The retro appeal of the Polaroid hasn’t died, even in the age of the ultimate in instant photography — the digital camera.
For A.M. Richard Fine Art’s latest exhibit, “Polaroid: Instant Joy!” photographer Andrew Garn culled together Polaroids from the last 30 years, with pieces ranging from the comic (Bill Ray’s 1980 photograph of Andy Warhol holding a large Polaroid camera) to the abstract (Ellen Carey’s smears of color in “Pulls with mixed and Off-Set Pods”).
“Space restrictions have not allowed a complete survey of Polaroid art, but this show attempts to capture the range of vision, spontaneity and experimentations possible with the Polaroid.” said Garn.
Indeed, pieces range from the black-and-white seriousness of Jennifer Trausch’s piece — a close-up of a handgun in a woman’s lap, its edges even more defined by the photograph’s lack of color — to the vibrance of Richard McCabe’s abstract grid of blurred, bold colors. There’s even an old-timey portrait of David Byrne by Ber Murphy, possessing a sepia quality that makes it seem like a relic from the dawn of the photography age and not taken, as it were, in 2005.
And you thought the best part about Polaroids was shaking the film.
“Polaroid: Instant Joy!” at A.M. Richard Fine Art [328 Berry St. between S. Fourth and S. Fifth streets in Williamsburg, (917) 570-1476], now through July 31. For info, visit www.amrichardfineart.com.
