The Shadow
A new photographic exhibit has opened in Clifton Forge VA, featuring the work of two of Virginia’s finest photographers”Robert Sulkin and James Knipe. Both men have taught and been involved academically with photographic arts for more than four decades. Sulkin was named Professor Emeritus at Hollins University and maintains a studio practice; Knipe taught at Radford University and has photographed across the US and several international venues. This is a grand opportunity to see the work of each artist work from July 5 through July 29. at the Alleghany Highlands Arts and Crafts Center in Clifton Forge VA. While the images are predominantly in black and white images, they both offer a distinctive point of view.
“In both my studio constructions and landscapes constructed in Photoshop, photography has allowed me to leave behind the rational world and explore a world I imagine based on how things look rather than what I know. As such, they exist as pieces of paper with tone and occasional color and hopefully a visual presence. While they might reference the actual world, I believe one would be hard pressed to encounter their content as one goes about their business in daily life.” Robert Sulkin
Sulkin has an undergraduate degree in History from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and both an MA and MFA from the School of Art and Art History from the University of Iowa. From 1980-2019 Sulkin taught a wide range of art and photography at Hollins University, expanding the photography program and teaching a wide range of analog and digital photography courses as well as special course in alternative formats such as pinhole, plastic lens photography and scanning. “Like many photographers working at the end of the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, Sulkin witnessed and experienced changes in technology that had profound effects on his work. Collectively his studio and/or photoshop-based fabrications comment on the aspects of culture and track a progression of style and experimentation — some playful, some farcical and some serious.” (Jenine Culligan, Director of the Eleanor D. Wilson Museum at Hollins University ). Robert Sulkin was recognized as Emeritus Professor of Art at Hollins University from 1980-29019. He also participated in national and international photography events where he won many awards.
As a recipient of a Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA) Fellowship, Robert Sulkin’s work was featured in an exhibition at Richmond International Airport in July 2020–21 and he was a part of the VMFA Statewide Exhibition Program Traveling Exhibition and Services program (TEAMS). He has also exhibited in a wide range of competitive and exhibition venues across this country and internationally over the course of his career.
Robert Sulkin generally develops a series of images around a particular idea; Hand Grid is an early example of how he might explore a seemingly simple idea. This exhibit includes images from several other mind threads. Some, like Patent Pending, or Composition 337 are whimsical toy-like constructions; others are more referential or exploratory. Almost all have a decisive air of mystery. By following the dates seen on the wall tags that identify when the works were made viewers can follow a timeline tracking different interests or trains of thought. Sulkin says, “Broadly my photography deals with the futility of the individual in attempting to cope in a technology-driven world that is spinning out of control.” However, the images also suggest a sly sense of humor about that futility as well. Turtle Wave can be considered many darker lights, but that small wave is hard to ignore. Fascinated by an exploration of light and dark, texture and whimsy, Sulkin probes deeper where he is intrigued. Even something as mundane as the dried lid from a paint can spark his imagination. The cracks and shapes in Paint Lid suggest the magic of the cosmos or the energetic synapses of the brain at work.
Whatever Sulkin prints, the results are elegant, elegant, with full attention to the play between light and dark, object, line, and texture. There is a well-defined emphasis in the details of how the light falls on each of his subjects. With its rich darks and highlights, shapes and textures, Owl with Melons conjure up the paintings of the old masters—all without color. It is a fine example of how well-defined tonal values can be as rich as any palette of colors. The darks are velvety, the other values range from crisp to ethereal.
The most recent works-“Earth Poems” and “Elsewhere “allow viewers to step into almost dream-like spaces without any need for defined answers- and plenty of questions. Whether contemplative or amusing, Robert Sulkin’s images echo in the viewer’s mind long after they are out of sight.
Jim Knipe’s portion of the exhibit includes work from two series: Paris Portfolio and Close to Home. “My photographic journey has taken me throughout America as well as to many foreign countries Several residencies and grants have provided me with the opportunity to travel and photograph it Italy, Turkey, France and throughout America where I have photographed from coast to coast. The Cite’ International des Arts provided me with living quarters for four months in Paris where I created the images for my Paris Portfolio. The work was produced digitally, and the prints were made using inkjet printing technology.
“Images for my second body of work were created over several decades in my home state of Virginia. The silver prints are from film negatives printed in a traditional darkroom. I title this work Close to Home, having been created within a few hours’ drive from my house. I have worked for years along the banks of the New River and Roanoke River, photographing trees and their reflections along the water’s edge. I have lost myself in the dense verdant vegetation that resists access to these areas, trudging along paths worn down by fishermen at the same banks.
An aspect of our region that holds my interest is the relationship between the clearings that we create for the houses and barns we build, and the aggressive advance against our actions by nature’s rush for the reclamation of this soil. The ultimate shrouding of physical structures that give way to the advances of ivy and kudzu is amazing to watch, as it is frightening to behold. Nature erases evidence of human activity as the rapacious advance of encroaching vegetation devours structures abandoned in its path.
My wife Jan is a draughtsman and painter. Her work and our shared experiences have influenced me tremendously. I photograph outdoors concentrating on my attention between the natural and man-made environment. The objects I find interesting are subjected to the interior knowledge I carry regarding the history of art and the historical work done in my field. Life’s journey has a tendency to take you to places not marked by a direct path. We end up finding aspects of the world intriguing, discovering alleys and byways we were not cognizant of when we began our journey.
My academic career has spanned nearly four decades. My first position was at California Western University in San Diego. Their campus sat along the coast of the Pacific Ocean. I taught in La Crosse Wisconsin for many years, on a campus that was close to the Mississippi River that separates Wisconsin and Minnesota. Finally, I taught at Radford University in Virginia whose campus sits along the banks of the New River. My work has been exhibited in dozens of different venues over several decades, and it resides in several public and private institutions.
Robert Sulkin’s Photographs and Paris Portfolio & Close to Home by James Knipe will remain on exhibit through Friday, July 29, 2022. The Alleghany Highlands Arts and Crafts Center is supported by its members, contributors, the Town of Clifton Forge, the City of Covington, the County of Alleghany, The Alleghany Foundation, The Virginia Commission for the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
