Brian Ulrich, Smithhaven, NY, 2003 (Girl)
chromogenic print
Photo copyright Julie Saul
“There’s a great scene for photographers in Chicago” artist Allen Frame tells me yesterday at Brian Ulrich’s opening at Julie Saul. Frame does not live in Chicago, but Ulrich, who teaches there, had shared this with him on one of his many trips to New York. Expanding upon this statement, Frame explained that the community was very supportive of one another, and that Ulrich, (who is known for being very giving,) exemplified this in his generous lectures. I only spoke with Ulrich briefly yesterday, but in this short time I decided it must be true. There is no one quote I can relay that will definitively “prove” this, – I wasn’t writing everything he said down – but it may not be a surprise to regular readers here that his general excitement about the web community, struck a chord with me.
Brian Ulrich, Bloomington, MN, 2004 (Final Sale)
chromogenic print
Photo copyright Julie Saul
As for the exhibition, Brian Ulrich’s Copia, at its most basic level explores a popular theme amongst contemporary artists; shopping. The press release will tell you that these large scale photographs depict private moments in public spaces, which has some truth to it, but simplifies how the work functions. You can’t, for example, look at a piece documenting an empty showroom floor and think that this represents an intimate moment for someone, but it does serve to support the larger thesis of the show; Copia evokes the striking feeling that the intensity that Westerners bring to the act of shopping is a kin to an out of body experience. Be it a line of carts in a personless space, or a portrait of a woman in a grocery store, these photographs depict a nations crack-like addiction, leaving its citizens startlingly alone.
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