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Email PageRara Avis
June 21, 2007- August 4, 2007
Reception: June 21, 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Cassandra C. Jones
Vanina Holasek Gallery
502 W 27th St
VANINA HOLASEK GALLERY is pleased to present a solo exhibition by photographybased artist Cassandra C. Jones entitled Rara Avis meaning "strange bird" or "something rare".
Jones' current work is the result of collecting and co-opting thousands of other people's snapshot photographs from every source imaginable. Her installations and animated videos, which Jones calls "Snap Motion Re-Animations", are constructed by compiling these photographs together in groups of like subject matter and then presenting them in ways that tell stories about the romance and power of photographic imagery in our snap happy contemporary life styles.
Rara Av is is a series of works made mostly from her collection of found snapshots of real pink flamingos that are discernibly reminiscent of their retro plastic counter-part, the lawn ornament. This particular collection of photographs led her to wonder, is it possible that an item of now historical kitsch might influence the picture taking of the real live thing? After all, Americans are much more familiar with the stylized florescent version than the actual bird itself. In the process of collecting, Jones found that one of the most common snapshots taken of a wading flamingo is the profile of the bird's long, soft, curved neck and down-bent bill.
The exhibition includes two wallpaper installations and a series of prints that at first glance are ornately composed in classical baroque and floral arrangements. Yet Jones' requires an interaction between the viewer and her work. Move in a little closer to discover that each piece is actually a meticulous microcosm of individual birds, echoing and intertwining together to create each composition or pattern. As if Jones were actually using the photographs as a drawing element, bodies become flower petals, feathers become leaves and awkward legs become gently bent stems.
Also, on view are several "Snap Motion Re-Animations" made from individual snapshots of birds in motion. Jones re-sizes, tilts and nuances each of these disparate yet similar photographs to match one another and then places them in a rhythmic order to re-create (or re-animate) the time-based event of flying.
Rara Avi s speaks to the relationship between Americans and nature; how nature is commonly brought into the home in safe and often artificial ways such as lawn ornaments, wallpaper and media reproductions of moving and still imagery. Jones's work also relates to the tendency of taking and viewing photographs as a safe replacement for actual experience.
Books and DVDs related to artists in this show
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