Title image for Mois de la Photo. Jeff Guess, From hand to Mouth, 1993. Courtesy of the artist.

The Spaces of the Image speaks to the widening scope and challenge of the creation and display of photography. In the age of digital media, the production, traffic and presentation of images has become common currency and the relationship between photographer and viewer has morphed and mutated and become incredibly complex. The range of works within the Mois de la Photo exhibitions reveals this fact; artwork ranges from video to panorama to large-scale installations to sculpture to electronics to various other modes of presentation. All the while, each exhibit speaks of the condition of the image in today’s world.

Hocine Zaourar. Massacre à Bentalha, September 23, 1997. World Press Photo Award of the Year 1997 © AFP/Hocine Zaourar.

Pascal Convert, Madone de Bentalha (2001–02) © Pascal Convert / SODRAC (2009)

French artist Pascal Convert’s life-size wax sculpture Madone de Bentalha (2001-02) may not seem to be related to photography at first. Yet, the moving iconic object on view at Galerie de l’UQAM stems from a photo that spread across the world’s press following the tragic massacre of more than 200 people in the city of Bentalha, Algiers in September 1997. Whereas the photo could zip around the world instantly through the Internet and be published in newspapers anywhere on any continent, the medium of wax sculpture demands thorough and thoughtful manipulation. The result is sensuous, moving and profound. Thus, in his work, Convert communicates the power of the image without using photography at all. (The artist will actually be at Galerie de l’UQAM this Thursday).

Robert Burley, Photographic Proof. Installation view on the north façade of the CCA © Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montreal

Canadian photographer Robert Burley’s Photographic Proof (2008-09) cannot be missed. The site-specific work features a monumental reproduction of a Polaroid photograph installed on the north façade of the Canadian Centre for Architecture (check out the video interview with the artist). The image depicts the destruction of a Kodak plant in December 2007 in the town of Chalon-sur-Saône in France, the birthplace of photography by the hands of Nicéphore Niépce. Burley manipulated the image to recreate a Polaroid, complete with its enclosure and make it larger than life with adhesive strips that were stuck to the building. While it speaks to the disappearance of a mode of production and a medium, the work shows Burley’s ingenious savvy in finding a new relationship to his viewer, a new relationship to his art. (Aside from the image on its façade, the CCA also features six of Burley’s photos of photography plants on display inside as part of the thoughtfully put together show The Disappearance of Darkness).

Shelley Miller, Cargo (The Wealth of Some and the Ruin of Others), 2009. Installation after rainfall. Courtesy of the artist.

Dispersed around Montreal, the other exhibitions all play with the idea of the spaces of the image in interesting ways. Colombian photographer Oscar Muñoz’s Aliento [Breath] (1996-2002) invites the viewer to breathe on polished metal discs to reveal the portraits of victims of political violence. Montreal artist Shelley Miller created the nautical mural Cargo (The Wealth of Some and the Ruin of Others) (2009) out of sugar in the style of Portuguese tile work and documented its disintegration. Québec–based photographer Luc Courchesne’s panoramic circular images (taken with a Panoscope, a device invented by the artist) encourage viewers to engage with the disc-like photos and uncover a new way of seeing.

While spread around the city, the Mois de la Photo event quite thoughtfully stretches the boundaries of photography and explores the ever-evolving art of image making. The free-admission exhibitions and events culminate this Friday with a colloquium hosted by the Canadian Centre for Architecture, bringing together artists, curators, art historians and critics to discuss this year’s intellectually rich topic.

Luc Courchesne, 050623-2 (Chicago), 2005 (from the series Journal panoscopique, 1999-2006). Courtesy of Galerie Pierre-Francois Ouellette art contemporain.

The 95th annual College Art Association meeting will be held in New York from Feb. 14-17. The New York meetings are always well-attended; they expect 6,000 people, which can be a bit overwhelming. Some attend because they are looking for jobs, others to get an idea of current approaches in their area, but for me, I love the chance to see anyone and everyone I’ve ever known and worked with in the art field. While I make use of phones and the internet, there’s nothing like seeing people in the flesh, and CAA brings together artists and art historians, museum staff, cultural agency workers, foundation staff, critics, dealers, and people with specialized knowledge in every aspect of the art field. Whether you want to know about copyright and the legal status of appropriated images or the best way to handle digital technology for teaching, you can find an expert.

Looking through the schedule, I noticed a lot of participants from the Philadelphia area. the University of Pennsylvania will have a particularly commanding presence. The following colleagues will be giving papers (with the session topic in parentheses):

–Cortney E. Chaffin, Penn, Nancy Steinhardt, Penn, will be discussant (China’s bronze age);
– Stephen Peterson, Penn and Emily Hage, PMA (artists’ periodicals, 1945-90);
– Renata Holod, Penn (Europe and the Orient in the 18th century);
– Patrick Coue, Penn (ephemeral art in the 18th century);
– Michael Leja, Penn and former Philadelphian, Sylvia Yount (the object in cultural context);
– Andrew Casper, Penn (thematization of the senses in 16th century);
– Jennifer Bird, Bryn Mawr (drawing);
– Natasha Ruiz Gomez, Penn (19th century art);
– Valentina Follo, Penn (visionary leadership: art and politicians);
– Therese Dolan, Tyler, chair (realism in 19th century);
– Jesse Goldstein, Space 1026 (practice of the print);
– Bruce Metcalf, artist and independent scholar, chair (When is technique central to meaning?);
– Timothy D. McCall, Villanova University (history of Italian art);
– Stephennie Mulder, Penn (Islamic art);
– Alejandra Gimenez-Berger, Temple University (recent grant recipients);
– Pepon Osorio, Temple University and Terry Adkins, University of Pennsylvania (diversity in studio critique);
– Odili Donald Odita, Tyler, chair (contemporary African art);
– Jose Roca, Philagrafika (new forms in printmaking and sculpture);
– Ian Verstegen, independent scholar (renaissance and baroque);
– Ann Kuttner, Penn (chair) and Benjamin Anderson, Bryn Mawr (late antique art).

[Ed note: Philadelphia sculptor Virginia Maksymowicz emailed with this addition to Andrea's list]:

– Virginia Maksymowicz, Franklin and Marshall, presenting “Paper Dolls: Women Sculptors and the Body in Pulp” on Helen Frederick’s “Why Beat Pulp? Mapping Paper Terrains in 2006-07.”

I am delighted that Jose Roca will represent Philagraphika even before he moves here, and that Space 1026 will have a voice. These colleagues working beyond the institutional comfort of either museum or university confirm that Philadelphia’s art community is developing well.

Full disclosure requires that I mention that I’m on the board of CAA (as is Dale Kinney, Bryn Mawr), and will be leading a pre-conference career workshop on “Opportunities for Art Historians beyond Museums and Academe,” and participating in a session on “The Return of the Object” organized by the Association of Art Museum Curators. If readers have any feedback on CAA, do let me know (akirsh@udel.edu). That’s what board members are for.

[Ed. note: last time the CAA had a blog covering the conference and that's a great idea. I don't see a listing for a 2007 conference blog but maybe it's just not up yet.]

–Andrea Kirsh is an art historian living in Philadelphia. Read her latest Philadelphia Introductions article on emerging artists at InLiquid.