Ansel Adams, American 1902 - 1984, Tenaya Lake, Mount Coness, Yosemite National Park, 1946, Gelatin silver print, 15 x1/4 x 19 ½ inches, Figge Art Museum, City of Davenport Art Collection, Gift of Mrs. Wilson Shorey in memory of her husband, Wilson Shorey
Thursday, July 20, 6:30 p.m.
Figge Art Museum, 225 West Second Street, Davenport IA
With free admission and programs for the venue's Thursdays at the Figge sponsored by Chris and Mary Rayburn, Davenport's Figge Art Museum will host the special July 20 event The Katz Gallery: Celebrate the Exhibitions of Ansel Adams & Johnny Brian, an arresting exploration into the current exhibits Ansel Adams, the Sierra Club, & the Making of a Landscape Icon and Iowa Night Skies, featuring special guest and the latter exhibit's photographer Johnny Brian of Iowa City.
An exhibit of arresting works by arguably the most famous and influential American landscape photographer of the 20th century, Ansel Adams, the Sierra Club, & the Making of a Landscape Icon showcases a spectacular suite of 16 images from the artist's Portfolio Three: Yosemite Valley. At the age of 26, Adams served as the Sierra Club’s official trip photographer. Founded by John Muir, the Scottish American naturalist and environmental philosopher, the Sierra Club’s initial mission was the preservation and conservation of California's Sierra Nevada, a mountain range located primarily in eastern central California. In his first role with the Club, Adams accompanied large groups of members on month long excursions in Yosemite – the Club’s home – and in the surrounding Sierra Nevadas. First published in the Sierra Club Bulletin, his impressive images captured and promoted the natural beauty found in Yosemite. Portfolios of Adams’s images were produced in several editions and sold to promote the Club’s conservation efforts.
“Portfolio Three: Yosemite Valley captures the timeless beauty and grandeur of Yosemite, as seen through the lens of Ansel Adams," said Figge Executive Director and CEO Michelle Hargrave. "This exhibition highlights his meticulous composition and masterful use of light and demonstrates the profound impact Adams had on photography and conservation. As we celebrate his remarkable contributions, we hope that his artistic vision, craftsmanship, and deep reverence for the natural world will encourage visitors to contemplate, appreciate, and protect the sacred landscapes that inspire our souls.”
Boasting a dozen stunning pigment prints by the Iowa City-based visual artist, the Midwestern-themed exhibition Iowa Night Skies: Photographs by Johnny Brian includes photos created by the photographer exposing film over long periods after capturing the bustling sky from his backyard. Brian worked in or directed chemical and biological research laboratories for decades, and his research experience provides him with a precise understanding of process control important in black-and-white film photography and darkroom silver gelatin printing. He performs formal film and developer tests, creating film curves that allow finer control over film exposure, development, and printing, and works primarily in black-and-white film with medium- and large-format cameras. The photographer prints his negatives in traditional silver gelatin, with some work rendered in gum bichromate, and in Iowa Night Skies, Figge guests are able to see the Milky Way, comets and meteors, aircraft, satellites, and fireflies all streaking across the heavens, Brian’s images reveal the details of the nightly drama taking place over our heads.
Over the years, Brian’s work has appeared in Fraction Magazine’s ninth-anniversary issue, as well as in the publication Gum Printing: A Step by Step Manual by Christina Anderson. The Stanley Museum is also acquiring several portfolios of Brian's work, including his series Before Dark and Disserendipidy. Now a retired anesthesiologist with more than 40 years of experience in chemical and biomedical research, Brian has had his prints exhibited at the Soho Photo Gallery in New York as well as locally, and the photographer states that his current focus is on the relationship of society, large-scale agriculture, and the land.
The Katz Gallery: Celebrate the Exhibitions of Ansel Adams & Johnny Brian will be presented on July 20, and admission to the event is free, with entry to the Davenport museum itself also free during the entire month of July. Figge members are invited to a 5 p.m. reception in advance of the 6:30 p.m. Public program, and more information is available by calling (563)326-7804 and visiting FiggeArtMuseum.org.
