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Ever since James Audubon released his stunning volume of ornithological illustrations, Birds of America, in the early 19th century, birds have lingered in the artistic imagination of America. Painters like Winslow Homer and Martin Johnson Heade depicted them with precision and a sense of romantic attachment; John Burroughs, the American writer and naturalist, famously described them as "beautiful vagabonds, endowed with every grace, masters of all climes, and knowing no bounds." It is from this quote that Yancey Richardson Gallery's upcoming summer group show gets its name. Beautiful Vagabonds: Birds in Contemporary Photography, opening tomorrow, July 21, features photography, video, and audio recordings of 19 contemporary artists, revolving solely around the subject of birds. 

Photographs by Sanna Kannisto and Victor Schrader make dutiful nods to Audubon by capturing birds against a white or isolated background; Terry Evans makes the connection even narrower by photographing a museum's drawer of dead Meadowlarks, their legs each tied with identification tags. But by making this antique reference and by using compositional styles that are perhaps more spontaneous than scientifically diligent, these photographers situate their works firmly within the realm of contemporary art--and, thankfully, outside the hopelessly dry category that is dubbed nature photography. 

Other works in the show are less referential, though no less fascinated by nature and human's relationship with it. Needa Madahar's "Sustenance #114" is a lush image of birds clustered around a collection of colorful, plastic birdfeeders; in a wonderful vertical diptych, David Hilliard juxtaposes an image of woodland birds with another of two men sitting at a picnic table, reading. 

With so many artists featured, Beautiful Vagabonds' best attribute is its multiplicity. The stylistic and thematic ranges of its works are as colorful as the birds they each depict, and the show is thankfully devoid of any singular political rhetoric. As in birdwatching itself, the mood is curious, exploratory, and--at times--reverent. 

Beautiful Vagabonds will be on view from July 21 to August 26 at Yancey Richardson Gallery at 535 West 22nd Street, NY. The opening reception will be held on Thursday, July 21 from 6-8pm. 

Students in the My Viewpoint Photography Program will be exhibiting their work in two upcoming exhibitions—at the Venice Arts Gallery (Venice, CA) and Fovea Exhibitions (Beacon, NY).

My Viewpoint is a youth photography initiative on the Cheyenne River Reservation in South Dakota, created by Magnum Foundation Emergency Fund grantee Emily Schiffer. The project was first launched in 2005, and uses the concept of apprenticeship to pair students, ages 6-20, to work alongside professional photographers. Students work in both analog and digital photography, printing their images in an onsite darkroom. 

My Viewpoint is run through the Sioux YMCA in Dupree, SD, and in partnership with Daylight Community Arts Foundation. 

Shipping and Receiving: Photographs and Letters Between Venice, CA and Dupree, SD
August 6–September 30, 2011
Venice Arts Gallery in Venice, California
Opening Reception: Saturday, August 6, 5-8 p.m.

This exhibit features the photographs taken by students in the My Viewpoint photography program, and highlights a collaborative photographic exchange between the youth in the My Viewpoint program and youth at Venice Arts, conducted over 2010 and 2011.

Children of the Cheyenne River
July 23–September 4, 2011
Fovea Exhibitions in Beacon, New York
Opening Reception: Saturday, July 23, 5–7 p.m.
Artist Reception Talk with Emily Schiffer: Second Saturday August 13, 5–9 p.m.

This exhibit is comprised of medium format black white photographs of the students in the My Viewpoint photography program by the program's founder Emily Schiffer, accompanied by a narrative text that explores Schiffer's perspective on her evolving relationship with them, as well as photographs and text from the students.

Lisa Kereszi will give a slide lecture of unpublished work from a Governors Island photo project this Sunday the 24th at 130pm in the gallery at the Commanding Officer's House, on Governors Island. The work, commissioned in 2003 by the Public Art Fund, by Kereszi and Andrew Moore, is installed in the former officer's quarters, which is open 7 days a week, normal business hours, through September 25th, 2011. The pair independently photographed the innards and exteriors of the former Army, then Coast Guard, base, which was abandoned in the mid-Nineties and sold to the city for $1 to be turned into a public park. The talk will be followed by a tour inside the gym in the grand building, Liggett Hall, and the Officer's Club inside the South Battery, both otherwise off-limits to visitors. Spend the day on the island, a park in NY Harbor with activities like mini golf and circus school, art installations, bike rentals and food and drink.

Visitor info, including ferry schedule, can be found here: http://www.govisland.com/html/visit/calendar.shtml

Info also here: http://lisakereszi.com/news-and-events/gallery-talk-and-tour-on-governor... and here:

http://govislandblog.com/2011/07/20/see-governors-islands-hidden-past/

Have I not wandered intoxicated through the universe of shapes? Yes! I have seen you outlined in light. That universe which you say you see and feel, that universe is my dream. -Frank Herbert, God Emperor of Dune

Jo-ey Tang, from "The Practice of Joy Before Death" 2010. Ed Ruscha, Parking Lots (Dodger Stadium, 1000 Elysian Park Ave.) 1967. Toshio Shibata, Untitled, 1996. Copyright the artists.

Something about the current show Dawn Till Dusk at Jen Bekman feels like summer.   

Maybe it’s the vivid beach scene in Christian Chaize’s Praia Piquinia 25/08/10, maybe it’s the ethereal light in Youngna Park’s Balloons (Midtown, Manhattan), maybe it’s the clear night sky in Sally Mann’s Untitled #6, Antietam, or the softness of the willow trees in Alec Soth’s Holt Cemetery.

The group exhibition, which features photographs, paintings and works on paper from twenty-six contemporary artists takes the viewer on a visual journey spanning the hours of the day – it’s set up clockwise and  provides scenes from morning to night, experimenting with light, color, and texture.   

This refreshing excursion may be taken through July 30th.  

Please visit jenbekman.com for more info.