We are pleased to invite you to the opening of

John Folsom
"Lure of the Low Country"

Reception with Artist
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
6:00-8:00pm

Fay Gold Gallery
764 Miami Circle
Atlanta, Georgia 30324
www.faygoldgallery.com

Show Dates: April 2 - May 10, 2008

John Folsom's recognizable, often large-scale photographic works have explored terrains throughout the United States. With his new series Lure of the Low Country, Folsom brings his haunting and emotional works closer to home by capturing previously unexplored territory in Palmetto Bluff in Bluffton, South Carolina.

A landscape photographer who stretches the typical notion of depiction, Folsom considers different theories about how images of landscapes are used or fictionalized to create a personal sense of place. "It really has more to do with what the viewer can bring to the work from his or her own experience," says Folsom. Often, viewers construct in their minds that they can identify the exact site where a particular photograph was taken because they are looking not just at the subject matter, but also at how it is represented. "Memory is pliable because there are emotions that are associated with it as well," he says.

Folsom's latest series Lure of the Low Country began when a client asked him to photograph the land at Palmetto Bluff. Although Folsom frequently receives commissions, he had not previously had a request to visit a new site, and he was somewhat resistant to the idea. What he discovered at the site enchanted him, and caused him to develop an entire series around the landscape.

"I had never seen a more incredibly gorgeous place," he says. "It was like stepping into a 19th century painting. The land has an amazing evocative quality. I felt like I was in the jungle - everything was dense and lush and so Southern." The land Folsom photographed connects to a nature conservancy, and even through parts of it are being developed; the developers are trying to limit their footprint and build in harmony with the environment. Nonetheless, Folsom knew that things were changing and he was to some degree recording something that was disappearing.

In addition to works representative of Folsom's recognizable grid technique, Lure of the Low Country includes smaller pixilated images that explore the weakness in digital photography. Through repeated compression, Folsom alters images, creating something less defined. For Folsom, the degeneration that occurs through this process mimics the changing nature of the landscape. With the aid of technology, Folsom helps us remember.

This photographer's technique has evolved with technology so that today Folsom utilizes a computer to adjust his images and select the tiles, which he then prints with archival pigment. These tiles are arranged and glued to wooden panels. While some subtle tints are visible in the original prints, Folsom adds washes of oil paint before sealing the entirety with wax medium. Many of his works are very large - up to 10 ft. by 10 ft., but some works in the new show are smaller pieces on oval panels, harkening back to the 19th century iconic vignette shape.

Currently residing in Atlanta, John Folsom hails from Paducah, Kentucky. He earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Cinema and Photography from Southern Illinois University. His works are in collection of the Hunter Museum of Art in Chattanooga, Tennessee, the Tennessee State Museum in Nashville and the Christoph Merian Foundation in Basel, Switzerland. Folsom has shown at Fay Gold Gallery in Atlanta since 2004.

For visuals please contact Veronica at Fay Gold Gallery www.faygoldgallery.com or visit www.johnfolsomonline.com.