Sunday, April 8, 2012

Jason Florio, The Long Fight for Kawtoodie: Portraits from the Jungles of Burma @ Messineo Art Projects Wyman Contemporary


An uninspired exhibition of waist-up straight-on portraits of Freedom Fighters against a black scrim in Burma. Not much to hate about the pictures. They’re well exposed. I am sure the cause of the Burmese separatist is just, and I am sorry that it hasn’t made it into Nicholas Kristof ‘s column in the Times so I am sadly uninformed on the separatist movement in Burma. But in my defense, these pictures do little to inform. No one looks terribly menacing, so I am going to assume that the Freedom Fighters are the good guys in this kind of thing.

I never did understand the appeal of Richard Avedon’s portraits, which have clearly had an effect on the photography world. But like Avedon, Florio’s pictures are a tad repetitive, almost superficial. I spent most of the time enjoying how the light hitting the black backdrop made it slightly transparent so you could see little colorful glimpses of the jungle through it.


Through Apr. 28th

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