a changeable historical reality and is not only linked to the past, it is still present and alive. [ read more ] »
C.R.A.F. - Web site »

New Geographies : exhibition by Monica de Miranda
Rooted in cross-cultural fertilisations, New Geographies pushes the boundaries of the conventional notions of place and nation. A solo exhibition of work by Monica de Miranda, it reflects on how globalisation is profoundly transforming our apprehension of the world, provoking new senses of identity and the creation of new territories. New Geographies explores the subsequent erosion of national identities and the advent of a new cosmopolitanism, embodied by the juxtaposition of a rich mix of communities in a contemporary urban metropolis, such as London.
The various pieces exhibited offer a multi-faceted analysis of globalisation and how it affects our lives, at a micro - the local, the individual; and macro scale - sense of belonging to a community, a nation. [ read more ] »
198 Gallery - London - Web site »