The University of the Arts Presents Photographers Scott McMahon ’95 & Ahmed Salvador ’95: Response Time

January 9 – February 6, 2015, The Sol Mednick Gallery of Photography, Terra Hall, 15th floor, 211 South Broad Street, Philadelphia, Pa.

With “Response Time”, University of the Arts alumni Scott McMahon & Ahmed Salvador (both ’95) continue to refine their collaborative photographic explorations. The process involves one of them sending to the other bits of traditional silver based photographic paper or film in the mail and in the process exposing them for days. Once the parcel is received, it is opened, developed, and the results sent back to the sender. At times, initial lens exposures were made, but the material and/or packaging was later subjugated to light leaks from violently made drill holes or cutmarks. In a way, these perverse techniques push these factory-made films and papers to the end of their silver tether, and also squeeze the true nature of ‘writing with light’ out of them. However brutal, the end result is still a vestige of the first 150 years of traditional photography’s innovation grasping, but not gasping, for relevance. Their performative approach argues against the strict engineering controls that photographic media is designed to adhere to, with results that are always unique, and whose humor and capricious intent are infectious.

Ahmed Salvador received his MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan and his BFA in Photography from The University of the Arts in 1995. Salvador’s work has been exhibited in solo and collaborative shows in Philadelphia, at venues including The Lightroom, Bridgette Mayer Gallery, The University City Arts League, The Philadelphia Art Alliance, Nexus Foundation for Today’s Art, and a Challenge show at Fleisher Art Memorial. Most recently his work was exhibited at Space 1026, and a solo show at Columbia College’s Hardwick Gallery in Missouri. He is an exhibitions preparator at the Philadelphia International Airport Art & Exhibitions Program and a wet-process photography instructor at the Fleisher Art Memorial in Philadelphia.

Scott McMahon received his MFA from Massachusetts College of Art in Boston and his BFA in Photography from The University of the Arts in 1995. Recent exhibitions include the Palace of the Governors New Mexico History Museum, Santa Fe, NM; PS Gallery, Columbia, MO; Galeria Pusta, Katowice, Poland; Three Columns Gallery, Harvard University; Bridgette Mayer Gallery, Philadelphia (collaborative) and The Bioluminescent Firefly Experiment, University City Arts League, Philadelphia (collaborative). McMahon’s work has been published in Pinhole Photography: Rediscovering a Historic Technique by Eric Renner, The Book of Alternative Photographic Processes by Christopher James, Anthotypes by Malin Fabbri, and Poetics of Light –Contemporary Pinhole Photography by Eric Renner and Nancy Spencer. He was a resident artist at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Deer Isle, Maine; çin East Haddam, CT; and Border Art Residency in La Union, New Mexico. He is an Assistant Professor of Art at Columbia College in Missouri.

There will be a reception for the artists from 4:00 to 7:00pm for “Response Time” in the Mednick Gallery on Thursday, February 5th.

The Sol Mednick Gallery offers a year-round regular schedule of exhibitions of contemporary photography. This exhibition is concurrent with “Tom Young: Timeline: Learning to See with My Eyes Closed” in Gallery 1401 (the Sol Mednick Gallery’s sister space) on the 14th floor of Terra Hall. The UArts Photography program operates both galleries.

2015 is The Sol Mednick Gallery’s 37th year of operation and Gallery 1401’s 17th year. The only endowed gallery in Philadelphia dedicated solely to the exhibition of photography, the Mednick Gallery earned the Photo Review Award for service to photography. Associate Professor and former director of the Photography program Harris Fogel has been director/curator of both galleries since 1997 and founded Gallery 1401 in 1999. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Saturday and Sunday by appointment. Call 215-717-6300 for more information. Images are available upon request.

About the University of the Arts

The University of the Arts is one of the nation’s only universities dedicated to the visual and performing arts, design, and writing. More than 1,800 students are enrolled in undergraduate and graduate programs on its campus in the heart of Philadelphia’s Avenue of the Arts. The institution’s roots as a leader in educating creative individuals date back to 1868.

Thank You to Harris Fogel for the content of this blog post.

CONTACT: Harris Fogel, University of the Arts

Tel: 215-717-6301 Email: hfogel@uarts.edu

Read DoN‘s review of Response Time on DoNArTNeWs Philadelphia Art News Blog

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