Friday, July 26, 2024

Exhibit Reception: According to the Laws of Chance
Light Work Gallery

Light Work Gallery
316 Waverly Ave., Syracuse University, Syracuse

There will be an exhibit reception this evening 5:00-7:00 pm.

"According to the Laws of Chance" is a subtitle included in many works by the Dadaist painter Jean Arp that describes his systematic yet chance-driven method of creating his simple and playful paintings. Arp would let torn pieces of paper fall to the floor to determine his painting or collage compositions. Although the outcomes are different, Arp's ethos can be found in the work of the photographers selected for this group exhibition.

The artists in this exhibition — Cheryl Miller, Claire A. Warden, Jaclyn Wright, Josh Thorson, Kyle Tata, Louis Chavez, and Will Stith, and Light Work's collection artists, Cecil McDonald, Jr., James Welling, Peter Finnemore, and Rita Hammond — are using and defining chance as a core element of their largely divergent practices. The image-makers in this exhibition embrace the unpredictable and find ways to amplify chance for conceptual and creative purposes. The results are surprising expressions of each artist's voice. Together they showcase the wide-ranging use of chance and highlight it as a vital tool in contemporary photographic practice.