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Every year, New York-based editorial and advertising photographer Rick Wenner gives himself a new personal project to work on. In the past, they have been different series of portraits focusing on people that interest him. Rick describes his portrait style as “in your face,” as he loves shooting in tight spaces, really finding that moment that reveals who that person is.
His most recent personal project is a bit different from anything he has done before. This is because the finished products of the series are completely out of his control. Aptly named The Irrational Portrait Gallery, the portraits focus on 21 Long Island-based artists of all styles. The portraits are shot on white seamless, retouched, and printed on Epson canvas. The 44″ by 58″ prints are then given to the artists for them to manipulate however they want.
Rick partnered with FRESH, a Long Island art collective, on this project to decide which artists to invite, as well as the right venue in which to display the exhibit. They eventually decided on a museum space in Southampton, NY that’s large enough to display all of the 21 prints with enough breathing room in between each one. The exhibit opens tomorrow evening at 5 p.m.
Rick explained the thought process behind giving the artists the freedom to take the portraits where they wanted:
I saw the project as an experimentation in how people would confront a larger than life photo of themselves that is already considered a finished piece and then take it the next step. Would the artists cover my photograph completely with paint so that their work stood out more? Would anyone leave it alone altogether and only show the portrait? How will an abstract artist work with a photograph to create the final piece? We didn’t know what anyone would do and that’s what made this project so exciting.
The project, conceptualized in December 2012, and has been 1.5 years in the making. Along with the portraits themselves, the combination of nailing down a venue and promoting the event took many hours of time and coordination:
I think one of the biggest challenges in this project was finding the right venue for the exhibit. We needed a good amount of space between each piece on the walls to let them breathe and allow the viewer to focus on just one piece at a time. We eventually got a contact at the new Southampton Arts Center, which used to be The Parrish Art Museum, and got a meeting with the new director. There was a good month or two wait before we finally got confirmation that we had the space for our exhibit. That lead us into our next big challenge which was getting promotional materials together (postcards, posters, stickers, promo video, website, etc) and get those promos out with just over a month before the show date. We also got sponsors and music on board for the opening reception. It was pretty crazy timing but we made it happen!
One of the most important details of the printing process was selecting the right medium to print on, allowing the artists to work on their piece however they liked. Rick ran about a dozen test prints on different Epson canvases, hitting them all with a variety of paints and other materials to test their durability. He wanted to be sure that regardless of what was used, the integrity of the photo print would not be compromised.
After the Hamptons show, Rick and the team will bring the show to Manhattan. In the long term, he hopes to work with another set of artists for round two of The Irrational Portrait Gallery next year.