In concert with his current exhibition From the Ashes: Thomas Fire Photography by Luther Gerlach, you’re invited to join Gerlach for an exclusive reception and lecture on Friday, November 30, 2018, from 5:00pm to 7:00pm. The lecture begins at 6:00pm.
Inspired by the abstracted landscapes left in the wake of the Thomas Fire, Ventura artist Luther Gerlach has produced an extraordinary collection of photographs that both document the destruction and explore the mysterious beauty it rendered. Using an 8x10 wooden view camera, Gerlach's enlarged prints create a unique, immersive experience of the spectacular aftermath. Gerlach incorporated the origins of the fire into the very production of the prints: "I collected ashes and sulfur-laden water from hot springs at the origin point, Thomas Aquinas College. It is almost as if these chemical catalysts carry a memory of the fire, acting on the print to produce ghostly effects such as swirling, apocalyptic skies and suggestions of the trees that once stood. Applied to the developed prints, the ash and sulfur attack the silver, transforming the monochrome image into fiery color." As a body of work, From the Ashes represents a microcosm of the timeless cycles of destruction and creation.
Guests of the reception will have the opportunity to hear directly from Gerlach, an expert in historical photographic processes who once apprenticed with Brett Weston, who, along with his father Edward Weston, was one of the most respected American photographers of the twentieth century. Gerlach’s work is included in such preeminent collections as the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and The J. Paul Getty Museum. “From the Ashes”is currently on view at the Santa Paula Art Museum through December 30, 2018.
“Rose Valley Phoenix” by Luther Gerlach, 2018, unique silver gelatin print, 16 x 20 inches, Collection of the artist.
“Burning Bush” by Luther Gerlach, 2018, unique silver gelatin print, 16 x 20 inches, Collection of the artist.