MCCAW: Sunburn
Sunburn
CHRIS MCCAW
September 7 – October 27, 2012
2013
Hardcover
Dimensions: 10 1/2 x 11 1/2 inches
96 pages, 43 plates
ISBN 978-0-9845739-2-9
ABOUT THE BOOK
Sunburn isa collection of forty-three extraordinary images from American photographer Chris McCaw, with essays by Katherine Ware of the New Mexico Museum of Art and Allie Haeusslein of Pier 24 Photography. By constructing his own cameras – one camera weighing in at 125 pounds and large enough that it needs to be mounted on a garden cart – and exposing directly onto large expired gelatin silver papers for extended exposures, from several hours up to 24 hours, McCaw manages to coax highly controlled and delicate depictions of primeval landscapes and seascapes while at the same time allowing the sun, throughout its trajectory, to graphically sear its path across the surface of his prints, often cutting completely through the prints when the sun is at its strongest points.
McCaw has taken this notion of simultaneous creation / destruction and harnessed the resulting tension, working with the unpredictable process so elegantly that he manages a polished and highly crafted style but one which remains dependent upon the brute and visceral contribution of chance and light and the spin of the earth. And because he works directly with paper negatives, which are solarized by the prolonged exposures, each resulting image is unique, less like a photograph and more a three-dimensional object rendered using the sun as a reductive tool.
A significant aspect of what McCaw has done with this body of work is to create an intellectual bridge back to a time when astronomy was first being explored, when mystery was commonplace and it seemed primally essential to find our place in the greater cosmos. The message that McCaw has rendered here so beautifully is a fragile one, where the flattened dimensions we have come to expect from photography have been torn, revealing a fresh photographic understanding of energy which ignites an alchemical transformation of the traditional landscape.
ABOUT THE SPECIAL EDITION
Special Edition of Sunburn by Chris McCaw With Unique Paper Negative
Candela Books is excited to present twenty-one special edition Sunburn books, each in a custom clamshell case with laser burned baltic birch covers, and each with a 4 x 5 inch unique paper negative by McCaw. All together these twenty-one images, each one burned through the paper, comprise a single unique work which captures a sunrise over San Francisco Bay on August 10th, 2012. Included with the signed copy of Sunburn and special edition paper negative is a handmade accordion-fold booklet which depicts all the images from the complete work.
This beautiful piece was specially created to celebrate the release of Sunburn, Chris McCaw’s first monograph and Candela Books’ third book release.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Chris McCaw’s photography is represented in many notable public and private collections including: George Eastman House International Museum of Photography, Rochester, New York; Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Houston, Texas; The New York Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York; Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Victoria and Albert Museum, London, England; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California. McCaw has also received a New Works Grant from the Andy Warhol Foundation in 2008.
McCaw lives and works in San Francisco.
SUNBURN
published by Candela Books
2013
Hardcover
Dimensions: 10 1/2 x 11 1/2 inches
96 pages, 43 plates
ISBN 978-0-9845739-2-9
ABOUT THE PROJECT
Running until October 27th, the exhibition of 23 unique paper negatives offers Richmond a chance to experience this intimate, yet iconic work. McCaw, with his massive handmade cameras that can weigh up to 125 pounds and require specially-made carts, and the almighty sun co-create images that push photography into the realm of sculpture. The creation/destruction cycle so inherent to life on this planet is harnessed by the hand of the artist into unpredictable, highly-crafted and sublime images.
Among notable private and public collections, McCaw’s work is found at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Victoria and Albert Museum.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Chris McCaw’s photography is represented in many notable public and private collections, including: George Eastman House International Museum of Photography, Rochester, New York; Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Houston, Texas; The New York Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York; Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Victoria and Albert Museum, London, England; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California. McCaw has also received a New Works Grant from the Andy Warhol Foundation in 2008.
McCaw lives and works in San Francisco.
