McKee Gallery is pleased to announce Richard Learoyd’s latest exhibition: Still/Life, opening May 9 and continuing through June 20. A reception for the artist will be held May 9, from 6–8pm.

This third exhibition with McKee Gallery will include twelve new works: a combination of portraits of people and still-lifes of dead animals, all created by the camera obscura technique. A process which creates unique photographs of alarming clarity and honesty. The tactile nature of naked flesh adjacent to images of dead flamingos, a dead hare, and a horse’s head, force the viewer to consider both the fragility of life and all its inherent beauty.

Richard Learoyd, born in 1966 in Nelson, Lancashire, England, Richard Learoyd studied under the American photographer Thomas Joshua Cooper at the Glasgow School of Art, Scotland. His work held in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, Yale University Art Gallery, and others. He lives and works in London.

He has a very unique way of working which creates absolutely unique photographs. He build a giant camera that can best be described as a huge camera obscura. The camera is comprised of two rooms. In one room is the model or the object in a light source. In the other room, behind a large lens, is a huge piece of photographic paper. Once exposed, a unique, life-size direct-positive print is created. Unlike the pinhole camera images, Richard's photographs are clear of distortion, sharp and very detailed. Apart from the technical aspects, he manages to create poetically stunning imagery. He places people, clothed and nude, as well as objects in front of his lens. The exposure takes 8 hours, so the models have to sit still while being under hot lights for the same amount of time. The final and approved images, he destroys the one's that are imperfect, have a painter-like quality to them with soft tones and melancholic poses. He considers the method to be a natural step in search of the ultimate image.

A catalogue will accompany this exhibition, featuring 14 full-color photographs, and an essay by Charles Moffett.

McKee Gallery
745 Fifth Ave
New York (NY) 10151 United States
Tel. +1 (212) 6885951
info@mckeegallery.com
www.mckeegallery.com

Opening hours
Tuesday – Saturday
From 10am to 6pm