Mixed Greens is thrilled to present Julianne Swartz's third photography portfolio. In Placements, she continues her exploration of performative photography. Whether the photograph is an explicit depiction of the landscape or a more abstracted setting with her own hand to reveal magical moments that expand the viewer's perception.

When earthworks artist Robert Smithson began his "Displacements" in 1968, he said, "mirror in a sense is both the physical mirror and the reflection" it is "a concept and abstraction...a displacement of properties." He made work that relied on the perception of the viewer and inspired a discussion of both absence and presence.

Swartz uses similar ideas to create her portfolio of "Placements," but her process is predominantly additive, placing rather than displacing. By way of a mirror in the palm of her hand, she doubles the information in the photographs to create more omniscient, dream-like landscapes. Although the photographic lens is limited in the scope of what it can record, Swartz tricks the lens, through very low-tech means, into recording more than one view simultaneously. Each photograph adds another dimension to the landscapes, allowing the viewer to see both forward and back, seemingly poised between the past and the future. Elements from her first two portfolios, such as the moon and the ocean, reappear with a new sense of mystery and wonder.

Julianne Swartz received her MFA from Bard College and currently lives and works in Kingston, NY. Her work has been widely exhibited throughout the United States and Europe including Tate Liverpool, Whitney (biennial exhibition 2004), New Museum, P.S.1/MoMA, Sculpture Center, Artist’s Space, Tang Museum, and Palm Beach Institute of Contemporary Art. In 2005, she received a NYFA fellowship in sculpture. Currently, she is showing at the Aldrich Museum in “Voice and Void” curated by Thomas Trummer and she has an upcoming solo site-specific project at the Indianapolis Museum of Art.

For more information, please visit julianneswartz.com


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