Larry Rankin Black-and-White Photography at Gallery A3 in October

Source: Gallery A3

On display at Gallery A3 in October, Larry Rankin’s black-and-white photographs in “To everything there is a season…”  include portraits of people and views of the natural world and human constructions—some enduring, some ephemeral. The exhibit runs from Thursday October 3 until Saturday Novermber 2. Gallery A3 is located at 28 Amity Street 1D. Gallery. hours are 2-7 p.m. Thursday through Suunday. There will be an opening reception on Thursday, October 3 from 5-7 p.m at the gallery and an online art forum on Thursday, October 17 at 7:30 p.m. (register here). Both events are free and open to the public.

As a photographer, Larry Rankin acknowledges that color has always caught his eye and compelled his image making. “But color usually dominates and holds us in the moment,” he says.  “Time can seem static. And color may establish a mood independent of the subject matter.” In his current exhibition, he eschews the obvious attraction of color photography in favor of exploring possibilities of black-and-white photography.

Rankin was initially drawn to black-and-white images in thinking about how we perceive time and in considering how a photograph might influence that perception. He realized that the absence of color in the black-and-white photograph frees the viewer from a focus on the concrete here-and-now. This, in turn, enables abstraction and freedom to explore the dimensions of time, both the past and the future. “I hope the viewer will feel a sense of nostalgia or an expectation of what is yet to come, and an awareness that time is a dynamic, in which we are fleeting participants,” he says.

ART FORUM ONLINE
In an Art Forum online on October 17, Rankin invites participants to consider with him the impact of images in color and in black-and-white regarding a sense of time and emotional content, and an appreciation of other characteristics such as composition and structure. This Art in Community II program is supported in part by grants from the Amherst Cultural Council and the Springfield Cultural Council, local agencies, which are supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency. Preregister for this free program at www.gallerya3.com

ABOUT GALLERY A3
Gallery A3 is a contemporary, fine art gallery in the Cinema Complex in downtown Amherst, Massachusetts. Members of the artist-run cooperative include painters, sculptors, photographers, printmakers, fiber artists, and mixed media artists. 

The gallery was founded in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on 9/11. A group of local artists believed art to be essential to the health and healing of a community and began the gallery as a place to share ideas and artistic support. Since that time, the gallery has been home to over 60 artists and is now celebrating 22 years of monthly shows with opening receptions and community forums, all free and open to the public, and an annual juried show that supports regional artists.