The Passage of Time

Yesterday night marked the opening of a week-long exhibition of photographs by Alain Bourgeois at the Artspace Gallery in Soho.  Entitled Senesence: The Passage of Time, the collection covers a lot of ground -- from Detroit to Havana to Paris to New York City (and multiple points in between).  There are interior shots and landscape photographs, images of people and images of buildings, black and white pictures and color photos.

As the the title of the exhibit suggests, what unites the disparate images is a consistent focus on the effects of time.  There are plenty of signs of decay on offer in the exhibit -- boarded-up buildings, broken windows, and peeling paint. But it would be a mistake to suggest that this is a depressing collection.  Indeed, what I like about the photos are the signs of life that spring up around the deterioration -- a bird flying at the edge of an abandoned warehouse, vibrant graffiti covering up forgotten walls, recently-used cooking utensils in a dilapidated apartment.

I am spending a little time reliving my days taking a handful of Art History classes both because I really like Bourgeois' work and because he has generously staged this exhibit as a fundraiser for the Center for Court Innovation -- all proceeds from the photographs sold at the gallery will benefit the Center.  The exhibit runs through Monday May 12th.