Doug Birkenheuer Art

Savannah Spirit Never Let the Same Snake Bite You Twice Silver gelatin on Ilford multigrade paper, signed, edition of 5 Scroll for more on the artist and this series and an excerpt from the recent monograph, The Archive #6: Savannah Spirit, published by Quiet Lunch: "When I first saw Savannah Spirit’s early nudes, I felt immediately struck by their power and awareness. Of course, they were traditionally beautiful, with classical lighting and shadows from Venetian blinds. Some of them were sexy, in the way bodies are sexy. But they weren’t sexualized. Looking at them, I felt powerful. I felt good. They depicted the body of an adult woman viewing herself with love. I’ve been devoted to them ever since. To me, these portraits invoke the power of a landscape. The way the light rolls over the body evokes the body’s connection with the earth, with sunrise and its long deep shadows. The patterns of darkness can break the figure into geometry, creating a distance between the viewer and the image, as in End of An Era and Staying Abreast. Yet others, like Resist and Be The Woman You Needed When You Were Younger, create direct address, and sometimes empathy. Sometimes, the viewer takes the vantage point of the artist, and the piece becomes a further study in introspection. The titles, like The Bottom Line and Read Between the Lines, often invoke idioms, figures of speech, or stereotypes that themselves point back to the culture that produced them. As conceptual components, they are both playful and political, which, when juxtaposed against image to elicit a mood or reaction. For me, it’s different every time. I am often pricked to discover how the vernacular of Hollywood capitalism, juxtaposed to a powerful, nude self-portrait of a woman, almost always feels a bit surprising–as if I wasn’t expecting her to be there. Recent works, like Network, use both shadow and mirror to create a doubled image, the artist and her reflection, further suggesting the sense of a dialogue with the self. The two bodies are not a mirror image, though seen in a mirror: a conversation between two sides of oneself, rather than a literal twinning. Over the past decade, as this series took on greater and deeper life, Savannah and I have had countless wonderful discussions about women, bodies and art. As a former artist’s model, early in her career, she participated in the form of power that was available to her: that of the quieted muse. She knew she was being objectified, she recalls, but at least she was included in the club. I instantly recognized that message. She was still creating her own work, though, and one day, she realized she’d had enough of seeing herself through someone else’s lens. She turned the camera on herself, and began to take a very different kind of picture. During the pandemic, the feeling of being alone with oneself can sometimes feel overwhelming. These recent pieces reflect that agitation of the dialogue alone, the being with oneself, seeking connection..." - Katie Peyton Hofstadter Classic black and white silver gelatin print, signed by the artist Savannah Spirit. This is a self portrait of the artist. Categorize between self-portrait, contemporary feminism, take back control, I am my own muse, my body my choice...

When Lawrence Schiller got the assignment from the French magazine Paris Match to photograph Marilyn Monroe on the 20th century Fox set of Something’s Got To Give, he thought nothing of it. It wasn’t to be a private, studio shoot. He wasn’t going to set up lights, create backgrounds, use a tripod. Just another assignment, he figured. Monroe by then was firmly established as a figment in the imagination of most young men. The orphan Norma Jean had recreated herself as the blonde bombshell Marilyn Monroe. She’d appeared in twenty-nine films by the time Schiller photographed her in black and white and color in May 1962. The world was unprepared for the moment when Marilyn jumped in the swimming pool in a flesh-colored bikini and came up out of the water au natural. She was all smiles and in her element: the sex goddess...

John Casado - Untitled 20249, figurative black and white female nude. 2002 - Unique lith silver gelatin photographic print. image = 22 3/4 x 18 3/4 or 57.8 x 47.6 centimeters / pa...

Preston Buchtel Bride Stripped Bare By Her World. Daily. 3/10 2015 Signed, Numbered, Titled & Dated Archival Pigment Print 18 x 27 inches

“Ink Stories”, which was introduced at Nyari’s very first solo gallery exhibit, consists of large-scale nude photographs that explore the concept of self-identity and female empowerment...

“Ink Stories”, which was introduced at Nyari’s very first solo gallery exhibit, consists of large-scale nude photographs that explore the concept of self-identity and female empowerm...

Preston Buchtel Silence (Dance Lessons for Nothing) 2/10 2012 Signed, Numbered, Titled & Dated Archival Pigment Print 15 x 25 inches

John Casado - Untitled 803, 1997 - Unique lith silver gelatin photographic print - 10 x 8 inches. image = 8 7/8 x 7 inches or 22.5 x 17.8 centimeters/ ppr 8 x 10 inches vertical. ...

“Ink Stories”, which was introduced at Nyari’s very first solo gallery exhibit, consists of large-scale nude photographs that explore the concept of self-identity and female empowerment...

“Ink Stories”, which was introduced at Nyari’s very first solo gallery exhibit, consists of large-scale nude photographs that explore the concept of self-identity and female empowerm...

“Ink Stories”, which was introduced at Nyari’s very first solo gallery exhibit, consists of large-scale nude photographs that explore the concept of self-identity and female empowerm...

Preston Buchtel Setting Sun 3/10 2013 Signed, Numbered, Titled & Dated Archival Pigment Print 16.5 x 27.5 inches