| YOUR SPACE HERE. click for advertising info |
| Copyright 2006 Art History Chicks LLC Contact Us |
| susceptible to images |
 |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| | | | | | |
Stephanie Bartz Photography
Lovely
2165 S. Kinnickinnic Ave., Bay View
Through January 07, 2007.
At age ten, she was gifted with a Kodak 110 camera. Sam, her first dog,
became her model.
Welcome to the world of 36-year-old Wauwatosa resident, Stephanie Bartz,
who photographs dogs, as well as horses, babies, teens and adults.
Since graduating in 1991 with an associate degree in photography from
MATC, she’s also explored beauty and fashion with her camera, and
(briefly) labored as a video dating service photographer. A cross-section of
her work is at Lovely, a spacious beauty salon housed in a Bay View
Victorian building at 2165 S. Kinnickinnic Ave.
The cover of the November 27 issue of New York magazine features a
William Wegman photograph of his Wiemarer wrapped in green paper and
red bows. Wegman is probably the nation’s most famous dog
photographer. But you won’t see anything like that in this exhibit. Bartz’s
photographs are black and white, shot with Nikon 90s and D200 cameras.
The result is crisply effective and intimate.
The 8”x 10” images vary in subject matter, but I was most charmed by her
portraits of dogs. My favorite was Jordan’s Smile, a tightly cropped image
focused on Jordan’s nose, lips, and tongue…the parts a dog owner sees
when cheek to jowl with their “best friend.” Visit the Milwaukee Art Museum,
stand directly in front of, and close to, Dog At Duck Trap, a famous painting
by Alex Katz, and you’ll see what I mean. It’s the dog’s nose, lips and
tongue that grab you first. Everything else seems extraneous.
Al Oldham, a stylist at the salon (and the owner of two dogs), say his
clients are attracted to the portrait, Iola Catching Snowflakes,
exhibited to the right of the restroom. There she stands, a black dog with
nose, lips and tongue flaked with snow. It’s a happy, hopeful moment ‘twixt
beast and Bartz.
Among my photos from the 40s, is a 3”x 4” snapshot of Skippy, my honey-
hued cocker spaniel. To hold it is to summon his liquid-y eyes, meaty
breathe, and lolling tongue. It’s dangerous to second guess the late Andy
Warhol, but perhaps he had something similar in mind when he
enshrined a cocker named “Ginger,” an image currently at the Museum of
Fine Arts in Houston, where “Best In Show: The Dog in Art from the
Renaissance to Today,” holds center stage. Besides the array of mutts by
European masters such as Titian, there are contemporary pieces by, yes,
William Wegman, Jeff Koons, and Andrew Wyeth. Add to this, the popularity
of television’s “Dog Whisperer,” and it’s fair to say, people and their pets
(be they lap dogs, guardians of property, hunting companions or
otherwise), are bound historically. As an artist who excels at photography,
Bartz knows the tricks (squeaky toys help) involved in memorializing Canis
familiaris.
Some of the photographs in this exhibit are hung too high to be thoroughly
enjoyed. For more of her work (hopefully, installed at eye-level), visit the
Reuss Federal Plaza building, 310 W. Wisconsin Ave., from Jan 15-Feb.16,
when she joins the “Wisconsin Portrait Artists Group Show.”
- Judith Ann Moriarty
Judith Ann Moriarty is a Milwaukee author and frequent contributor to
Susceptible to Images.
Comments? Email comments@susceptibletoimages.com
Lovely
2165 S. Kinnickinnic Ave., Bay View
Through January 07, 2007.
At age ten, she was gifted with a Kodak 110 camera. Sam, her first dog,
became her model.
Welcome to the world of 36-year-old Wauwatosa resident, Stephanie Bartz,
who photographs dogs, as well as horses, babies, teens and adults.
Since graduating in 1991 with an associate degree in photography from
MATC, she’s also explored beauty and fashion with her camera, and
(briefly) labored as a video dating service photographer. A cross-section of
her work is at Lovely, a spacious beauty salon housed in a Bay View
Victorian building at 2165 S. Kinnickinnic Ave.
The cover of the November 27 issue of New York magazine features a
William Wegman photograph of his Wiemarer wrapped in green paper and
red bows. Wegman is probably the nation’s most famous dog
photographer. But you won’t see anything like that in this exhibit. Bartz’s
photographs are black and white, shot with Nikon 90s and D200 cameras.
The result is crisply effective and intimate.
The 8”x 10” images vary in subject matter, but I was most charmed by her
portraits of dogs. My favorite was Jordan’s Smile, a tightly cropped image
focused on Jordan’s nose, lips, and tongue…the parts a dog owner sees
when cheek to jowl with their “best friend.” Visit the Milwaukee Art Museum,
stand directly in front of, and close to, Dog At Duck Trap, a famous painting
by Alex Katz, and you’ll see what I mean. It’s the dog’s nose, lips and
tongue that grab you first. Everything else seems extraneous.
Al Oldham, a stylist at the salon (and the owner of two dogs), say his
clients are attracted to the portrait, Iola Catching Snowflakes,
exhibited to the right of the restroom. There she stands, a black dog with
nose, lips and tongue flaked with snow. It’s a happy, hopeful moment ‘twixt
beast and Bartz.
Among my photos from the 40s, is a 3”x 4” snapshot of Skippy, my honey-
hued cocker spaniel. To hold it is to summon his liquid-y eyes, meaty
breathe, and lolling tongue. It’s dangerous to second guess the late Andy
Warhol, but perhaps he had something similar in mind when he
enshrined a cocker named “Ginger,” an image currently at the Museum of
Fine Arts in Houston, where “Best In Show: The Dog in Art from the
Renaissance to Today,” holds center stage. Besides the array of mutts by
European masters such as Titian, there are contemporary pieces by, yes,
William Wegman, Jeff Koons, and Andrew Wyeth. Add to this, the popularity
of television’s “Dog Whisperer,” and it’s fair to say, people and their pets
(be they lap dogs, guardians of property, hunting companions or
otherwise), are bound historically. As an artist who excels at photography,
Bartz knows the tricks (squeaky toys help) involved in memorializing Canis
familiaris.
Some of the photographs in this exhibit are hung too high to be thoroughly
enjoyed. For more of her work (hopefully, installed at eye-level), visit the
Reuss Federal Plaza building, 310 W. Wisconsin Ave., from Jan 15-Feb.16,
when she joins the “Wisconsin Portrait Artists Group Show.”
- Judith Ann Moriarty
Judith Ann Moriarty is a Milwaukee author and frequent contributor to
Susceptible to Images.
Comments? Email comments@susceptibletoimages.com
| Stephanie Bartz, Last One In |
| Stephanie Bartz, Jason Tucker |