Persistent mystery

"Handout man, Manhattan," Tim Connor, All rights reserved

I'm not much of a numbers' man, but occasionally I like to look at Flickr's  stat summaries for photos I've posted. Some surprise me. The picture above, for instance, has been viewed 26,016 times.

That's a lot of views.

I don't get it. I understand how this one, received 12,530 views:


"Drunk blonde with Siamese twins, the Mermaid Parade," Tim Connor, All rights reserved

But the kid handing out Emma's Dilemma coupons on Park Ave. South I don't get.  I shot this picture  in 2007. It ended up in a show called " 'New' New Yorkers" at Judson Church in 2009. I stopped trying to photograph street handout people soon afterward because most of my potential subjects declined -- very nervously -- to be shot. They were afraid I had something to do with Immigration.

So how does this picture draw 26,016 people to come to my modest little blog page? What's your theory?

My submissions to " 'New' New Yorkers" are here. 

Are movies "cursed"? Are photographs?

"Tim at 'Beast' opening," Lucy Winner phone cam

Saturday's opening of the show "Beast," in which I had two photos, was a big success. In the picture above, taken at the gallery, I can be seen crossing in front of one of my photos, the one titled "Esther."

Today a lady from the gallery called to tell me that last night the "Esther" picture inexplicably fell off the wall, shattering the glass in the frame & gouging the print. Part of a series of gigantic building-sized ads for upcoming movies that I've been photographing for several years, "Esther" advertised a movie called "Orphan." The tagline read, "Something is wrong with Esther."

Let me explain.

In the movie Esther is a strangely beautiful child adopted by a couple who are grieving their recently stillborn baby. These parents think Esther is nine years old, but in fact she's a 33-year-old woman named Leena Klammer who suffers from hypopituartisim, which has stunted her growth. Esther has escaped from an asylum for the criminally insane & is making her way across the country, posing as a little girl. Along the way she has committed a string of gruesome, bloody murders. In this movie she gets angrier & angrier. First, she kills an unfortunate nun & then the good-hearted husband. Finally, she tries to kill the wife and her two children. At the end of the movie Esther ends up getting kicked in the teeth by her new mommy & sinking beneath the surface of a frozen lake.

After all that, she must be really, really pissed, right? I mean poltergeist-smashing-glass-pissed? I mean psycho-killer-on-the-loose pissed? Am I right?

When the gallery lady reached me with the bad news, she said, "We couldn't figure out why the picture fell. The frame wasn't broken... In fact..." she said, it's as though... the picture... jumped off the wall."

Oh god...

"Beast" opens tonight!

If you're in the NYC area & free tonight, visit "Beast," a show opening from 6-10 pm at Brooklyn Artist's Gym. There'll be wine, good art & interesting people. I'll have two large photographs in the show.

Directions: BAG is at 168 7th Street, 3rd floor -- between 2nd and 3rd Avenue. On the border between Park Slope and Gowanus, that's only 3 blocks from the 4th Ave/9th Street stop for the F, G and R trains. There's plenty of parking. The show is in the same building as the Mac Support Store.

My photos in "Beast"

"Esther," Tim Connor, All rights reserved


"Blue eyes," Tim Connor, All rights

The two photos shown above will be in a show called "Beast," opening next Saturday, March 12, from 6-10 at the Brooklyn Artist's Gym, 168 7th St, 3rd floor in the Gowanus section of Brooklyn (it's only 2 blocks from the F, G & R train stop at 4th Ave/9th St). More info on the show is here. I'm really looking forward to this one. I'll be showing bigger prints than ever before. And I suspect that few if any of the other artists will be photographers. I'm anxious to see how the painters, sculptors & conceptual artists handle this theme.

Hope you can make it.

Closeup: Arts & flowers

The five pictures that follow are my submission to a group show of closeup works. If accepted, they will appear in September. My artist's statement about this series is at the end of this post.


"Heart beacon: Annie's garden," Tim Connor, All rights reserved


"Stars moving inland: Annie's garden," Tim Connor, All rights reserved


"Trying to get to heaven: Annie's garden," Tim Connor, All rights reserved


"Pink star: Annie's garden," Tim Connor, All rights reserved


"Tendrils: Annie's garden," Tim Connor, All rights reserved

Artist's statement

I love it when different kinds of subject matter and forms of representation mix & ricochet off each other. The subject matter of this series of close-ups – from a garden wall painted with landscapes & flowers by an unknown artist, then grown over by actual plants – juxtaposes living nature & its created representations in paint. Framed close-ups of the juxtapositions are then represented by digital photography, which, in its illusion of timelessness, mixes ironically with the series’ themes of (relative) permanence & change.

