Praxis Gallery | A Pride Month Exhibit

Fantastic and Made of Plastic

A Solo Exhibition by Nicole Houff

Opening Night Reception: Saturday, June 18TH 6-8PM
Exhibition Dates: June 18TH - July 2ND, 2022

Exhibition Documentation Link

Fantastic and Made of Plastic

Nicole is a Minneapolis photographer who lives in a plastic world inhabited by infamous residents. Her love for the “even less accurate than Barbie & Ken” realities that 50’s and 60’s entertainment portrays complements her stoic muse and her sense of humor. Additionally, Nicole's photographs have strong design and color elements, often referencing 50’s and 60’s aesthetics. With her introduction in 1959, Barbie & Ken are right at home.

Praxis Gallery presents an exhibit that portrays and parodies societal gender assumptions - playing with interpretations of conventional and absurd social tropes. Expressed through fantastic, plastic dolls, Nicole’s exhibit creates an interpretive playground that will both entertain and resonate with audiences from all gender perspectives. 

 International Juried Photography Exhibition

THE ABSTRACT IMAGE

Opening Night Reception: June 18TH 6-8PM
Exhibition Dates: June 18th – July 2nd, 2022

Exhibition Documentation Link

Juror: Ross Anderson

‘An abstract photograph draws away from that which is realistic or literal. It draws away from natural appearances and recognizable subjects in the actual world. Some people even say it departs from true meaning, existence, and reality itself. It stands apart from the concrete whole with its purpose instead depending on conceptual meaning and intrinsic form.' John Suler

Praxis Gallery presents photographic works that explore the world through an abstracted lens; utilizing elements of color, light, shadow, texture, shape and line to express meaning outside of traditional representational and documentary styles of photography.

Opening Night Reception: Saturday, June 18TH 6-8PM
Exhibition Dates: June 18TH - July 2ND, 2022

FOOD ~ THE AFTERMATH

Exhibition Documentation Link

Juror | Praxis Directors 
Food photography is a still life genre used to create attractive, idealized representations of food to enhance its marketing appeal to the consumers.  Praxis is not interested in idealized food; we are interested in photography that documents the leftovers, the remains, the aftermath of food during or after its consumption. Examples of the aftermath of food include: Meal remnants, food covered plates, utensils and cups. Rotting and molding food. Food waste. Pest infested food. Dries bits, moldy bits. Food dried to surfaces. Burnt food. Food covered faces and clothing. Food dropped to surfaces. Food in environmental settings. People eating food. Food chewing, mashing, gnashing and any unvarnished representations of packaged, processed and frozen food types. 
 
Praxis Gallery presents photographic works that explore any possible concept of the aftermath of food.

THE BEAUTY IN MADNESS

Exhibition Documentation Link

Opening Night Reception: Sat, May 21st 6-8pm
Exhibition Dates: May 21st - June 4th 2022

Curators | Praxis Directors

Madness (mental illness) is something that frightens and fascinates us all. It is a word with which we are universally familiar yet haunts the human imagination. Through centuries, in poetry, prose, drama, and the visual arts, “madness" has been on display for all to see.
 

With devastating effect, mental illness can disturb our commonsense assumptions; create unbearable disruptions in the routine of daily living; and turn our experience and our expectations upside down. And yet, it is this upside-down world view that opens a universe of unique and inventive perspectives oblivious to those free from disruptions of the mind. 
 

Praxis Gallery presents photographic art that explores ideas linked to mental health, be it conflict or humor, fiction, or fact, or any other literal or ephemeral lens-based investigation. We welcome photographic art that questions conventional assumptions about mental health or celebrates the unique perspective only visible to those who can see the "beauty in madness”.

WORDS, WORDS, WORDS

Exhibition Documentation Link

Opening Reception: Saturday, May 21ST 6-8PM
Exhibition Dates: May 21ST - June 4TH, 2022

Juror | Dallas Crow

The old saying, “A picture is worth a thousand words,” seems to suggest that a photograph transcends language, but words have been a key part of many important photographers’ work—from the billboards and signs in many Walker Evans’ photos to Lee Friedlander’s 2019 book, Signs, for example.   The interplay of language and image can create a vivid sense of tension, irony, or poignance. The size and shapes of a font are visual aspects that can carry as much weight as any other aspect in the frame.

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Praxis Gallery presents photographic art that includes written language as a fundamental aspect of the composition, including text in the form of signs or fragments of signs, handwriting scrawled over the photo, graffiti and palimpsests, just to name a few iterations of the theme. 

 International Juried Photography Exhibition

TRANSIENCE

Opening Night Reception: April 16TH 6-8PM
Exhibition Dates: April 16th – 30th, 2022

Exhibition Documentation Link

Guest Curator: Aline Smithson

The last two years have been profound in our reconsiderations of self. The pandemic has transformed the way we behave, has affected our psyches, and made us examine what is most important in our lives. We discovered that everything is fleeting and temporary, ever changing, moving, and evolving. Transience comes in many forms and awareness of the transience of all things heightens appreciation of their beauty and evokes a gentle sadness at their passing. 

Praxis Gallery presents photographic art that speaks to the transitory nature of life--from flora and fauna, from objects left behind after a loved ones passing, to memories and loss.  

THE STREETS

Opening Night Reception: April 16th 6-8pm.
Exhibition Dates: Apr 16th - 30th, 2022

Exhibition Documentation Link

Juror | Sarah Weiss

"Street Photography became recognized as a genre in its own right during the early 1930s. Street Photography is unique in the way it is associated with the photographer's skill in capturing something of the mystery and aura of everyday city living. The Street Photographer is then often likened to the historical figure of the flâneur: namely someone who mingles anonymously amongst the crowd observing and recording the ways the unsuspecting city dweller interacts with his or her environment"

Praxis Gallery presents the submission of photographic art that explores the genre of street photography from all angles, including people, urban structure, and documentary subject matter. 

 International Juried Photography Exhibition

FEMALE SIGHT

A Women's History Month Exhibition

Exhibition Documentation Link

Opening Night Reception: Sat, Mar 19th 6-8pm
Exhibition Dates: Mar 19th – Apr 2nd, 2022

Learn more about Ellen - Click Here

Guest Curator: Ellen Carey

Since the beginnings of photography in the mid-nineteenth century, women have had prominent roles as artists. The popularization of the medium in the first decades of the twentieth century met with a confluence of social forces, including art and activism, that expanded opportunities for women in both art and public life. Working in a range of styles, pioneering artists like Anna Atkins, Imogen Cunningham, Berenice Abbott and Carrie Mae Weems forged independent perspectives that changed how we picture the world. [CMOA]
 

Praxis Gallery presents photographic art created by or about women image-makers, including trans-women and femme/feminine-identifying, genderqueer, and non-binary lens-based photographic artists.