Late Night (2016)
Michael Endy
dye process print on cotton rag, 18" x 24";  $600
Exhibited at Village West Gallery in the Pro Arts Curators Choice show, Spring 2016
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This tryptich is part of the Jersey Requiem series.

"I have lived and loved and won and lost in New Jersey since last century, which is just about the time it takes to get to know a place.

New Jersey is my muse.

What other state in the Union can lay claim to the likes of Frank Sinatra, Tony Soprano, Nucky Thompson, and Mary from Thunder Road; or kitschy boardwalks, fortune-tellers, muscle cars, and chrome-plated diners? Somehow, we manage to coexist both north AND south of the Mason-Dixon Line. And don't even get me started about Taylor ham....

We have a rich patchwork of stories in New Jersey: working-class stories, immigrant stories, love stories, war stories, crime stories... American stories.

My goal as a New Jersey artist is to capture these stories in the images I create.

Years of studying art history have led me to admire the early European Christian visual format of triptych altarpieces. As a storytelling tool, it was, essentially, a primitive form of movie for the pre-literate masses: a core central image flanked by two supporting images that work together to tell a full story.

Of course, my visual stories are not exactly Biblical (they are, after all, New Jersey stories), and mine are more often than not told in a non-linear fashion and closely tied to the subconscious; more David Lynch, less Masaccio. They are also intended to capture the lapsing of time: like the early Christian images, they are depicting an imagined past. But my images are photographic, and all taken post-2000. What I capture is a New Jersey that is still, however tenuously, hanging on. My chosen medium of vibrant, translucent dye colors on prepared cotton rag etching paper is more akin to traditional printmaking techniques than to wet-process photographic imaging. This enables highly saturated colors and rich blacks, which are reminiscent of the Technicolor films of the 1940s, Polaroid and Instamatic film from the 1960s, and print advertising of the 1970s. The color is indicative of an earlier time, and as essential to the communication as the images themselves.

This portfolio follows a deliberate structure: the main central image is a graphic icon, while the flanking images are photographs. But unlike their predecessors, my triptychs contain no people. Instead, they communicate through iconic images a message that is relatable to those who know and understand New Jersey...and whet the imagination of those who have yet to discover its countless charms."

If you are interested in making an appointment to see this work during the Curators Choice show (May 15-June 26, 2016), please email Robinson Holloway or call 917-859-4947.

If you are interested in purchasing this work, please contact Michael Endy or visit michaelendyphotography.com.

 

Village West Gallery | 331 Newark Ave Jersey City, NJ 07302                   Follow @VillageWestJC