Amy Elkins
"Kevin (Wing), New York, NY. 2010"
Portraits in Contemporary Photography 2014
Selections from a Series: Elegant Violence
These works are an extension of my ongoing exploration into masculine identity. In this particular project I am fascinated with rugby, a brutal contact sport rich in tradition, dating back to the 1800’s. I’m interested in the balance between athleticism, modes of violence or aggression and varying degrees of vulnerability within a sport where brutal body contact is fundamental to the game. I am also interested in the history of the game and how it has long been described as both traditional and barbaric, elegant and violent.
Inspired by vintage studio portraits of rugby players dating from the 1870’s to 1930’s I have set up daylight studios on the field in order to make portraits of young rugby players immediately after the game. In doing so, I am aiming to capture signs of an 80 minute game that often involves intense physicality and aggressive contact without the use of pads or helmets, focusing on the subtly in their expression and body language, the dirt on their uniforms and the wounds they come away with.
- Amy Elkins
Courtesy of Yancey Richardson Gallery
Selections from a Series: Elegant Violence
These works are an extension of my ongoing exploration into masculine identity. In this particular project I am fascinated with rugby, a brutal contact sport rich in tradition, dating back to the 1800’s. I’m interested in the balance between athleticism, modes of violence or aggression and varying degrees of vulnerability within a sport where brutal body contact is fundamental to the game. I am also interested in the history of the game and how it has long been described as both traditional and barbaric, elegant and violent.
Inspired by vintage studio portraits of rugby players dating from the 1870’s to 1930’s I have set up daylight studios on the field in order to make portraits of young rugby players immediately after the game. In doing so, I am aiming to capture signs of an 80 minute game that often involves intense physicality and aggressive contact without the use of pads or helmets, focusing on the subtly in their expression and body language, the dirt on their uniforms and the wounds they come away with.
- Amy Elkins
Courtesy of Yancey Richardson Gallery
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ABOUT THE ARTIST
Amy Elkins (b. 1979 Venice, CA) is a photographer currently based in the Greater Los Angeles area. She received her BFA in Photography from the School of Visual Arts in New York City. Her photographs explore notions of vulnerability, identity and transitory states. Elkins’ earlier work, Wallflower, looked into the nuances of gender identity and the male psyche. In her more recent work, Elkins investigates additional aspects of male identity through projects Elegant Violence, looking to young Ivy League rugby athletes moments after their game and Black is the Day, Black is the Night, which explores masculinity, vulnerability and identity through correspondence with men serving life and death row sentences in some of the most maximum security prisons in the US. Elkins has been exhibited and published both nationally and internationally, including at Kunsthalle Wien in Vienna, Austria; the Carnegie Art Museum in California; the Minneapolis Institute of Arts in Minnesota; North Carolina Museum of Art; Light Work Gallery in Syracuse and Yancey Richardson Gallery in New York among others. Elkins has been awarded with The Lightwork Artist-in-Residence in Syracuse, NY in 2011, the Villa Waldberta International Artist-in-Residence in Munich, Germany in 2012 and most recently the Aperture Prize in 2014. In June of 2008 Amy Elkins and Cara Phillips co-founded wipnyc.org, a platform for showcasing both established and emerging women in photography. Elkins is represented by Yancey Richardson Gallery in New York. |
"Maurice (Wing), New York, NY. 2010"
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PURCHASING INFORMATION
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Amy Elkins, "Kevin (Wing), New York, NY. 2010", 2010
archival pigment print, 20"x25" (edition of 5) courtesy of Yancey Richardson Gallery |
Amy Elkins, "Maurice (Wing), New York, NY. 2010", 2010
archival pigment print, 20"x25" (edition of 5) courtesy of Yancey Richardson Gallery |
Please contact Drift Gallery at 603-379-6560 to inquire about availability.
