5/12/06 | Michele Abeles

If there were a little more silence

A GROUP SHOWCASE

"If there were a little more silence, if we all kept quiet... maybe we could understand something"

                 -Federico Fellini

The photographer often retreats inward from the external world - to digest, to dissect and to make it their own. The noise of the world must be taken in and internalized before they can turn their gaze out again. In that stillness all the small parts of a riddle begin to be solved. Without that the artist would most certainly be lost.

If There Were a Little More Silence, wipnyc’s first group showcase, explores the artists innate desire to break away and embark on one’s own investigation of environment, family, society and self. Featured artists include Michele Abeles, Rebecca Horne, Melissa Kaseman , Catherine Larré, Stacy Renee Morrison, Sonja Thomsen, Anna Venezia, Jessica Watson and Sarah Wilmer.


Flock | Melissa Kaseman



Me As Mariah #2, 2008 | Jessica Watson



Danae, 2008 | Jessica Watson



Ribbon | Stacy Renee Morrison



Paper Doll | Stacy Renee Morrison



1/2/07 | Michele Abeles



Kleenex | Rebecca Horne



Swim | Anna Venezia



Contra Dance | Anna Venezia



Her Feet Have Fallen | Melissa Kaseman



Sponge & Cranberry | Rebecca Horne



VIII, From Lacuna Series | Sonja Thomson



No Title #1 | Catherine Larre



No Title #2 | Catheine Larre



Untitled | Sarah Wilmer



Untitled | Sarah Wilmer

Artist Bios:

Michele Abeles has lived and worked in Brooklyn, NY since 1999. She makes work in the city, in her apartment, in other people’s homes, on the road, in the desert, on the beach, in the forest, and will drive many miles to find what she doesn’t know she’s looking for.

Since 2004 she has exhibited in NYC, Los Angeles, Seattle, Indianapolis and abroad. In 2005 she was selected to show work in Art & Commerce’s Festival of Emerging Photographers. She is a recent graduate from the MFA program at Yale University where she was awarded the 2007 Richard Benson Excellence in Photography prize. She teaches at Parsons the New School for Design and currently is preparing to participate in the 2008 High Desert Test Sites. www.micheleabelesphotography.com

Rebecca Horne received a BFA from the San Francisco Art Institute in 1992 in California, and her MFA from Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University in 1997. After graduating she alternated between teaching photography at Rutgers University and working at photo agencies Redux and Sipa Press and photo editing at Newsweek and other magazines. She is currently the Photo Editor for Discover magazine.

Rebecca Horne has exhibited her photography in Europe and the US and is represented in NYC by Roebling Hall gallery. www.galleryartist.com/rebeccahorne

Melissa Kaseman received her BFA in photography from the California College of the Arts, Oakland, California in 2005. Before settling in San Francisco she studied Contemporary Photography at the Hogeschool voor de Kunsten in Utrecht, Netherlands. She has exhibited in San Francisco, Oakland, and Minot. Since graduation she has had the honor of working closely with Todd Hido, Jim Goldberg, and Wayne F. Miller. Currently she lives and works in San Francisco, California. She has worked with such publications as: The New York Times Style Magazine and ReadyMade. Melissa utilizes her photographs as a way to understand her life experience and create a sense of personal history. Her work deals with issues of longing, loss, and dislocation; and aims to find the delicate balance between the intensity of loss and the beauty of the mundane. www.melissakaseman.com

Catherine Larré was born in Nancy. She studied at ENSAAMA in Paris and then
at the Royal College of Art in London. Her work has been exhibited throughout Europe, most recently at the Centre Photographique, d¹Ile-de-France. She lives and works in Paris. www.catherinelarre.com

Stacy Renee Morrison graduated with high honors in Women’s Studies from Rutgers University in 1997 and went on to become an Etiquette Consultant and Historian. In the midst of trying to save the world from the ill-mannered, she received her Masters Degree in Photography from New York University in 2001.

Stacy is currently an Adjunct Associate Professor at Montclair State University. For the past few years she has been making different bodies of work that explore the themes of history, gender, identity and memory. She has exhibited her photographs in New York City, San Francisco, Toronto, Rhode Island and Italy. Stacy recently received a grant from the Rhode Island Council of the Humanities for work on her the girl of my dreams project. Stacy Renee Morrison is also a commerical still-life photographer, whereby she makes quiet and polite photographs of everyday objects. www.stacyreneemorrison.com

Sonja Thomsen is a photographer based in Milwaukee. She received an MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute in 2004 and is currently a part time faculty member at the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design. Thomsen's photographs have been featured in both group exhibitions throughout the United States. Her photographs are in the permanent collection of the Milwaukee Art Museum. She was the recipient of the Greater Milwaukee Mary Nohl Suitcase Export Fund in 2006 to participate in exhibition juried by Paul Kopeikin at the Photographic Center Northwest, Seattle WA. Thomsen has recently shown in the Wisconsin Triennial at the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, Madison WI and the Silverstein Photography Annual, Silverstein Photography, New York NY. Sonja Thomsen was awarded a 2008 artist residency at The Hermitage. Anthony Bannon, director of the George Eastman House, nominated her for this honor. Thomsen is currently represented by Dean Jensen Gallery in Milwaukee WI. www.sonjathomsen.com

Anna Venezia is a graduate of Sarah Lawrence College. She lives and works in New Hampshire and sometimes Vermont. www.annavenezia.com

Jessica Watson was born in 1973 in Massachusetts. She received her BA in studio art from Wellesley College and her MFA in photography from Bard College. Her work has been exhibited in New York galleries, including Art in General, Larissa Goldston Gallery, Massimo Audiello Gallery and Sean Kelly Gallery. She was a resident at the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council’s Workspace Program in 2005. She lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. www.jessicamanningwatson.com

Born and raised in Missouri, Sarah Wilmer lives and works in New York, with her cat, Tubs. www.sarahwilmer.com