September 4 - November 13, 2020
A collaborative exhibition between German artist Michael Kruscha and Canadian composer Michael Matthews. To view the exhibition online, go here.
From the gallery:
“German artist Michael Kruscha and Canadian composer Michael Matthews come from different backgrounds, work primarily in different mediums, and have different artistic experiences and perspectives. Yet they have forged a deep personal and artistic friendship, evidenced by their shared interest in the malleability of photographic expression.
Primarily an abstract painter and graphic artist, Michael Kruscha is also an avid photographer and world traveler. Time Stands Still presents Kruscha’s images of bus stops, a series taken over a period of 12 years, often in remote places in which the notion of public transportation seems almost ironic. The quirky designs of these structures (ranging from highly ornate to minimally functional) and their seemingly random placement in the landscape, calls into question the basic notion of “shelter” and the public aesthetic. Of them he says:
One of my favorite quotes is by the photographer Arno Fischer: “When I take a photo of a man at a bus stop, there should be more to see in the picture than a man waiting for a bus.” To that I can add: whenever I take a photo of a bus stop where no one is waiting, and no bus comes, there’s more to see in the picture than a bus stop without a bus and without people. That, at least, is what I’m aiming for. Isn’t it often the case that we spend more time thinking about what’s missing than about what’s there?
Where Kruscha’s images of un-peopled bus stops in remote, foreign locations evoke an almost abstract quality in their physical and visual isolation, the Canadian composer Michael Matthews* creates fully abstract, microcosmic images based on found textures and colors. In the series titled Partituren (the German term for musical parts or scores), Matthews finds kinship in the concept and nature of the musical score to the ideas and images in his visual art. Musical scores function as both graphic and symbolic representations of musical ideas. For Matthews, both art forms are inextricably linked, and his photographic compositions emerge, like his musical ones, from the development of lines, shapes, densities and colors.
Taken together, the notions of close up and far away, static and dynamic, bold and subdued, representation and abstraction, are all on display for the viewer to tease out the intricate visual and metaphorical correspondences.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Michael Kruscha is a painter, graphic artist, curator, and photographer who lives and works in Berlin, Germany. He was born in the town of Hoyerswerda in what was then East Germany in 1961 and from 1999-2001 he studied painting under Daniel Fischer at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design Bratislava. He has participated in numerous exhibitions and projects around the world: in Austria, Yemen, Kazakhstan, Ethiopia, Slovenia, and Slovakia, as well as in Germany and the United States. His book of his photographs of bus stops was awarded the 2018 Bronze Level German Photo Book Award.
Michael Matthews is a Canadian composer and photographer. He has lived and traveled extensively in Asia, Europe, Central America and the Caribbean. Matthews holds a Ph.D. in composition and conducting from the University of North Texas, where he studied with Larry Austin. He holds an M.A. in composition from California State University Sacramento, and a B.Mus. in Composition from California State University Northridge. He has won numerous awards and honors for his music and is widely performed and recorded. Matthews is a conductor, a founding member of the chamber ensemble Thira and a founder and artistic director of the GroundSwell new music series. In 2017, Matthews was elected to the Royal Society of Canada. Recently retired from a long career as Professor of composition at the University of Manitoba, Matthews currently divides his time between Berlin and Montréal, where he continues to compose music and photographic images. His photographs have been exhibited at various locations in Germany and the U.S.
*In conjunction with this exhibition, SOLI Chamber Ensemble will include Michael Matthews’ Trio on their Fall 2020 concert. Date and format (live or virtual) TBD. Please check www.mbaw.org or www.solichamberensemble.org for updates.
FOTOSEPTIEMBRE USA / SAFOTO (founded in 1995) is a unique, inclusive and eclectic forum for the exhibition and celebration of photography and photography-based art forms. The FOTOSEPTIEMBRE USA Festival takes place every year, in September, throughout the San Antonio/Hill Country Metro Area. For more information, see: www.fotoseptiembreusa.com.”
Musical Bridges Around the World Gallery (MBAW) Gallery
23705 IH-10 Frontage Road,
San Antonio, 78257 Texas
(210) 464-1534.
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