Bear Kirkpatrick
Exhibition: Human Nature | September 19 - October 24th, 2015
Portraits in Contemporary Photography 2013 & 2014
Selections from a Series: Wallportraits
Portraits in Contemporary Photography 2013 & 2014
Selections from a Series: Wallportraits
ARTIST STATEMENT:
The human eye struggles with blind spots, aberrations, and distortions—all of the awkward design flaws in the human visual system that the brain smooths over by creating additional data to fill in the gaps and so create for us a seamless picture. I think all consciousness works this way—it gathers what it can, creates a 3D picture, and fills in missing gaps to create a seamless experience of the world. And though parts are added, there is also much that is lost or just thrown away when data overlaps or just doesn’t fit or perhaps even conflicts with the rest. Those gaps and thrown away pieces are what interest me, and they are what I am using my camera to find. They are the ghosts of presence and memory, the vestigial elements we carry about us as invisibly as spirits.
ARTIST BIO:
Bear Kirkpatrick was born in Columbus, GA, and now works and lives in Portsmouth NH. He received his BE from University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and his MFA from UMass Amherst. Though photography has remained as his fundamental engagement, he has authored and published screenplays and short stories, created custom furniture for Bono and Adam Clayton, and has exhibited works in many various art forms across the country. Bear also installs video portraits by American artist Robert Wilson in private residences, museums, and galleries around the world.
The human eye struggles with blind spots, aberrations, and distortions—all of the awkward design flaws in the human visual system that the brain smooths over by creating additional data to fill in the gaps and so create for us a seamless picture. I think all consciousness works this way—it gathers what it can, creates a 3D picture, and fills in missing gaps to create a seamless experience of the world. And though parts are added, there is also much that is lost or just thrown away when data overlaps or just doesn’t fit or perhaps even conflicts with the rest. Those gaps and thrown away pieces are what interest me, and they are what I am using my camera to find. They are the ghosts of presence and memory, the vestigial elements we carry about us as invisibly as spirits.
ARTIST BIO:
Bear Kirkpatrick was born in Columbus, GA, and now works and lives in Portsmouth NH. He received his BE from University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and his MFA from UMass Amherst. Though photography has remained as his fundamental engagement, he has authored and published screenplays and short stories, created custom furniture for Bono and Adam Clayton, and has exhibited works in many various art forms across the country. Bear also installs video portraits by American artist Robert Wilson in private residences, museums, and galleries around the world.