Second Street Gallery is pleased to present Attraction, an exhibition of new work by John Grant. Attraction features a distillation of Grant’s traditional work along with various photomontage techniques and painting. In this latest series of botanical work, Grant has further refined his digital technique. Unlike traditional photography, which demands the artist shoot film to be brought back into the darkroom and developed into an image, Grant goes out into the world and takes his subject home with him. Collecting blossoms from his personal spring gardens and across Central Virginia’s naturally bountiful landscape, Grant returns to the studio to scan the botanical material at a high resolution.

These hauntingly detailed floral studies embrace the often clichéd or sentimental botanical portrayal, presenting objects in ways that infuse them with an enigmatic quality that expands expectations and tweaks the imagination. In her essay for the exhibition, Rebecca Schoenthal writes of the series, “The collection of photographs presented here, on closer inspection, raise some heady questions beyond those of a technical nature. For instance, we may begin to wonder about the relationship between beauty and attraction. Is there causality? What role do seeing and looking play, when beauty is most commonly associated with the visual?”

The artist began focusing on flowers nearly 12 years ago with his botanical works receiving recognition worldwide. Grant’s works can be found from the cover of Stephanie Meyer’s New Moon, to the gallery walls at Kew Gardens, London, where he recently placed in two categories of the International Garden Photographer of the Year competition. His work is found in many major collections, including The United States National Institute of Health, The United States Federal Reserve Board, the permanent collection of Capital One, and many other private collections both nationally and internationally.

A reception for the exhibition was held First Friday, December 7, 2018 from 5:30-7:30 pm, with remarks by the artist at 6:30pm. A color catalogue with essays by Rebecca Schoenthal, John Grant, and curator, Kristen Chiacchia, accompanied the exhibition.

EXHIBITION SPONSORS

Our exhibition catalogue was generously sponsored by The Elizabeth Firestone Graham Foundation.