Sunday, December 27, 2009

Adam Longbonz


Adam Longbonz is one of the artists whose work will be featured in our upcoming exhibit, COLONY. As a graduate of the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design with a BFA in Photography Longbonz has participated in numerous exhibitions and has been awarded Best of Photography and Best of College Photography in the pages of Photographer’s Forum.



Longbonz will be exhibiting a series of large-scaled digital prints collectively titled “Half Breed.” These stark portraits show distinctly Caucasian young adults costumed in wigs and accessories that hearken more from Wild West interpretations of Native American cultures than from factual archeology/anthropology. The pale skin, fair hair and intensely blue eyes of the subjects are startling as these features are seen beneath their exaggerated garb. Longbonz currently lives and works in Wisconsin. For more information, visit Longbonz’s website.





From Longbonz’s personal statement: “When making images I am constantly trying to survey the places in which I find myself. I create scenes that represent the past, present, and future coalescing into something representative of the world in which we exist; not the physical world—but the feelings and memories collected in the mind."




1 comment:

  1. Weird. Longbonz writes about his work in the above entry: “When making images I am constantly trying to survey the places in which I find myself. I create scenes that represent the past, present, and future coalescing into something representative of the world in which we exist; not the physical world—but the feelings and memories collected in the mind."

    This statement truly reminds me of Raymond Thunder-Sky's work... Raymond dressed like a clown and contruction worker and toured Cincinnati drawing beautifully meticulous drawings of demolition sites. He died in 2004 and left behind 2000 drawings. Raymond was the last Mohawk Indian to live in this area, and his father was a chief of the Mohawks.

    Raymond constructed his "Native-American-ness" from a hodge-podge of Americana (merging the clown with the construction worker), performing this identity by carrying around huge mysterious toolboxes and creating his drawings in open air. He did not speak much, just drew, and in each drawing he let you know what would take the place of the destruction. Usually he depicted demolitions of schools, prisons, and institutions, replacing them with Cardtrick Clownsuit Factories and vast amusement parks.

    Longbonz' photos seem to have the same beautifully creepy and ironic spirituality that Raymond's art and artistic identity had.


    www.thunderskyinc.org

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