Thursday, July 31, 2008

The Magnolia Gallery presents: Kent Barker

By Pegasus News wire

Image provided by Magnolia Gallery

Kent Barker, "Mailbox - 4007"

Dallas artist Kent Barker has an exhibition of new photos titled “Remnants” at the Magnolia Gallery, located inside the Magnolia Theatre in the West Village, 3699 McKinney Avenue in Dallas from August 7– September 10, 2008. The reception is Thursday, August 7th, from 8-10 PM. Admission to the reception is free and the art is available for viewing or purchase during regular theatre hours, or by contacting Scott Horn at magnoliagallery@gmail.com.

This series was shot by Kent during his travels between Dallas and Taos, New Mexico in some of the dusty, weathered towns he passed along the way. The photos expose the fragility of human creations, and the intense beauty created by their decay. Kent elaborates: “For reasons that I cannot fully explain, I have always been fascinated by these kinds of environments. There is a solitude and a quiet that for me is conducive to the act of ‘seeing’ and a unique visual beauty in the way that time and weather acts upon objects.” In the past, Kent’s photos of these forgotten spots have been harder to construe: “For the past year or so, I have been extracting completely abstract images from these places, but for this series I wanted there to be more of a sense of place.” By pulling back just a hair, these new works give tantalizing clues that provide some context for what the viewer is seeing.

Also significant in these new images is the relatively new process known as HDR or “high dynamic range” imaging. Per Kent, “Using a tripod, I make a series of five exposures in one stop increments. These captures are then combined at the studio (via the program known as Photomatix) into a single 16 bit file. The resulting image has a dynamic range that exceeds what is possible in a single exposure. Contrast, saturation and detail are all heightened and the image takes on a slightly ‘hyper-real’ quality. It’s all a bit quirky and fun. Thanks for looking.”

Image provided by Magnolia Gallery

Kent Barker, "Tunnel"

Kent Barker grew up in Central Florida, the son of an advertising executive. He moved to Dallas after graduating as a Fine Art/Photography major from UCF. Kent opened his own studio in the early 80’s, and found himself working initially for clients such as Neiman Marcus and The Horchow Collection. By the mid eighties however, he had found a new love....editorial portraiture.

After producing a number of striking portraits for Texas based magazines such a D Mag., Texas Monthly and American Way he began getting inquiries from nationally distributed publications. At present Kent has worked for a long list of major magazine titles including Town & Country, Travel & Leisure, Outside, Men’s Journal, Rolling Stone, GQ, Esquire and Fast Company. In addition to his commercial and private commission assignments, Kent also devotes a part of each month to the creation of fine art imagery. His photographs can be seen at the New York based online photography gallery.

The Magnolia Gallery is proud to spotlight local talent in Dallas.

Source: Magnolia Gallery

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