[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]On Sept. 19, the Alice Gallery in Salt Lake City held an opening reception to present its first solo artist show: Between Worlds by Bernard C. Meyers. Meyers is a contemporary fine art photographer based in Utah. He is an internationally recognized master printer, artist, photographer and teacher. The artist has a background in traditional printmaking, stone and plate lithography and etching, though this exhibit is dedicated to digital photography and printing. Meyers said he is “enamored with the surprises of light and structures.” He is interested in the way light can “move through glass, plastic and screen, the overlap of one dimension into another.”
In this gallery exhibit, we see Meyers’ passion for garden flora contrasted against man-made structures. Many of the images are of greenhouses, some flourishing with flowers and leaves, some empty and abandoned. Long streaks of light stream across petals, stems and hoses. The artist takes great advantage of the greenhouse piping systems to draw your eye from one point of the photograph to the other. The perspective he has found on many of the images makes you stop and wonder if it’s real. This certainly achieves the artist’s goal of bringing the viewer between worlds.
Another interesting technique you’ll see at this showing is the artist’s use of screens, windows and plastics to create an extra layer within the photograph. The effect this choice created reminded me of a 19th century painting technique called pointillism. Pioneered by Georges-Pierre Seurat, pointillism is simply using small points of color in a way that when you step back from the image it appears as a smooth, seamless image. In these prints it instead gives the images a sense of depth, like you’re with the photographer, peering into the greenhouse. One piece, found near the back wall of the gallery, does this in a particularly interesting way by using the drips left from a morning fog on a window — certainly the gem of the entire exhibit.
Meyers insisted that “the narrative here is about an elusive place, the vantage point between the world of our constructed socialized realities and everything else beyond.” He wants the viewer to consider other realms of consciousness and wants his photographs to “transcend the everyday.”
The space itself is a sight to see. The Alice Gallery is located inside the Glendinning Mansion, which was built during the 1800s. In 1975, the Utah purchased the property to house the offices of Utah Arts and Museums. The Alice Gallery was created as a service to Utah artists by providing free venues for emerging and established artists. With this exhibit the gallery housed approximately 20 photographs.
Between Worlds will be at the Alice Gallery (617 E. South Temple) now through Nov. 14. Viewing the gallery is always free, though small donations are appreciated. You can get more information at alicegallery.org.
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