AIPAD 2016: RICHARD TUSCHMAN

Couple In The Street, 2014

Series Title: Once Upon A Time In Kazimierz

Number of artworks at AIPAD: 1

Edition: 2 + 1AP

Size: 63"x43"

Medium: Archival Pigment Print

Year: 2014

Additional Editions: 24"x18" | 36"x24" | 5+1AP in each size.

While Tuschman continues to pay tribute to those artists who have inspired him—Balthus, Brandt, de Chirico, Vermeer—the series also demonstrates a significant development in Tuschman’s oeuvre. The artist’s Eastern European Jewish ancestors resided in the vicinity of Kazimierz until circa 1900, and this forms part of the basis for weaving together a fictional narrative with strands of cultural and family history.

Well known for his Hopper Meditations series, the artist’s process continues to be labor intensive and meticulous. The staged photographs result from a sophisticated marriage of miniature dioramas with life-size models. The sets are photographed after being hand-built by the artist over several months, with models photographed separately and composited into the scenes. The resulting photographs are visually stunning constructions, richly imbued with nuances of Jewish customs and a sense of place.

References to cinema and theatre resonate across the work. While the artworks are constructed in an exacting manner, they are also deliberately made to fall away from reality—enhancing their theatricality—and to project a level of the surreal and a dreamlike quality. Each image can also be seen to perform as a film still, with each part adding to a larger narrative arc. Once Upon a Time in Kazimierz, as a chronologically sequenced story, leaves just enough gaps and open-endedness, to enable the viewer to impose a tale of their own, highlighting in many respects, the fluidity of dreams and of memory.

CURRENT EXHIBITION: PRESS

Our current exhibition, Richard Tuschman: Once Upon A Time In Kazimierz, opened to the public with an opening reception on March 3rd, so well attended that there was barely standing room in the gallery. We have enjoyed a steady flow of visitors to the gallery since, with the 12 artworks on display being enthusiastically received.

The photographs from this series are available as follows, and because the work is newly released, all photographs are currently at the first pricing tier. 

18"x24", Edition 5+1AP

24"x36", Edition 5+1AP

43"x63", Edition 2+1AP

The exhibition continues through to April 9th. If you are a collector interested in acquiring this work for your collection, we'll be happy to provide a private viewing by appointment. 

We're delighted, also, that this new series of photographs has been applauded by the press, some of which we would like to share below. 

SLATE, Behold Photo Blog

By David Rosenberg

'Imagining Life in 1930's Poland Through Dioramas and Photography'

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS TIMES, Art Pages

By David Sim

'Beautiful Photographs Depict A Fictional Jewish Family Living In Poland Before The Holocaust'

ELIZABETH AVEDON JOURNAL

By Elizabeth Avedon

'Richard Tuschman: Once Upon A Time In Kazimierz at Klompching Gallery'

LENSCRATCH

By Aline Smithson

'Richard Tuschman: Once Upon A Time In Kazimierz'

PDN, Photo Of The Day Blog

By Rebecca Robertson

'Once Upon A Time In Krakow'

AMERICAN PHOTO

By Peter Kolonia

'Picturing Life in a Jewish Neighborhood in pre-Holocaust Poland'

L'OEIL DE LA PHOTOGRAPHIE

By Editorial Staff

'Richard Tuschman: Once Upon A Time In Kazimierz'

MUSEE MAGAZINE

By Editorial Staff

'Richard Tuschman at Klompching Gallery'

GUP MAGAZINE

By Rachel Morón

'The Painter Holding A Camera: An Interview With Richard Tuschman'

CRAVE ONLINE

By Miss Rosen

'Interview: Darren Ching on Richard Tuschman's Once Upon A Time In Kazimierz'

THE CREATORS PROJECT

By Andrew Nunes

'Journey to 1930's Poland in Photographic Dioramas'

RICHARD TUSCHMAN: Once Upon A Time In Kazimierz

March 2 – April 9, 2016

Opening Reception: March 3, 6pm – 9pm

The Tailer, 2014 © Richard Tuschman

Once Upon a Time in Kazimierz is a visual novella, which portrays a fictional Jewish family in 1930s Poland.

