Salina Art Center

May 07, 2010 — August 08, 2010

PHOTOGRAPHIC: Anne Collier and Melanie Schiff

PHOTOGRAPHIC brings together for the first time the photographs of two leading American artists, Anne Collier and Melanie Schiff. Comprised of thirty color and black-and-white photographs, the exhibition traces the photo-based practices of these two artists from 2004 to the present, closely examining their individual takes on an expansive field of photographic traditions—portraiture, still life, landscape, performance, vernacular, and commercial—while always navigating the complexities of representation. Collier’s elegant and austere images are the product of a rigorous documentation of cultural artifacts from the 1970s and 1980s, such as album covers, self-help books, posters, and magazines. Through this methodical process, the image is released of its intended message and primed for a reconsideration of its visual and cultural connotations. The carefully composed and subtly disarming photographs of Schiff are astute studies of the literal and metaphorical connections between her subjects and their environments. Whether framing the playful stacking of beer bottles or the graffiti-covered viaducts of Los Angeles, Schiff calls forth the ethereal qualities of the photographic moment. Often viewing through a feminist lens, Collier and Schiff subvert our perceptions of reality and the meaning of culture by complicating the relationships between personal and universal narratives.

Born in 1970 in Los Angeles, California, Anne Collier lives and works in New York. She holds a BFA from California Institute of Arts, Valencia, and an MFA from University of California, Los Angeles. Her photographs have been exhibited worldwide, including shows at Artpace, San Antonio; Bonner Kunstverein, Bonn; Presentation House Gallery, Vancouver; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; and Institute of Contemporary Arts, London, among others. Most recently, her work was featured in a solo exhibition at Anton Kern Gallery, New York.

Melanie Schiff currently lives and works in Los Angeles, California. Born in 1977 in Chicago, Illinois, she received a BFA from New York University and an MFA from University of Illinois, Chicago. Solo exhibitions of her work have been mounted by the Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts Forum; Kavi Gupta Gallery, Chicago; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; and Horton & Co, New York. Her photographs have also been featured in a number of important group exhibitions, including the 2008 Whitney Biennial, Whitney Museum of American Art; Sympathy for the Devil: Art and Rock and Roll since 1967, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; and most recently in Kurt, Seattle Art Museum, WA. 

Click here for a PDF of the exhibition brochure.