New Light Work exhibit East of Eden features work of Vietnamese photographer Pipo Nguyen-duy

New Light Work exhibit East of Eden features work of Vietnamese photographer Pipo Nguyen-duyJanuary 05, 2006Jaime Winne Alvarez jlwinne@syr.edu

The Light Work gallery, located at 316 Waverly Ave., will feature the work of Vietnamese photographer Pipo Nguyen-duy in the exhibition “East of Eden,” Jan. 17-March 9. A reception will be held Feb. 16 at 6 p.m. in the Robert B. Menschel Media Center. The exhibition and reception are free and open to the public.

The images in the exhibition illustrate Nguyen-duy’s ability to capture the interaction between nature and humanity in stunning large-format color photographs. Nguyen-duy’s photography stems from the traditional style of landscape painting. According to Jennie Hirsch, Hannah Seeger Davis Post-doctoral Fellow at Princeton University, his “reliance on the natural world as a theatrical apparatus uncovers collisions between nature and culture, past and present, in carefully crystallized visions that inscribe themselves onto classical Western visions of the (un)natural world.” Nguyen-duy’s photographs hold references to mythology and history, and capture a thought-provoking vision of the American landscape and people.

Nguyen-duy’s photographic style has been greatly influenced by the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. Before the attacks, his work was more focused on the “back-story” of the landscapes he photographed, while his work now is focused more on reality and what is happening in the present. According to Stephen Borys, curator of Western art at the Allen Memorial Art Museum at Oberlin College, this work “shows us a landscape developing, changing, retreating and advancing-a land of multiple hues and conditions.”

Nguyen-duy is a photography professor at Oberlin College whose work has been exhibited nationwide. He has lectured at universities and museums throughout the United States, and he participated in Light Work’s Artist-in-Residence Program in 2004. He has completed residencies in Vermont and France.

Also on view during the “East of Eden” exhibition will be the “Transmedia Photography Annual,” featuring the work of 12 students in SU’s Department of Transmedia in the College of Visual and Performing Arts.

Gallery hours for the exhibitions are Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m., and by appointment. Light Work is a nonprofit, artist-run organization dedicated to the support of artists working in photography and electronic media. For more information or to schedule an appointment, contact Light Work at (315) 443-1300.