End of tunnel nears for subway art

"Vandalism or 'intervention' " (from Tim Connor's MTA Arts for Transit lightbox exhibit, Atlantic Ave-Pacific St subway station, Brooklyn), Photo by Lester Burg, All rights reserved

To me most graffiti seems simple-minded. And pretty much all tagging, especially tagging over other people's work, just seems ugly, a form of macho competition -- like dogs trying to piss higher up on the lamppost than the ones who pissed before. On the other hand, the little red flowers that recently appeared on the yellow stockings in my lightbox picture (above) at least have some wit. When I 1st saw them, they made me smile.


"Looking at 'The Gnome's Garden'," Photo by Ranjit Bhatnagar, All rights reserved


"Viewing lightboxes," Photo by Ranjit Bhatnagar, All rights reserved

I have no doubt this uncharacteristically tolerant feeling is because I learned -- at the same time I learned about the "intervention" in my picture " -- that next week my subway show will finally come down. My eight 4' X 6' lightboxes have lit up one wall of the underground passage to the Q train at Atlantic-Pacific subway station for almost a year and a half (I wrote about the show's beginning here & here). The run was a full half-year longer than usual, BTW, a result of the worldwide fiscal crisis, which rattled the MTA even more than most institutions. So I know I've been lucky. They told me when my show 1st went up that an estimated 10,000 people go through that passageway every rush hour. According to my high school math, that comes to almost 9.5 million people for the 18 months!

Of course none of those people were (at least not on purpose) members of the Manhattan art establishment. Ironically, it took some MOMA marketeer's bright idea of plastering cheap, life-size copies of world-famous art all over the station to get them to cross the river. The idea was, I suppose, that the big-name lineup would bedazzle the Brooklyn masses into coming to see the "real thing" on 53rd St.


Photo from "Ballad of Sexual Dependency" by Nan Goldin, part of MOMA's exhibit at Atlantic-Pacific (note my lightboxes across the hall)

Yet the MOMA-Brooklyn show was surprisingly lacklustre. One piece each for maybe 50 artists, it felt like a sampler's pack of commodified art. Not surprisingly, MOMA's arrogance proved too tempting to resist for NY's then-notorious outlaw mash-up artist, Poster Boy, who came to the station in the dead of night to strike a blow for artistic integrity (I wrote about it here).


Above picture by Nan Goldin, as altered by Poster Boy

In fact, Poster Boy's depredations of both old & new masters were funny for about half a minute (he left my pictures alone). But, I have to say, I find the idea that outrage is all it takes to make art to be childish. And the 2nd part of the formula -- that outrage plus bravado equals fame, which is also deemed a form of art -- I find even more dispiriting. As the Poster Boy kerfuffle ran its merry course in the papers & art blogs, I noticed that no one bothered to talk about the art -- or the anti-art for that matter -- you know, those things on the wall. It was the latest news, the buzz, the snide and/or snorting commentary that captivated everyone. The art was just something to argue about.

"AFT show with passersby," Tim Connor, All rights reserved

Which brings me back to where I started. This show is about to end. In another week at most (I haven't learned exactly when), it's gone. I hope, if you're a New Yorker, or traveling to New York, you'll go & see it.

The info is here (ignore the dates).

Cash & prizes

"Kitchen worker on break," Tim Connor, All rights reserved

This picture won Honorable Mention at Judson Church's 'New' New Yorkers show a few weeks ago. Today I got a check in the mail for $25. At different times in the past I've made modest amounts of money as a photographer, but I've never won prize money before.

Unlike most contests, Judson didn't charge an entry fee to compete. It did, however, offer small cash prizes for 1st, 2nd & 3rd places, as well as 3 honorable mentions. To me this felt honest & respectful . My prize, tiny as it was, actually meant something -- the way cash automatically does. And those who won nothing at least didn't have to swallow the minor humiliation of paying money to be ignored. In this case not winning wasn't the same thing as losing.

For more read my post at the time.

My photos to be included in 'New' New Yorkers show at Judson Church

"Handout man / Emma's Dilemma Deli, Tim Connor, All rights reserved

The young man shown above handing out fliers in Manhattan is one of nine of my street portraits of immigrants that will be included in an upcoming exhibit at Judson Church in Greenwich Village. The exhibit "...will showcase the works of area photographers aiming to capture the modern immigrant experience in New York City." Opening reception is Thursday, May 14th from 6-9 PM. For a preview of all the photos go here.

