The Edge of Vision:
Abstraction in Contemporary Photography

Curated by Lyle Rexer and produced by Aperture Foundation, this exhibition presents photographs and photo-based installations, many exhibited for the first time, which explore the territory of “undisclosed” or abstract imagery in all its forms. These investigations include artifacts of the process of recording the action of light without the benefit or limitation of a camera lens (as seen in the work of Ellen Carey, Michael Flomen, and Ilan Wolff); direct photographs of surfaces that generate pattern and optical uncertainty (Roland Fischer) to images that comment on our culture of images (Penelope Umbrico and Carel Balth). In some works, documentary references are all but expunged, creating a new class of aesthetic objects. Others test the limits of the familiar. All of these works involve a profound questioning of what role photographs play in contemporary visual culture.

The organization of the exhibition highlights the investigative nature of contemporary photography. An introductory section, Propositions, introduces viewers to a range of techniques, visual effects, and critical positions. The core of the exhibition is a series of single-artist installations that display the stunning range of these photographers’ insights. They free the photograph from its familiar social and temporal references, aiding in the discovery of new possibilities of metaphoric suggestiveness, psychological engagement, and optical possibility.

Contains photography by: Bill Armstrong, Carel Balth, Ellen Carey, Roland Fischer, Michael Flomen, Manuel Geerinck, Shirine Gill, Barbara Kasten, Seth Lambert, Charles Lindsay, Irene Mamiye, Chris McCaw, Edward Mapplethorpe, Roger Newton, Beatrice Pediconi, Jack Sal, Penelope Umbrico, Randy West, Silvio Wolf, and Ilan Wolff.

The Edge of Vision is made possible, in part, by the Creative Capital | Warhol Foundation Arts Writers Grant Program, the Dedalus Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the W. P. Carey Foundation. Additional support is provided by Carey C. Shuart and the Mondriaan Foundation.

When: May 10 –  June 16, 2012

Where: Schneider Museum of Art
1250 Siskiyou Blvd
Ashland, Oregon
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