Johnny Brian, American, born 1957, Meteor, Milky Way Over Farm, 9/7/21, 2021, Pigment print, 13 x 19 inches, Courtesy the artist, ©Johnny Brian
Through Sunday, August 27
Figge Art Museum, 225 West Second Street, Davenport IA
Boasting a dozen stunning pigment prints by the Iowa City-based visual artist, the Midwestern-themed exhibition Iowa Night Skies: Photographs by Johnny Brian will be on display at Davenport's Figge Art Museum through August 27, the included works 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 will be 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.
With the Joyce & Tony Singh Family Foundation the exhibit's contributing sponsor, Iowa Night Skies: Photographs by Johnny Brian will be on display through August 27, with regular museum hours 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Tuesdays through Saturdays (10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Thursdays) and noon to 5 p.m. on Sundays. Museum admission is $4-10, and more information is available by calling (563)326-7804 and visiting FiggeArtMuseum.org.
