#large-scale prints

John Chiara, Horseshoe Ramp at Mississippi, 2015, from Mississippi series, Image on Ilfochrome paper, 50 x 54.5 inches (127 x 138.4 cm), unique photograph, Courtesy ROSEGALLERY & NextLevel Galerie

JOHN CHIARA, IN CAMERA: AMERICAN LANDSCAPES

Exhibition from Apr 7 to Jun 4, 2016 at NEXTLEVEL GALERIE, Los Angeles Fair & Paris Fair Exhibitor

8, rue Charlot, 75003 Paris
[email protected]
T +33 (0)1 44 54 90 88
www.nextlevelgalerie.com
Artist’s reception Thursday 7 April 2016, 6-8pm

NextLevel is pleased to announce John Chiara’s first solo exhibition with the gallery and for the first time in Europe.

San Francisco-based artist John Chiara pushes the boundaries of the photographic medium through his choice of process and the mastery of its possibilities. His approach is distinguished by its incredible physicality and recalls the early days of the medium when artists dealt with heavy, awkward equipment and endured long exposure and development times. Chiara’s giant cameras, which he designed and built himself, are transported to locations on a flatbed trailer to produce one-of-a-kind large-scale prints. The design of the cameras, which is much like daguerreotype box cameras, allows the artist to simultaneously shoot and perform his darkroom work while images are recorded directly onto oversized photosensitive paper (not film). This process, which Chiara first discovered as a student in 1999, invites anomalies in his final prints and adds to the mystery and lyricism of his pictures.

Study in Blues: Kwik Sew 3658

I have now made a total of 4 different version of this knit top by Kerstin Martensson which was first published in 2012. As I mentioned when I first blogged the pattern, It features a standing shawl collar which is lined by doubling the top half of the pattern and sewing up the center seam to the neckline V. The center back neck seam is then closed and the front meets the back past the top shoulder line. The result is a clean-finished neckline and a lined section over the bust which is useful for sheer fabrics.

This rayon model blend which I found online at Fabric Mart is a very soft fabric which would be perfect for pajamas though my goal was a top for work. I had to bring the neckline up because the drape brought it lower than the synthetic that I used for my muslin. The fabric was a panel print with flowers placed at wide intervals at the diagonal. This is a common placement for large-scale prints and allows you have the informal balance of interest at one shoulder and then at opposite hip on a dress. With top, you make sure to place at the shoulder and then live with cutting off the flowers at the hip.

I was able to make this into a top I can wear to work under a suit. The solid dark blue is mostly what people see with a bit of print at the neckline where you want interest. Take off the jacket, and it easily becomes after-work wear as the large blooms blossom into view.  However, I am more convinced than ever that the very soft knits like rayon and modal are for pajamas, unless they are mixed with cotton which gives them more body. Stay tuned for that version.