Joan Marie Archibald was born in 1932 and raised on Long Island, New York. Wed and divorced by the age of 30, she left everything behind for California and a new life — and a new identity as "Kali."
While Kali had studied art and photography previously, no one knows exactly when and how her artistic practice and style developed. She began using an improvised darkroom in the master bath of her Palm Springs home to print 16 by 20 inch photographs. She chose her subjects carefully, which included friends, pets, acquaintances, children, her children’s friends (including a young Cindy Sherman), and surroundings. Late into the night, Kali then used dyes, screens, and organic material in the swimming pool to layer moody and psychedelic abstractions over the photographs and dried the textured prints in the desert sun.
The social and political turbulence of the 1960s and 1970s encouraged a more experimental artistic culture in the Los Angeles area. Artists began recontextualizing photographs as “objects” open to manipulation — rejecting the more straightforward and classical approach of photographers like Ansel Adams and Edward Weston. Kali was a prolific pioneer of this alternative photography and her vibrant images marry a bohemian sensuality indicative of the time period and her lifestyle with a more emotional spontaneity.
In the 1970s, Kali continued her practice with the Polaroid camera. Instead of manipulating the Polaroid prints, she used multiple exposures and projections of light in camera to startling, eerie effect — particularly on a series of haunting self-portraits. Much later in her life, Kali documented her fascination with UFOs and extraterrestrials by monitoring and photographing images of flickering transmissions and unexplained streaks and blobs of light from the security cameras surrounding her property in Pacific Palisades.
Despite her prolific artistic output, Kali revealed her work to few and seems to have retreated just when she may have started to gain recognition. The only known article featuring her work was in the November 1970 edition of Camera 35 magazine and the author noted that Kali’s “Artography” (her trademarked name) was “was beyond the capabilities of mere machines. In fact, there is not a way to reproduce one of her images; as a result each of them is an original.”
In her 80s, Kali began to suffer the effects of Parkinson’s disease and memory loss. Her daughter Susan helped her move in to a nursing home and at the same time discovered the immense collection of Kali’s artwork and writing. Soon after Kali’s death in 2019, the collection was organized and archived by Susan and Kali’s former son-in-law, photographer Len Prince.
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(Biography provided by Staley-Wise Gallery)
Price Upon Request
Untitled (Woman), Palm Springs, CA
By Kali
Located in New York, NY
“Kali” was born Joan Marie Archibald in 1932 in Long Island, New York. Her beloved stepfather encouraged Kali’s interest and education in art. Because of Kali’s faith, she was part...
Archival Pigment
$1,930
H 24 in W 20 in D 0.01 in
Toni Frissell 'Capri Riva Boat' Unframed Limited Signature Stamped Edition
By Toni Frissell
Located in London, GB
Capri Riva Boat Beach by Toni Frissell Beachgoers relax on the Capri coast, 1959. (Toni Frissell) Limited signature stamped edition print 24 x 20" inches / 60 x 50 cm paper size Un...
Archival Pigment
$3,055
H 40 in W 60 in D 0.01 in
'Fine Dining At The Opera' Unframed Limited Signature Stamped Edition
By Toni Frissell
Located in London, GB
Fine Dining At The Opera by Toni Frissell Guests at the opening of the New Metropolitan Opera House enjoy fine dining and wine, 1966. (Toni Frissell) Limited signature stamped edit...
Archival Pigment
$2,650
H 40 in W 30 in D 0.01 in
Toni Frissell 'Capri Rowboat' Unframed Limited Signature Stamped Edition
By Toni Frissell
Located in London, GB
Capri Rowboat by Toni Frissell A boat on the blue waters of a Capri cove, 1959. (Toni Frissell) Limited signature stamped edition print 40 x 30" inches / 101 x 76 cm paper size Unf...
