MICHAL CHELBIN Talk & Book Signing
Strand Bookstore – New York
1/29/09
***
As part of the Eye on the Strand Photo Contest Series, Aperture is pleased to announce a special talk and book signing with acclaimed Israeli artist, Michal Chelbin who will discuss the work from her first monograph. Strangely Familiar: Acrobats, Athletes, and Other Traveling Troupes (Aperture, 2008) features richly detailed, internally charged portraits of small town performers in circuses and other traveling troupes taken over a period of six years in the Ukraine, Russia, Israel and England. Chelbin’s most frequent subjects are children and adolescents, yet her work encompasses a mix of generations. As Leah Ollman notes in the book’s text, “The atmosphere falls somewhere between public and private. There’s a slight titillation of having personal access to performers who, typically, are experienced only remotely. Most immediate, though, are the visual contrasts between young and old, large and small, innocence and experience.” Often captured in performance costumes, Chelbin’s palette is intense, with a distinctive use of saturated pinks, blues, and greens. Her black-and-white images, which are intermingled throughout the book, have an almost Pictorialist richness. Though her influences are evident—most notably August Sander and Diane Arbus—the photographs in Strangely Familiar have a unique visual and emotional impact.

Michal Chelbin (born in Haifa, Israel, 1974) has lived in Brooklyn since 2006. Her work has appeared in solo shows in Los Angeles, New York and more recently in Israel at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art as well as in group shows internationally. She is represented by Andrea Meislin Gallery, New York.

Eye on the Strand is a photography contest co-organized by Strand Bookstore, Aperture and Pratt Institute and is open to amateur and professional photographers to submit photo representations of the famous Strand bookstore by February 27, 2009. There will be 24 winners chosen by a prestigious jury. Prizes include an afternoon with internationally renowned photographer Mary Ellen Mark; 50 Aperture photography books; a group exhibit at Pratt CCPS gallery; a digital photography or computer graphics course at Pratt CCPS; a $350 B&H photo gift card, etc. More information on: http://eyeonthestrand.com. The next Eye on the Strand event is talk and book signing with photographer Hank Willis Thomas on Tuesday, February 10.

LOCATION:
Strand Bookstore
828 Broadway
New York, New York
(212) 473-1452

THE EVENT IS FREE.