Michael Weinstein

Weeds. Nature has never been so processed yet as vibrantly realistic as it is in Howard Bjornson's black-and-white photographs of weeds, which he gathered in the streets and fields, pared down and set up in his studio, and shot close up with Polaroid film, scanning the negatives into the computer and printing his images on archival paper. An exemplary member of the photographic tradition that reveals power and individuality in humble and despised things, Bjornson brings forth the complex, beguiling and unique forms of his subjects, persuading us that we would rather dwell on them intimately than look at conventional botanical beauty. Letting his scraps of vegetation show their own wildly pregnant splendor in precise and assertive images that thrust themselves into our eyes, Bjornson's most compelling impression depicts the tangled maze of bristling strands that are left after the blossoms of the Virgin Bower have withered.

Howard Bjornson shows at Chicago Art Source, 1871 North Clybourn, (773)248-3100, through July 2.

(2005-06-24)

Also by Michael Weinstein

Tip of the Week
Among the fifteen painters and painter-photographers in this wide-ranging show exploring the relations between the media they deploy, German photo-artist Marc Luders goes farthest
(2005-06-15)

Tip of the Week
Among the many series in this retrospective show of Barbara Crane's path-breaking photographic grids, "Wrightville Beach," her set of photo-works, created in 1971, are the most arresting and significant
(2005-05-31)

Tip of the Week
Hans Ballard steals this show of six gifted Chicago straight photographers with his large-format color images of religion hitting the gritty urban streets
(2005-05-10)

Tip of the Week
Pursuing a variety of photographic genres, Scott Polach ruthlessly inscribes his own darkly quizzical and slightly surreal and absurdist signature on his subjects
(2005-05-03)

Tip of the Week
(2005-04-26)

Tip of the Week
(2005-03-22)

Tip of the Week
(2005-03-08)

Tip of the Week
(2005-03-01)

Tip of the Week
(2005-02-08)

Tip of the Week
(2005-02-01)

Tip of the Week
(2005-01-18)

Tip of the Week
(2005-01-11)

about Newcitychicago | about Newcity magazine | advertising | privacy policy | FAQ | employment