Ian J. Whitmore: Nowhere
@ Johalla Projects
1821 W. Hubbard St., Suite 209
Opening Saturday, November 3rd, from 7PM - 11PM
On view through Saturday, December 1st
Nowhere is an ambiguous yet ubiquitous space. It is woven into our civic and commercial landscape as irresponsible and irrelevant decoration. In these images, we see spaces that we move through every day but rarely acknowledge for their functional purpose or aesthetic value. How we engage with these spaces speaks to how we neglectfully pass through our own culture and cities and more importantly our interactions with one another.
Through these photographs, Ian explores the ironic and garish nature of what surrounds us. By drawing the viewer into the banal and confronting the illusion that these environments are important and of interest, the mirage quickly dissolves, unveiling impotence and benign ornamentation.
Those promising paths that once led us forward, reaching into the horizon, have been cleared away and accessorized. Following the rhythm of Progress, our civic body ceaselessly expands and the horizon draws near—collapsing in on us— as it becomes clear that we have arrived nowhere in particular.
About the artist: Ian J. Whitmore was born and raised in Nebraska. He earned his BFA at University of Nebraska–Lincoln and later his MFA at Indiana University–Bloomington.
He has exhibited work nationally; most recently at the Photographic Resource Center at Boston University, the Chicago Cultural Center, University of Mary Washington, University of Michigan, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, the Photographic Center Northwest in Seattle, and the South Bend Regional Museum of Art.
A former Adjunct Instructor in the Photography Department at Columbia College, Ian is now an Assistant Professor of Art at Portland State University in Oregon.
Ian is currently engaged in a long-term artist book project titled Onomasticon: A Vocabulary for Nowhere.
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Tags: Ian Whitmore, Johalla Projects, West Town
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