Last week, I mentioned losing artists. But what about the ones that return?
In 2005, I had a chance meeting with the work of Rosalind Fox Solomon through her book, Chapalingas. This unexpected tome was sitting on the workbench of my framer. It is no exaggeration to say I had never seen photography quite like this.
Yes, I could see the threaded links to other photographers (Finke, Arbus), but none of the ones my brain was pulling up as examples went as deep with an empathetic eye like the one I was now discovering on these pages. I was mesmerized.
Rosalind and I went on to have a successful exhibition together in 2006.
Then, she left.
She went on to work with Bruce Silverstein Gallery in Chelsea. She and I would see each other from time to time over the years…sometimes at parties or once, a dynamic lecture and performance she gave at the School of Visual Arts Theater. In August, 15 years since we last worked together, I received an unexpected email from this long since gone artist.
She wanted to talk.
We decided to work together on what is the current exhibition in the gallery, The Forgotten, which chronicles work between 1976 - 2019. There are some previously published examples in the show, but most will be unfamiliar to even the most loyal fans.
Sometimes, the timing is not right for the artist or the gallerist to work together or to continue to work together. Maybe needs or ambitions change, or the work being made no longer aligns with the gallery’s direction. As an artist, you might consider checking in on the current relationships you have and how they are serving you. You might also look back at those so called rejections and consider reapplying or reaching out.
You may be surprised by who would love to hear from you again.
Classes & Notes
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Michael Foley opened his gallery in the fall of 2004 after fourteen years of working with notable photography galleries, including Fraenkel Gallery, Howard Greenberg Gallery, and Yancey Richardson Gallery.
In 2002, Foley continued his interest in educating and working with artists by serving on the School of Visual Arts and International Center of Photography faculty. He currently teaches and lectures on contemporary photography issues at the undergraduate and graduate levels.
In 2020, he founded The Photo Community, which offers classes and commentary on contemporary photography.
Foley lives and works on the Lower East Side of Manhattan with his wife, Maya.
Dear Michael,
I love reading your weekly posts. I look forward to each the way any member of my clan would wait for a telegram, when I was a child, in another era, and in another country.
For an aspiring fine art photographer, your short short stories are manna from a sky filled with down-to-earth humanism and [insider] tidbits that nourish my aspirations as an artist. I am super grateful.
Today, I loved reading about Rosalind's work, and her journey of return puts a smile on my face. Will come to the gallery sooner than I can blink so I can see it in the flesh because something in her work reminds me of something in myself. And there is nothing like experiencing the object itself when a photograph moves you.
Thank you again.
Marco Aurelio