ART EVENT: Internationally noted writer and critic on photographic arts, Andy Grundberg, will give a free lecture in the Clay Center’s Walker Theater on Monday, October 16 at 6 p.m. A reception that costs $15 follows. Call 561-3500

Andy Grundberg, curator of the Clay Center’s current exhibition “In Response to Place: Photographs from the Nature Conservancy’s Last Great Places,” will speak on “Contemporary Photography and The Nature Conservancy’s Last Great Places” for The Collectors Club Annual Kickoff Event On Mondayt, Oct. 16. The public is welcome to attend.

A meet-and-greet reception with Grundberg will follow at 7 p.m. in the center’s Avampato Discovery Museum. Guests will have a chance to view the “In Response to Place” exhibit, up through Nov. 5, as they discuss the photography with the curator. Cost for the reception is $15 per person.

Grundberg has written about photography for the past 25 years, including 10 years as a critic for the New York Times. As curator for “In Response to Place” he invited 12 internationally known photographers such as Annie Leibovitz, Sally Mann, Lee Frielander, Richard Misrach, William Wegman and Mary Ellen Mark to capture The Nature Conservancy’s “Last Great Places” and examine the way the camera could depict the human relationship with nature.

Reservations for the reception can be made through Oct. 12. RSVP by calling 561-3500. For more on the Collector’s CLub and Clay Center, visit www.theclaycenter.org.

To read a review of the show, click here.

“The men were dressed up - they weren’t working that day. They all worked together and were close. They all belonged to the union. Their lives depended on one another.” (Photo by Ben Shahn, October 1935)

EXHIBIT: The Omar Project: Not a Simple Story,” at Museum in the Park at Chief Logan State Park. Free reception and talk by Betty Rivard from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 5. Open through October.

The Museum in the Park at Chief Logan State Park has unveiled “The Omar Project: Not a Simple Story,” featuring 20 black and white photographs of everyday life in the Logan County community of Omar. The photographs were taken in 1935 and 1938 by Ben Shahn and Marion Post Wolcott, photographers employed by the Farm Security Administration. On Thursday, Oct. 5, the Museum hosts a reception and gallery presentation by Betty Rivard, exhibit coordinator.

The FSA’s primary goal was to combat the social and economic dislocations felt by farming families and communities during the Depression years. The visits to Omar were part of a larger project to take photographs across American between 1935 and 1943. The photographers were employed to publicize conditions of the rural poor in America, as well as the successes of New Deal programs and everyday life in America in
general. Fifteen photographers took more than 2,000 photographs in West Virginia.

The exhibit will move to the Southern WV Community and Technical College campuses in Logan and Williamson, the West Virginia University Library, and back to the Museum in the Park. It is also available for showing in other venues. For more information, contact Adam Hodges, site manager for the Museum in the Park, at (304) 792-7229.

“This was called the big row. The houses were used by the superintendent, the president, and the general managers. The back of the row opened to the Junior Mercantile Store, with back door deliveries to the houses. There were cooks and chauffeurs.” (Photo by Ben Shahn, October 1935, from “The Omar Project: Not a Simple Story.”)

THE SHOW: “Face Value: New Works by Artist Mark Wolfe,” runs through Oct. 19 at the University of Charleston’s Frankenberger Gallery, Geary Student Union 2nd floor. Open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Friday. Call 357-4795.

By Amanda Miller
For the Gazette

With his latest solo show “Face Value” at the University of Charleston, photographer, designer, and illustrator Mark Wolfe anoints more than 40 portraits with his characteristic touch–textured, bold, and direct. Mayor Danny Jones, artist Charly Hamilton, musician Michael Lipton, writer and
psychologist Laurie Helgoe and many others are among the more than 50 faces in this diverse array of local Charleston denizens.

Wolfe’s previous fine art endeavors have focused on objects with religious or death-related symbolism, such as headstones and graveyard ornamentation. This time he photographed the living–his friends, coworkers, and acquaintances. Yet, he still managed to infuse each portrait with a thread of mortality, giving these images an unnerving stillness, as if they were memorials themselves.

Wolfe’s decision to narrow the image down to black-and-white on a stark white background with soft lighting provides a constant to the photographs, freeing them of any individual context or associations. With no posing or instruction from the photographer, each portrait is defined solely by the expression of its subject.

This filtering of visual information allows the viewer to soak up the details. Every hair and line is up for scrutiny. The subtleties of a half smile or a squint are more apparent. By choosing not to identify his subjects by name or occupation, Wolfe leaves an uninterrupted stream of communication between the viewer and the emotional intensity of the subject.

The clean and simple presentation of the show further aids Wolfe in his stripped-down approach to portraiture. Excellent print and paper quality hold up well when pinned directly to the wall. An absence of framing and heavy glass is a refreshing and decidedly humble role for the artist in handling his subjects. Wolfe delivers the sharp presentation one ought to expect from a graphic designer.

Those who enjoy Wolfe’s past work should make it a point to see this show. His portraiture showcases the same high-contrast texture and editorial composition of his previous work. However, “Face Value” avoids some of the adolescent trappings cemeteries and gargoyles can present in photography. This work progresses into some of the most interesting territory in portrait photography-the kind that quietly hits you in the face with his emotional impact.

Amanda Miller holds a BFA in new media and photography from West Virginia University, where she also focused on modern art theory and contemporary art criticism. She is a West Virginia native and exhibits installation-based work throughout the state.