Here's the press release:

When: Thursday, May 14th, 2009 – 6:00-9:00 p.m.

Where: Judson Memorial Church Assembly Hall, 239 Thompson Street, Greenwich Village

NEW YORK, April 20, 2009 – Judson Memorial Church will host the “New” New Yorker Photo Exhibit and Reception on Thursday, May 14th from 6-9 p.m. This exhibition will showcase the works of area photographers aiming to capture the modern immigrant experience in New York City. Admission is free.

From December 2008 to March 2009, Judson invited amateur and professional photographers to participate in a competition designed to create a greater awareness and appreciation of New York's newest residents. What constitutes a “new” resident? The scope of that question produced many answers. All of the submissions Judson received highlight the experiences, challenges, and opportunities facing individuals from many cultures who now call New York City home. The images reflect and reaffirm New York as an environment that breaks down the idea of people being either “foreign” or “native.”

Visit http://www.flickr.com/groups/newnewyorker/pool to preview the photographs featured in the exhibit. The grand prize photo, plus three runner-up photos, will be chosen by a panel of Judson Memorial Church members. Grand prize winner receives $250, the runners-up receive $50 each, and all will be announced during the reception.

About Judson Memorial Church:
Based in Greenwich Village, Judson Memorial Church has long associated itself with artists working in many media. Judson’s current programs include work with the New Sanctuary Movement for immigrant rights and a "community ministers" program that trains future clergy on how to involve congregations in social-change activities. Judson Church maintains an anti-censorship stance that welcomes art, whether tough or refined, as one voice of "secular prophets." During the pastorates of Bob Spike (1949-55) and Howard Moody (1956-92), Judson became famous as a venue for avant-garde arts and a foe of art censorship. This tradition continues today, as Judson makes its facilities available to a wide variety of artists in dance, theatre, music, and visual arts of diverse styles.

The Judson Memorial Church Assembly Hall is located at 239 Thompson Street in Greenwich Village, just south of Washington Square Park. Entrance is located just 3 blocks east from the A, B, C, D, E, F, V at West 4th St.-Washington Square subway stop.

Contact:
Matthew Brown
917-698-9118
judsonphotos@yahoo.com

Judson Memorial Church
55 Washington Square South New York, NY 10012

MOMA mounts major Brooklyn exhibition in bid to showcase local artist

"Nan Goldin gazes anxiously at her lover, who smokes a postcoital cigarette &
moodily stares across the tunnel beneath Atlantic-Pacific subway station at Tim Connor's 'Brooklyn local' photographs," Photo by Tim Connor, courtesy Nan Goldin & MOMA

With its new installation of art prints at Brooklyn's Atlantic Ave.-Pacific St. subway station Manhattan's world-famous Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) throws in its lot with Brooklyn photographer Tim Connor, whose colorful Arts for Transit lightboxes have electrified the station for over a year.



MOMA's slapped-on-the-wall prints & ambitious bright pink & black signage aim to entice outer-borough commuters to its Manhattan center, where the original art can be seen under much better lighting conditions for $18.


"Woman in orange beret looking at Andreas Gursky print," Tim Connor, All rights reserved

To this critic, the impressive show -- which literally arrays the most iconic painters, printmakers & photographers of the modern age around Connor's seven-panel work -- has been designed to showcase the little-known photoartist's fresh talent. And I say, good going, MOMA. It takes a great museum to boldly endorse the future.

My advice to my readers? Ride the subway to Atlantic Ave. & take in MOMA's modernist & postmodernist classics before settling down to take a look at Connor's work, now backed 100% by perhaps the world's greatest museum. Do it now before his new reputation spreads across the planet like a mad mutant virus.


"Cindy & me & Claude make three," Photo by Tim Connor, courtesy Cindy Sherman,
Ed Ruscha, Claude Monet & MOMA

My show is coming down soon & Obama is no longer an excuse. Get on over here!

"Subway riders pass my AFT show lightboxes," Tim Connor, All rights reserved

New Yorkers & travelers to New York: Don't miss my Arts for Transit show at the Atlantic Ave-Pacific St. subway station in Brooklyn (Map & directions from Manhattan here). These seven 4 ft by 6 ft lightboxes in a busy subway corridor will be coming down soon & I don't get to keep the lightboxes. Seriously, Jeff Wall & I think you should see my color street shots in this format if you see them at all, so why don't you get off your train when you roll through or make a special trip to Brooklyn. I really think this one's worth it.

