Hannah Whitaker

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

HANNAH WHITAKER: LIMONENE

Saturday, March 16, 2013
Conversation with the artist: 6:30pm 
Opening reception: 7-10pm
On view through April 26, 2013
Gallery hours: Tuesday - Saturday, 12pm-5pm

 Now celebrating 15 years of exhibiting experimental contemporary art, Locust Projects is pleased to present the exhibition Limonene by New York-based artist Hannah Whitaker. The installation in the project room will consist of new, site-specific photographs printed on vinyl and adhered directly to the gallery walls. Using litter scavenged from Miami streets, Whitaker composed impromptu assemblages, all photographed in one week-long trip in February of 2013. She then re-exposed the film using light leaks—where light makes direct contact with the film—and other experimental in-camera techniques. Whitaker, who frequently makes photographs using unpredictable methods and unwieldy materials, continues to embrace chance in Limonene. Unlike past bodies of work however, the new photographs revolve around the material specificity of one particular place—Miami.

 Exploring the relationship between consumerism, formalism, and photography the works in Limonene treat found objects in terms of their potential for mark-making. Exploiting the spectacle of consumer culture, recognizable objects resolve into collections of lines or shapes, highlighting the perfect geometry and saturated color of mass production. Exposed through handmade film screens, the light leaks and overlaid graphic forms respond to the repetitious visual motifs put forth by the found objects. The installation includes multiple iterations of a single assemblage, emphasizing the reproducibility of both photographs and consumable goods. The show’s title can be seen on a red plastic lid evident in several photographs. As found text, the title submits to the same creative forces as the rest of the show. Limonene is a chemical that smells like citrus.

ABOUT HANNAH WHITAKER

Hannah Whitaker, b. 1980 in Washington D.C. received a BA from Yale University in 2002 and a MFA from the International Center of Photography/Bard College, New York, NY in 2006. Recent exhibitions include a solo show at Thierry Goldberg in New York and group shows at Galerie Christophe Gaillard in Paris, Higher Pictures in New York, and Rencontres d’Arles in France, where she was nominated for the Discovery Prize. She recently co-edited issue 45 of Blind Spot magazine and co-curated its accompanying exhibition, The Crystal Chain, at Invisible Exports in New York. She is also a contributing editor for Triple Canopy.

ABOUT LOCUST PROJECTS

2013 marks the 15-year anniversary of Locust Projects, a not-for-profit exhibition space founded by three Miami artists in order to provide contemporary visual artists the freedom to experiment with new ideas and methods without the limitations of conventional exhibition spaces.  Artists are encouraged to create site-specific installations as an extension of their representative work, and Locust Projects offers them a vibrant Miami experience to develop their ideas. Locust Projects is committed to offering an approachable and inviting venue for the Miami and international art community to experience the work and meet the artists.