Set in the once vibrant neighborhood of Kazimierz in Krakow, the location is a metaphor for loss and decay. In 1935, the Jewish historian Meir Balaban, described the neighborhood’s declining Jewish population as being “only the poor and the ultra-conservative”. Indeed, the darkness evident in the photographs, is underpinned by an awareness that the fates of the characters, are likely doomed by history, with the impending holocaust. While death, the fraying of family bonds, and feelings of grief haunt many of the photographs, this gloom is punctuated by moments of love, longing and tenderness. 

While Tuschman continues to pay tribute to those artists who have inspired him—Balthus, Brandt, de Chirico, Vermeer—the series also demonstrates a significant development in Tuschman’s oeuvre. The artist’s Eastern European Jewish ancestors resided in the vicinity of Kazimierz until circa 1900, and this forms part of the basis for weaving together a fictional narrative with strands of cultural and family history.

Well known for his Hopper Meditations series, the artist’s process continues to be labor intensive and meticulous. The staged photographs result from a sophisticated marriage of miniature dioramas with life-size models. The sets are photographed after being hand-built by the artist over several months, with models photographed separately and composited into the scenes. The resulting photographs are visually stunning constructions, richly imbued with nuances of Jewish customs and a sense of place.

References to cinema and theatre resonate across the work. While the artworks are constructed in an exacting manner, they are also deliberately made to fall away from reality—enhancing their theatricality—and to project a level of the surreal and a dreamlike quality. Each image can also be seen to perform as a film still, with each part adding to a larger narrative arc. Once Upon a Time in Kazimierz, as a chronologically sequenced story, leaves just enough gaps and open-endedness, to enable the viewer to impose a tale of their own, highlighting in many respects, the fluidity of dreams and of memory.

UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY

Richard Tuschman Commission

We are delighted to bring to our readers' attention, a unique opportunity to have a bespoke photograph made by gallery artist, Richard Tuschman. 

As part of his Kickstarter Campaign, currently underway and heading toward being successfully funded, Richard Tuschman is offering up the opportunity to "put yourself in a Tuschman". 

For $3,500, Richard Tuschman says: "I will create a custom portrait of you +1 in a Kazimierz or Hopper Diorama. Includes wardrobe, hairstyling, and makeup and one 18x24 archival print".

This wonderful oppportunity is only available to purchase, through this one-off fundraising campaign, which comes to a close on November 13, 2015. There is only one on offer, so we highly recommend snapping this up. 

Details of the campaign can be found HERE.

An announcement regarding the exhibition of his new work will be made soon. 

REPRESENTATION ANNOUNCEMENT

We are delighted to announce, that we are now representing Richard Tuschman. We have previously exhibited Tuschman's photographs in "About Face: The Portrait in Contemporary Photography" in Fall 2014.

Richard Tuschman is best known for his Hopper Meditations series, a lushly colorful body of work, inspired by the paintings of Edward Hopper. These meticulously constructed photographs are made from a combination of hand-built doll-house sized dioramas, and life-size models that have been digitally composited into the resulting scenes.

"I have always loved the way Hopper’s paintings, with an economy of means, are able to address the mysteries and complexities of the human condition. Placing one or two figures in humble, intimate settings, he created quiet scenes that are psychologically compelling with open-ended narratives. The characters’ emotional states can seem to waver paradoxically between reverie and alienation, or perhaps between longing and resignation. Dramatic lighting heightens the emotional overtones, but any final interpretation is left to the viewer".–Richard Tuschman

With Tuschman's photographs, we witness a more sombre mood than Hopper, lighting that is less harsh and artworks that point to other key inspirations of the artist, such as the chiaroscuro paintings of Rembrandt. Although the figures depicted in the Hopper Meditations are rooted in the mid-twentieth century, these intimate dramas evoke timeless and universal themes such as solitude, alienation and longing. The open narratives make these photographs wide-reaching in their appeal to a broad audience. 

Richard Tuschman (b. 1955) began experimenting with digital imaging in the early 1990’s, developing a style that synthesized his interests in photography, painting and assemblage. Tuschman holds a BFA (Michigan University) and has been exhibited widely, both in the US and internationally. Accolades and awards include Prix de la Photographie Paris (Gold Medal, People's Choice), Critical Mass Top 50, International Kontinent Awards (1st Place, Fine Art Projects) and Center Project Launch Juror's Award (chosen by Roger Watson, Fox Talbot Museum) among others. His photographs have been published on numerous online magazines/journals including Slate, LensCuluture, LensScratch and Huffington Post. Richard Tuschman lives and works in New York City.

View the Hopper Meditations on the gallery website HERE.