Small works at MEG

Recently I had the pleasure and honor to select the current small photographic works at Multiple Exposures Gallery in Alexandria.

It's wonderful show, if I may say so, and continues this trend that I've been writing about recently, about the unique experience of artwork in a small, intimate scale.

MEG is home to superior, highly talented photographers. In the many years that this photography collective has been around (formerly known as Factory Photoworks), and in the dozens and dozens of shows that I have seen there, seldom, if ever have I seen a weak show. If you are a photography fan and you haven't been to MEG, then you're missing one of the key photography spaces in the Mid Atlantic.

Every selection in this show is a gem. In Susan Meyer's "Apple in a Vase," the sheer simplicity of the image hides the smart compositional idea behind it. The super sharp focus of the photo also does wonders to bring our attention to the subject, and (as I did) speculate why there's an apple in a flower vase.

I was also quite pleased not only with the superior set of works submitted by Michael Borek, but also with the super-modern, sharp minimalist presentation, where Borek has the small works floating in a deep white frame. I might "borrow" his presentation concept for some future works of my own!

There's also the scent of a master photographer in Grace Taylor's "Three Red Pears." Here we see what can be best described as the subject emerging not only because of its inherent beauty and recognition-factor, but also because the way the Taylor handles it, massages it and presents it; the pears emerge as exotic, sexual fruits, awaiting the first touch of the lips and the first cut of the bite.

Luise Noakes' visually textured, added onto and manipulated photos as well as the always impressive work of Danny Conant also stand out.

The Small Works show goes through January 2, 2011.