More info & gallery of the pictures here & also here. Oh & here's a few shots right after installation.

'Brooklyn Au Naturel' reviewed

"Cathedral," Juliette Conroy, All rights reserved. Actual size approx. 12 feet in width.

Our show at Safe-T Gallery got a thoughtful review in today's Brooklyn Paper. It's the 1st big byline for author Kate Ray. Bravo, Kate. Not only is her piece smart & graceful, she also made my quotes sound intelligent!

Safe-T: The place to be

"Christmas cheer," Tim Connor, All rights reserved

Tonight from 6-8 PM I'll be joining a talented group of artists to open Brooklyn au naturel, "...an exuberant salute to Nature in New York’s most bodacious borough" at Safe-T-Gallery in DUMBO. Running through July 20th, the show will include my picture above, plus three (or four) others, printed large. Also included will be terrific works by 8 other artists in other photo media, paintings and prints.

I hope you can make it.

Directions to Safe-T-Gallery.

'Brooklyn au naturel' to open June 19th

"Oh deer!", Tim Connor, All rights reserved

I'll be joining a talented group of artists on the Eve of Summer, June 19th, to open Brooklyn au naturel, "...an exuberant salute to Nature in New York’s most bodacious borough" at Safe-T-Gallery in DUMBO. Running through July 20th, the show will include my picture above, plus three others, printed large. Also included will be terrific works by 8 other artists in other photo media, paintings and prints.

I hope you can make it.

Directions to Safe-T-Gallery.

Post party post

"Call of the wild," Tim Connor, All rights reserved

Warmest thanks to all who came to Brooklyn last night for my show & party. I really loved seeing you! Who knew Pacific Standard had so many kinds of beer?

Since it was so (happily) crowded & hectic last night & for those who couldn't make it to the party, here's a link to the mix of slides that I ran.

And here's what I wrote about them:

Brooklyn local:
How I see these photographs

These are my home-ground pictures. If you had a giant compass, planted the point on the roof of my apartment building, set the radius at 3 miles & drew a circle, all these pictures would fall inside it. Historically, they’re the direct descendants of street shooting by Eugene Atget, Andre Kertecz, Walker Evans & Robert Frank, maybe leavened a bit by color & irony in the more recent tradition of William Eggleston.

My method is to move around waiting for pictures to embed themselves in the world for a single instant -- before they morph into something else. This is even true of supposedly stationary objects, like statues, which are also changing every second. At the moment I claim them, my best pictures are already complete in the world. Drawn directly from what is there, like haiku, they are recognized, not created. They are both descriptively precise & philosophically unreliable. As the great street portraitist Diane Arbus put it, “The more specific you are the more general it will be.”

Prints are available: For a price list or to talk about a project, contact:

timpconnor@gmail.com

See my show & come to a party

Come to a celebration of my photographs on Thursday, March 20th, 6-8 pm at the Pacific Standard Bar in Brooklyn. It's the Spring Equinox & light & color are happening again! Here's the info:

The show is currently on display 24/7 in colorful 4 ft. by 6 ft. lightboxes at the Atlantic Ave/Pacific St.subway station. The station is located at the intersection of Flatbush & Atlantic Ave (see map). It is served by the 2, 3, 4, 5, B, D, M, N, Q & R subway lines & by the LIRR.

If you're coming by train, see the show on your way to schmooze at the party. It's convenient! To find my lightboxes go to the lower level at Atlantic Ave. and follow signs to the B, Q & LIRR

The schmooze: is at Pacific Standard Bar, 82 Fourth Ave. (2 blocks from station -- see map) . Starts at 6.

See the pictures as a slideshow

See the lightboxes on site

See you in Brooklyn.

Please join me March 20th

"Yellow stockings," photo by Tim Connor, All rights reserved

The Show: Can be seen 24/7 at Atlantic Ave/Pacific St. subway station, located at the intersection of Flatbush & Atlantic Ave (see map). The station is served by the 2, 3, 4, 5, B, D, M, N, Q & R subway lines & the LIRR. To find the pictures follow signs to the B, Q & LIRR on the lower level at Atlantic Ave.

The Reception: Thursday, March 20th, 6-8, Pacific Standard, 82 Fourth Ave. (2 blocks from station -- see map). Wine & slides.

