Special Events 2006

Photography Forum
7:00 pm, Wednesday, March 29, 2006
State of the Art Gallery

Photographers Jan Kather, Harry Littell, Kathy Morris and sculptor Tom Oberg will be guest artists at the State of the Art Gallery Photography Forum to show and discuss their work. They will also discuss the current state of photography amid the gallery's 17th annual Juried Photography Exhibition featuring the work of 55 New York State photographers.

	Kather and installation

Jan Kather, who teaches photography at Elmira College, and sculptor Tom Oberg have, in the past two years, developed two projects together involving photography, sculpture, video and audio. The first from 2004, entitled Memento Mori Mutely Murmurs incorporates sound, the moving image, "Crackerjack Prize" lenticular prints and light boxes with photo transparencies. In 2005, they collaborated again to create an on-site audience participatory video/audio happening as part of the Elmira Art Studio weekend. Jan says these projects have provided them a forum for continual dialogue and redefinition of elusive ideas concerning the significance of art making both past and present. Kather received her MFA from Cornell in 1982. Oberg received his MFA from the Tyler School of Art and his BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design. Both Kather and Oberg are recipients New York State Council of the Arts Decentralization Artists Grants.

Kathy Morris, Snow Explosion

Kathy Morris has been photographing in the Ithaca area for over 30 years. She received her MFA in painting and photography from Cornell University in 1976 and has maintained a photo studio on the Ithaca Commons since 1988. Her artwork spans a variety of forms, from performance art to collage to still photography and digital media. Her presentation at SOAG will focus on recent work derived from multiple exposures on 35mm black & white film, with the intention of connecting current imagery with her roots in Abstract Expressionism, dance, yoga, and meditation.

Harry Littell, April 12, 2005

Harry Littell is a fine-art photographer and educator. His photography currently focuses on the natural and built environments of upstate New York. He teaches at Tompkins Cortland Community College. His commercial studio specializes in custom black and white digital printing and framing for artists and museums. He holds a BFA. in fine arts from Cornell University and an MFA in sculpture from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University. He has exhibited in many museums and galleries and his work can be found in numerous private and public collections. He has collaborated on three photography books. Littell will be exhibiting new work at the Main Street Gallery in Groton, April 28-June 4, with Kathy Morris and Kim Schrag. At the SOAG Harry Littell will present work from several recent series examining the natural and built environments in and around Ithaca. He will discuss the joys and frustrations of making the transition to digital printmaking.

The photography forum will be held at 7:00 pm at the gallery located at 120 W. State Street. Those in attendance will have the opportunity to ask questions.

Note that the State of the Art is now open Wednesday-Friday, noon-6:00 pm, Saturday and Sunday noon-5:00 pm.