The Exposure Project: Elaine Stocki

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Elaine Stocki

Elaine Stocki's images "question the role of performance, spectacle and farce as they relate to the history of the depiction of class and race in North America." Her photographs possess a social and psychological complexity that is derived from a kind of photographic pantomime visible in the images. It's interesting that Stocki discusses her work in terms of performance, spectacle and farce, because her photographs do possess a duality that fluctuates back and forth from reality to fantasy, or, perhaps more powerfully, from stability to disorder.

I've found myself returning to these photographs again and again, entranced by the surreal, boisterous and often unsettling world that Stocki has created. She has originated a stylistic approach that feels uniquely honest and refreshing.

You can also see Stocki's thesis show, We Belong Together, Yale MFA Photography 2009, at the following locations:

Capricious Space
Up until June 28
103 Broadway (between Berry and Bedford)
Brooklyn, NY

Gallery 339
June 5-August 29
339 South 21st Street Philadelphia, PA
Opening: June 5, 2009, 6-8pm

Eighth Veil
September 1-12
7174 Sunset Boulevard
Los Angeles, California
Reception: September 11, 2009, 7-9pm