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New Photography Gallery

New Photography Gallery image
Parent Issue
Month
December
Year
1995
Copyright
Creative Commons (Attribution, Non-Commercial, Share-alike)
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Agenda Publications
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Arts Agenda

New Photography Gallery

by Orin Buck

   In the last issue I wrote about the end of Rebecca Berman Pelletier Gallery as a fine art gallery - this time I have related good news about a new gallery of photographic art. William Pelletier has reopened the William Pelletier Gallery at 213 S. Main, after having closed it nearly eight years ago.

   His friendship with Hattula Moholy-Nagy, who lives in Ann Arbor, and his fine printing skills led him to be commissioned to make new Laszlo Moholy-Nagy prints when Hattula inherited the negatives of her famous Bauhaus father. The first outlet for these prints was the Rebecca Berman Pelletier Gallery, as noted last issue. More prints make up the new gallery's first show (which will be up until next spring). Further selections from the collection will be available at the new gallery.

   There have been no art galleries specializing in photography here since Pelletier's gallery closed. Before, there was the Blixt Gallery, which was open from 1975 to 1984. However, it seems to me that the revived gallery has a good chance of making t even in Ann Arbor's tight art market. The Moholy-Nagy collection is an important asset that is drawing interest from around the world. In addition, Pelletier plans to use his extensive art photography contacts to get prints and shows from other big names. Some local names that will be seen are Howard Bond, David Capps, and Jim Galbraith. Pelletier is looking at the possibilities of establishing a steering committee, getting shows from local teaching institutions, and getting grants as ways of strengthening the gallery. (He is looking for an interested person experienced in writing grants.) In fact Al and Jill Blixt, the owners of the former Blixt Gallery, are helping out. They agree that the prints have a lot of potential. Al Blixt notes that a dealer in New York has been selling vintage Moholy-Nagy prints for $70,000 to $80,000 each. Besides these assets, Pelletier is excited about the growing interest in artistic photography, and feels that now is the perfect time to bring back his gallery. Charles Hagen reports in ARTnews Feb. 1995 that photography is growing faster than ever. Photos at all price levels are doing better than ever at the major auction houses like Sotheby's. More museums are establishing or expanding photography holdings. Interest is growing especially in younger people.

   According to Hagen, New York's Pace MacGill Gallery head Peter MacGill says "I see a lot of younger people- in their 20s and 30s - collecting, too." The younger buyer who doesn't appreciate uptight semi-religious decorum will feel right at home in the new gallery - Pelletier has a reputation for good partjes that goes back to the 70s, renewed by the Nov. 10 Moholy-Nagy reception with dancing and carousing late into the night. Why is interest growing just now? There are a few explanations. Al Blixt says "Photography is non-threatening to ordinary people." Some appreciate the beauty of the print as a handmade object, while others easily relate to specific photographs as metaphors for human experience. It is a relatively egalitarian medium. Amateur photography has been shrinking as home video has grown. Jill Blixt suggests that now more of the audience has greater personal distance from photography- they are not mentally competing with photographers, feeling "I could do that."

   I think that post-modern sensibility is more comfortable with enjoying all sorts of photography as art, so that the lower prices relative to other media become a big attraction. Another angle is that reproductions of good photography are everywhere in the mass media, now more than ever. Owning an original establishes a personal connection that transcends the sea of cheap reproductions in magazines and elsewhere. Other forms of fine art are less ubiquitous, less demanding of our attention.

   Also, the blending of photography with traditional and other new media continues. In fact, Pelletier is interested in incorporating video and computer graphics into his gallery. This expansion of possibilities in the photography arena is another natural source of growth, and another force breaking down boundaries between photography and traditional fine arts media. All told, now is definitely a good time to revive the William Pelletier Gallery.

Change in hours: Instead of the hours reported in the Nov. Ann Arbor Observer, William Pelletier Gallery will be open only by appointment. Call 761-5305. 

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