Congratulations to David Tracey, whose photography exhibit will open on August 13 at the Rio II Gallery in Harlem. See below for details and a short description by the artist himself.

August 13, 2010
6:30 PM – 9:00 PM

Rio II Gallery
583 Riverside Drive, 7th Floor
New York, NY 10031
(Corner of 135th Street)

When I was a junior in college I enrolled in a weekly extra-curricular course on Orthodox Judaism. I was mainly interested in the $500 stipend offered to each student, but in class I listened earnestly and tried to glean what I could. One kernel of wisdom that stuck with me is a teaching that dates back to the Hassidic Rabbi Simcha Bunim of Peshischa. The rabbi advised that every person should carry two small pieces of paper, one in each pocket. One piece should read, “ the world was created for me”; the other, “I am nothing but dust and ashes.”

Although this teaching yields numerous interpretations, for me, it sums up the struggle to understand one’s relationship to the environment. On the one hand, human beings are empowered to alter the world; on the other, we are transient and ephemeral, tiny parts of a much greater whole.

Photography is the perfect medium with which to demonstrate this concept. Photographs trick viewers into believing that they are looking at an exact replication of a moment—”time frozen.” Sometimes, the camera even tricks the photographer into believing that he/she can freeze time. Yet almost every person who has used a camera realizes his or her inability to do so. How often do we look at photographs from birthdays or vacations and say, “it’s much more impressive in real life” or “the photos don’t do it justice”? At best, photographs are reminders of a moment, already distant and distorted by the haze of memory. Time, emotion, and the environment that exists outside of the frame overwhelm the ability of photographs to replicate.

In one way or the other, all of these photographs touch upon this tension. I hope that the photographs portray our ability to transform the environment yet our inability to do so permanently. This work is about the struggle for balance—between belief in our power to create and recognition of our limited significance.

—David Tracey—