Marvelli Gallery is pleased to present the group exhibition “Palomar: Experimental Photography”, featuring photographs by Phil Chang, Talia Chetrit, Nancy de Holl, Tamar Halpern, Mariah Robertson and Asha Schechter. The exhibition will investigate a specific trend in contemporary photography that differentiates from – and somehow opposes– the proliferation of glossy, overemphatic, staged images, endlessly produced by a crowd of artists as well as commercial and advertisement photographers.

This photography focuses on experimenting with techniques (often low-tech), sizes, and formats. These artists use ink-jet prints, digital c-prints, re-photographed magazines and newspapers, as well as other means of photomechanical reproduction. The resulting work always feels individually created and never succumbs to the power of technical sophistication. Some artists manipulate their images in the darkroom process (solarization, ambrotype, photograms, multiple exposures, etc.) without the use of a computer, while others almost bypass the photographic process altogether (scanning objects and found images). They push the boundaries, limits and modality of photography.

A practice informed by conceptual ideas is common to the artists in the exhibition. Their brand of conceptual art is very different from the rigor and avant-garde fervor of a previous generation of artists who used photography in their practice. They exercise a softer conceptualism, finding a balance among seduction, analysis and romantic exploration. These artists have little interest in the ability of large photographs to mimic the visual impact of paintings; rather there is an awareness and focus on the idiosyncratic strategies of Surrealism, Dadaism, Russian avant-gardes and their interest in manipulating pre-existing images and subtle ability to find the uncanny in everyday reality.

Phil Chang lives and works in Los Angeles receiving his MFA from CalArts in 2005. He has exhibited his photography in various museums and galleries in New York and California. Talia Chetrit received her MFA from RISD in 2008. She will have her first solo exhibition at Renwick Gallery, New York, in September.

Nancy de Holl received her MFA from UCLA in 2003. In 2007, she had her second solo exhibition at Taxter and Spengemann, New York. Tamar Halpern received her MFA from Columbia University in 2005. Since then, she has had solo exhibitions at White Columns, New York and Tony Wight Gallery in Chicago, IL.

Mariah Robertson received her MFA from Yale in 2005. Her work has been exhibited extensively throughout the United States including two solo shows at Guild and Greyshkul, New York. She will have an exhibition with Marvelli Gallery in Fall 2009. Asha Schechter lives and works in Los Angeles. He received his MFA from UCLA in 2009.