Archival Pigment
$2,650
H 30 in W 40 in D 0.01 in
'Boy in Bermuda' Unframed Limited Signature Stamped Edition
By Toni Frissell
Located in London, GB
Boy in Bermuda by Toni Frissell Fishy friends and underwater snorkelling on a beach in Bermuda, 1956. (Toni Frissell) Limited signature stamped edition print 30 x 40" inches / 76 x...
Archival Pigment
$5,700
H 48 in W 48 in
Slim Aarons Official Estate Print - Spear Fishing In San Diego
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Spear Fishing In San Diego A spear fisherman in a mask, snorkel and wetsuit, with two boys on a beach in San Diego, California, October 1956. 48x48" inches / 122 x 122 cm paper siz...
Archival Pigment
$2,650
H 30 in W 30 in D 0.01 in
Toni Frissell 'Waterfront' Unframed Limited Signature Stamped Edition
By Toni Frissell
Located in London, GB
Waterfront by Toni Frissell Street dancers perform on the coastline of Portugal, 1946. (Toni Frissell) Limited signature stamped edition print 30 x 30" inches / 76 x 76 cm paper si...
Archival Pigment
$3,055
H 60 in W 40 in D 0.01 in
'Haute Route Repose' Unframed Limited Signature Stamped Edition
By Toni Frissell
Located in London, GB
Haute Route Repose by Toni Frissell A skier admires the view from the top of a piste on the infamous “Haute Route”, Switzerland, 1961. (Toni Frissell) Limited signature stamped edi...
Archival Pigment
$4,400
H 45 in W 90 in D 0.1 in
The Broken Mind Olanet & The Racist planet Diptych photographs
By Zoltan Gerliczki
Located in Miami Beach, FL
In his series entitled “Broken Planet,” Zoltan depicts a broken planet alongside 13 other “planets” based on the most common human feelings or behaviors, such as happiness, sadness, anger, anticipation, fear, loneliness, jealousy, disgust, trust, greed, joy, racism, and shame. In these images, the artist works with various fragments of colored glass and other debris that he collected from the streets near his home in Atlanta during the COVID-19 quarantine and political protests. Zoltan assembles these pieces in his studio and re-photographs them to symbolize the current crisis of political and environmental problems. At this moment, the most pressing issues of our time concern ourselves and the future of our culture and our planet. In a sense, the artist takes the pieces and puts them back together to reconstruct a fragmented world. “The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who do nothing about it.” -Albert Einstein Zoltan Gerliczki...
Color, Pigment, Archival Pigment
$3,000
H 16 in W 20 in
Giacomo Montegazza Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Print
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Giacomo Montegazza 1983 by Slim Aarons Slim Aarons Limited Estate Edition Giacomo and Stefania Montegazza welcome guests arriving by boat at their villa, La Casinella, on Lake Com...
Archival Pigment
$3,055
H 60 in W 40 in D 0.01 in
Toni Frissell 'Zermatt Skier' Unframed Limited Signature Stamped Edition
By Toni Frissell
Located in London, GB
Zermatt Skier by Toni Frissell A skier prepares for her descent down a mountain in Zermatt, Switzerland, 1956. (Toni Frissell) Limited Signature Stamped Edition print 60 x 40" inch...
Archival Pigment
$2,650
H 40 in W 30 in D 0.01 in
Toni Frissell 'Parka Pondering' Unframed Limited Signature Stamped Edition
By Toni Frissell
Located in London, GB
Parka Pondering by Toni Frissell A woman admires the view from the top of a piste in a ski parka jacket, 1956. (Toni Frissell) Limited signature stamped edition print 40 x 30" inch...
Archival Pigment
$2,650
H 40 in W 30 in D 0.01 in
'A Couple At The Met' Unframed Limited Signature Stamped Edition
By Toni Frissell
Located in London, GB
A Couple At The Met by Toni Frissell A couple enjoy drinks in a luxury suite at the opening of the New Metropolitan Opera House, 1966. (Toni Frissell) Limited signature stamped edi...
Archival Pigment