The Campus Chronicle

Volume 3, No. 31
August 1, 2003

Esther Sobin’s “Sorgue River #4” is on display at Bergen Hall, 101 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., through Sept. 8.

French artist explores magic moments

A Review
By Hannah Pittard

French artist Esther Sobin brings her photographs, including silver gelatin prints and photogravures, to Bergen Hall Gallery through Sept. 8 with the exhibition, “Open Secret.”

Sobin’s photographs find their niche somewhere between majestic and sinister. Though the images are of natural landscapes — oaks, streams, forests — the techniques employed by the artist yield something seemingly unnatural, even paranormal: an oak tree in fog looks gnarled and unforgiving; a roaring current appears layered with spirits; a forest of cedars seems the sight of some folkloric miracle.

“This series of landscapes could be defined as an exploration of the dynamic that exists between natural light and photography,” said Sobin. “I simply tried to capture these magic moments when light suddenly erupts into a clearing or over a wheat field. There is no other human presence aside from the photographer and then the spectator that creates this particular atmosphere. I call these images ‘inner landscapes.’”

Born in Provence in 1968 and raised in Lacoste, Sobin is trained in photography, printmaking, set decoration, art decoration and prop styling. In Paris, she studied at the Ecole Supérieure d’Etudes Cinématographiques and the Sorbonne. In New York, she worked as a film decorator and art director for such movies as “Six Degrees of Separation,” “The Paper,” “Caught” and “Boys on the Side,” while attending New York University. She studied at The Lacoste School of the Arts, majoring in photography and printmaking in 1996 and 1997. Later she studied photogravure at Arizona State University with James Hajicek. Since 1999, she has been living in Provence, working full-time as an artist and exhibiting in solo and group exhibitions. This year alone, her work will be featured in six exhibitions throughout France and in Savannah.

“Open Secret” is on display at Bergen Hall Gallery, 101 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., through Sept. 8. Receptions will be held Aug. 1, 5-7 p.m., and Sept. 5, 5-7 p.m.

Galleries ‘hop’ all summer long

Even with many students home for the summer, SCAD galleries remain as busy as they are during the traditional academic calendar. Continuing the monthly tradition, the August gallery hop exhibits the work of aspiring and established artists, as well as work by faculty, staff and alumni.

At the Bergen Hall Gallery, 101 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Esther Sobin shares her “Secret” (see page 5) with work that highlights the picturesque countryside of southern France. At Exhibit A Gallery, 340 Bull St., “Rotating Works” features one-of-a-kind gifts, art and jewelry. Pei Ling Chan Gallery, 322 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., offers a unique exhibition by SCAD professor Caomin Xie, in which the manipulation and repetition of imagery through contemporary technology are explored. The south reigns supreme at Pinnacle Gallery, 320 E. Liberty St., where “Southern Exposure” showcases strange and familiar charms of the southern United States. At the Red Gallery, 201 E. Broughton St., portraits are the name of the game with the exhibition “Portraiture,” featuring work by alumni Troy Wandzel (M.F.A. painting, 2002) and Robert MacDonald (B.F.A. illustration 2002) and professors Katherine Sandoz and Denise Falk.

The doors of participating galleries open Aug. 1, 5-7 p.m. Participants are encouraged to begin the hop at any gallery of their choosing. Buses are scheduled to transport guests to and from each of the exhibitions. For more information, call 525-9999.