Pictures from the exhibition
MTA's Art for Transit lightboxes

Underground art

Here are some shots of people viewing the lightboxes in my new Arts for Transit show at the Atlantic Ave/Pacific St. MTA station in Brooklyn. The eight 44" X 65" lightboxes are in the tunnel between the D,M,N,R,2,3,4,5 trains & the Q & LIIR tracks (you need to go down the stairs from the D,M et. al. to the underground plaza, where you see signs for the Q & LIRR).

Thanks to Ranjit Bhatnagar, whose show mine replaces. Ranjit took these pictures during deinstallation/installation & kindly offered to let me use them.






Photos by Ranjit Bhatnagar, All rights reserved

I'm up down in the subway!

"Tim's photo show, Atlantic Ave. subway station," Lucy Winner, All rights reserved

Installed today, my photographs are the new Arts for Transit show in the Atlantic Ave/Pacific St. MTA station in Brooklyn. It's in the tunnel that runs between the underground plaza where staircases/escalators ascend to the D,M,N,R,2,3,4,5 tracks & the Q & LIIR tracks (go to the lowest level & follow signs to the Q & LIRR. There are 8 lightboxes, each 44" x 65". The pictures were all shot in the neighborhoods that spread out around the station.

This photo makes no attempt to show the images accurately, just the ambience & the scale. I'll make better pictures soon. We're planning a big get-together to celebrate this show & you'll get word about that, but in the meantime it's there 24/7. For a lot of you, it could even be a fun break from your boring commute. Hope you'll check it out.

Subterranean homesick news

"Yellow stockings, Brooklyn," Tim Connor, All rights reserved

I've signed a contract to do an Arts for Transit lightbox show in a tunnel below MTA's Atlantic Avenue station! The show will be 8 of my images from Brooklyn neighborhoods printed on duratrans film & mounted in 45" x 66" lightboxes. We've decided on the pictures but are still banging around names. Installation date is also still to be decided.

Wow. I'm not going to even mention Jeff Wall, but I have always loved lightboxes. I shot slides almost exclusively for years -- even though they had a much smaller exposure range than color neg -- just because I thought colored light through film was the prettiest thing on the planet. And I have never made a print anywhere near the size of these boxes!

For those of you who don't know, the B,D,M,N,Q,R,2,3,4 & 5 trains meet in the Atlantic Ave.-Pacific St. station & there is a major connection to the Long Island Rail Road. They tell me 10,000 people pass through this tunnel during rush hour; in a year 3 million come though.

More later, obviously. I finally believe this is actually going to happen, so I'm spilling the beans.

Last chance to see saints in Brooklyn!

"Red Jesus," Tim Connor, All rights reserved

This weekend is your last chance to see my pictures at Topos: Brooklyn in the Nelson Hancock Gallery. I have 20 pictures in the show, which also includes work by 7 other artists. My pictures document an ongoing obsession with the small, usually plaster, religious statues one can see in gardens,yards & alleyways all over the borough. Here's my artist's statement about why I'm doing it.

Saints

I was drawn to the statues of madonnas and saints in the yards and alleyways of Brooklyn because they seemed to gather light. This was during the dark winter months of 2006. I was attracted to the statues for other reasons too. Raised a devout Catholic, I had turned violently against the church as a teenager and could still fly into a rage when the subject of priests or Catholic dogma came up. For me the statues represented another kind of religious impulse, outside the official church – outside any church -- more ancient. They gave a form to the universal human yearning to be magically protected, to be comforted in a hard and pitiless world. It was easy to make fun of the statues. They were in fact spiritual action figures for grown ups with their bright colors and iconic symbols, and many homeowners had combined them in dizzyingly kitschy displays with everything from garden frogs to Disney cartoon characters. I photographed them on the weekends all winter and through the spring and summer -- statues that were fussed-over and revered as well as those that were being allowed to disintegrate, a vague superstition away from being discarded. Eventually I realized that – weird as they could sometimes be -- I was photographing the saints without irony. In the end, like their owners, I found them comforting.


"Wrapped Madonna," Tim Connor, All rights reserved

The gallery's open today (Friday) & tomorrow, 11-6. It's located at 111 Front Street in the fashionable downtown DUMBO section. First subway stop in Brooklyn. Catch it if you can. Here's how:

DIRECTIONS: Take the F-train to York Street stop or the A/C-train to High Street/Brooklyn Bridge. Walk down toward the bridges and East River until you encounter Front Street. Turn left, if you are coming down from Jay Street (F-train); make a right, if you are approaching from Washington Street (A/C-train).