Photopourri

May 27 – July 5, 2008

Reception: June 7, 2008, 5:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.

On May 27, RAM mounts an exhibition of Photo Artist Network (PAN) photographs in the museum’s lobby and mezzanine. Featuring a variety of photography, from traditional film to digital work, candid’s and posed, simple to complex, the work represents the diverse range of styles and approaches within the PAN group and within photography today. PAN is an affiliate artist support group of the Riverside Art Museum, made up photographers from around the region who get together monthly for workshops, field trips, critiques and lectures. This exhibition features the work of 27 member artists.

To display the variety of images, the curatorial team chose to hang the images in a chockablock “salon style” with photos flush-mounted flat and unframed. Turning the exhibit into a contemporary art installation, the placement of works are meant to forge connections between different works. Some works hang alone, while others are clustered together to display a series by a single or multiple artists. In some cases, the same work shot by different photographers allows the viewer to see the exchange and feedback between fellow artists who have met in the PAN group.

Despite having no single overarching theme, there are recurring motifs within the group of works. Images of cacti and desert landscapes harken to the call of the wild and allure of traditional landscape photography, while gritty street scenes and the repeated icon of decaying vehicles speak to the changes humans have created in the region. For some photographers, it is the abstraction of landscape, of lines of architecture or cracks in the sidewalk that catch their eye, while other photographers have captured solitary moments and impromptu group shots in the urban environment. Seen together, the patchwork of images shows the diverse visions of these Southern Californian photographers capturing their view of the world through a lens.”