In Conversation: Lyle Rexer and Amy Stein

Production still from Wendy and Lucy

Please join me next Friday for a special event. I will be talking with renowned art critic Lyle Rexer about my series Stranded and the themes that connect it with Kelly Reichardt’s award winning film Wendy and Lucy.

When I saw Wendy and Lucy in 2008 at the Film Forum I was struck by the similarities between Stranded and this beautifully simple film about a woman and her dog stuck in an Oregon town after her car breaks down.

It’s unusual to screen a film as part of a show of still images, but Brian Ulrich and I, along with the folks from Caption Gallery, decided to broaden the conversation beyond the images in the Instruments of Empire exhibit. In March Brian will be at the gallery to screen Jem Cohen's The Chain. More on this in a few weeks.


Here are the details:

In Conversation: Lyle Rexer and Amy Stein
Friday, February 19
Caption Gallery
55 Washington Street, No. 802
Brooklyn, NY

Conversation: Lyle Rexer and Amy Stein
7:30pm - 8:15pm

Screening: Wendy and Lucy
8:15pm - 9:30pm

Instruments of Empire

JC Penney © Brian Ulrich

"In the eyes of empire builders men are not men but instruments."

– Napoleon Bonaparte

Thursday night is the opening of my two-person show with Brian Ulrich, Instruments of Empire, at Caption Gallery in Brooklyn. The exhibition will feature new work from my Stranded series and Brian’s Dark Stores series, plus work we created specifically for the show where we reference each other’s projects.

On the surface our two series couldn’t be more different; one, portraits of stranded motorists and the other environmental landscapes of abandoned box stores. Look deeper and you’ll see two artists engaged in long-term projects examining the real and metaphorical effects of a country strained by the collapse and corruption of our social institutions. This timely and telling exhibition of photographs debuts as the economic crisis continues and Americans are forced to reexamine their long held assumptions of entitlement, privilege and permanence.

Here are the details:

Instruments of Empire: Photographs by Amy Stein and Brian Ulrich
January 28 – March 25
Caption Gallery
55 Washington Street, No. 802
Brooklyn, NY

Opening Reception: January 28, 6:30pm – 8:00pm

In addition to the photographs, Brian and I are planning some additional programming surprises during the run of this exhibition. Stay tuned and see you at the opening.