The Harn Museum of Art Presents A Retrospective of Jerry Uelsmann’s Photography

Written by Arnold Ackland Monday, 23 May 2011 00:24

Gainesville, FL.- The first critical retrospective of American photographer Jerry Uelsmann’s work will open at the Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art at the University of Florida on June 14, 2011. Jerry Uelsmann, known for his iconic, surreal style and his innovative composite printing techniques, has spent more than 50 years challenging and advocating for the acceptance of photography as an experimental art form. "The Mind’s Eye, 50 Years of Photography by Jerry Uelsmann", organized by the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts will feature 89 works from every phase of the artist’s wide-ranging career, including a selection of rare pieces that have never before been on public view. Additional works from the artist’s collection will be on view only during this leg of the exhibition, open through September 11.

The exhibition will emphasize Uelsmann’s profound influence on the field of photography through his revolutionary mastery of composite photography. Through the presentation of images from different stages of his works, viewers will gain a new understanding of the artist’s creative process and the evolution of Uelsmann’s ideas throughout his career. The pieces on view will be drawn from the artist’s personal archive of vintage materials, and are the definitive prints of the images. A few examples of the artist’s photo sculptures, artist’s books and albums will give viewers first-hand insight into Uelsmann’s creative process.

Beginning in the late 1950s, Uelsmann succeeded in combining negatives in the darkroom to create synthetic compositions that conjure the illusion of photographic truth. Although these pictures are visually convincing, they depict scenes that often have no analogue in the real world. Evocative, unsettling, and often humorous, Uelsmann’s photographs are seldom easily resolved, inviting reflection without obvious resolution. His most famous technique, seamlessly fabricating photographs from unrelated negatives to create imaginary scenes, helped build his reputation as an experimental photographer, and cemented his standing as a leader of non-literal photography.

Born in Detroit in 1934, Uelsmann received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Rochester Institute of Technology in 1957 and Master of Science and Master of Fine Arts degrees from Indiana University in 1960. He joined the faculty of the University of Florida in 1960 and is now retired. Uelsmann received a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship and a Guggenheim Fellowship.

The Samuel P. Harn Museum opened in 1990, dedicated to promoting the power of the arts to inspire and educate people and enrich their lives.More than 8,000 works are represented in the museum’s various collections, which include photography and Asian, African, modern and contemporary art. The museum also displays numerous traveling exhibitions throughout the year. As an accredited museum, the Harn has been recognized as a leader in its field by the American Association of Museums. One of the largest university-affiliated art museums in the United States, the Harn Museum has an 86,800-square-foot facility, which includes 32,800 square feet of exhibition space, a 250-seat auditorium, study center, museum store, café, spacious areas for art storage and staff offices for work and research. In 2009, the museum broke ground on a new 26,000-square-foot addition, which will be dedicated to the exhibition, storage and conservation of the museum’s extensive collection of Asian art. Visit the museum's website at ... http://www.harn.ufl.edu

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