Mirage: Images from India, New Work by Jeffrey Becom

Please join us Saturday, September 11, from 6 – 8 p.m. for the opening of Mirage: Images from India, New Work by Jeffrey Becom. The exhibition will run through October 16, 2010. The artist will be in attendance for the opening reception.

Jeffrey Becom
Red Pillars, Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, India, 2008
archival pigment ink print

Jeffrey Becom comes to his art as a photographer and painter with formal training as an architect. For him these three pursuits ignite one passion: painted walls. The traditional painted façades of vernacular architecture around the globe offer this inveterate traveler subject and palette from which to derive his own artwork while he, in turn, documents their history, mystery and power. Paint then—and specifically color—is Becom’s life’s calling, whether he photographs, paints, or write books about painted color customs, myths and meanings.

Jeffrey Becom
Pink Pillar, Pushkar, Rajasthan, India, 2008
archival pigment ink print

A dozen years pursuing painted color in the lands bordering the Mediterranean Sea were followed by a decade’s search in the lesser-known corners of Mexico and Central America to unravel the Maya’s enduring color cosmology. Then in 2002 Becom unfolded his map of South America. His search began in Peru, and so far he has wandered no further through South America. In between trips to the Andean Highlands, he has returned to Mexico and Guatemala again and again.

Jeffrey Becom
Red Bundle, Bundi, Rajasthan, India, 2008
archival pigment ink print

In the winter of 2009, Becom released a new series of film-based images from Northern India and Kashmir as pigment ink prints on German etching paper. Our upcoming exhibition will highlight his newest series of work done in India. Becom’s latest work is more figurative than previous work, but the focus on color and architecture remains.

Jeffrey Becom
Taj, Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India, 2008
archival pigment ink print

Becom is also a writer, designer and visual anthropologist. With his partner, Sally Aberg, he has authored two award-winning books, Mediterranean Color and Maya Color: The Painted Villages of Mesoamerica (both from Abbeville Press, New York, 1990 and 1997), for which they won the annual Lowell Thomas Gold Award from the Society of American Travel Writers Foundation for “Best Travel Book.” Becom is the subject of an hour-long PBS / BBC documentary entitled For the Colors, A Journey Through Italy (soon available for purchase on DVD). His work is held in public and private collections worldwide and represented by ten fine art photography galleries across the country. He was featured in the inaugural issue of COLOR Magazine in April 2009.

Jeffrey Becom
Ganesh Wall, Balotra, Rajasthan, India, 2008
archival pigment ink print

Stop by the gallery to experience these works and more for yourself!