Art Space Talk: LeRoy Howard (Part 3)

The Last Supper Project, 1-3 by LeRoy Howard

This is Part 3 of my interview with LeRoy Howard. To return to Part 2 click, HERE

BS: What are you working on at this time? Can you give our readers some insight into your current work?

LH: The Last Supper Project is ongoing. I have completed four pieces, numbering 12 images, and am considering one more piece, bringing the total number of images to 13, or perhaps 14. I model each piece after an existing work of art, some quite closely as in the Last Supper and others are more loosely built on the target image.

As I look at the classic paintings, sculpture and photography I hope to create a larger dialogue with them, bringing them forward in time and hopefully make them as relevant today as when they were first made. All my work is shot in black and white, against a black backdrop which isolates the action and abstracts the human interaction, which I hope offers a more universal reading to the emotional narrative within each piece. I have tried some in color, but am not convinced it would have the power I find in the black and white prints.

Yet I take my inspiration from personal experiences and it is that which brings life and power to the images for me. And all these pieces, in one way or another, explore a variety of emotions revolving around loss, grief, doubt, despair, and betrayal. Not the upside of human emotion, but perhaps it is the power of this side that holds my attention.

BS: What are your thoughts concerning the internet and utilizing the World Wide Web in order to gain exposure for your art? In your opinion, why is it important for artists to embrace the internet?

LH: Initially I thought of using the web, by creating my own web-site, as an extension of my portfolio in order to show people my work. Since that time the internet has become much more central in responding to calls for exhibition as well as sharing my work with galleries, curators and other artists. Then with the development of sites like MyArtSpace the chance came up to engage with other artists, viewing and discussing their work and in return getting their reactions to mine.

My main conviction in making art is the notion that it is a dialogue and that my job is not complete until I hear back from someone. I make the art, someone sees it and they respond. Then the circle is complete. There is that sense of connection that the internet makes happen in a way that is very difficult for most artists who do not have gallery representation to receive. Even when we get our work into a show, it is not often possible to gain a viewer’s thoughtful response, and so the internet has really changed things in this regard.

The Last Supper Project, 1-4 by LeRoy Howard

BS: Will you be involved with any upcoming exhibits?

LH: I certainly hope so! There are a number of calls for work I am responding to and I am also working with another Bay Area photographer, preparing an exhibition proposal for a two-person show.

BS: Do you have any concerns about the art world at this time?

LH: Looking at the photographic gallery scene I’d like to see things loosen up. There seem to be rather narrow ideas of what they expect to bring to the market and the sort of creative imagery that I work with doesn’t seem to elicit much interest.

In many markets the number of galleries you can approach are limited. However, in the East Bay (Oakland, Berkeley, etc.) there seems to be a renewal of the gallery scene with a lot of small scruffy galleries open to a great variety of materials, ideas and approaches. So there is hope.

BS: There has been several stories involving copyright infringement in the mainstream press as of late. What is your stance on copyright? Do you see strong copyright as a reflection of artist rights in general? Or do you feel that copyright restricts creativity? Do you have a stance on this issue?

LH: Honestly, I haven’t given it much thought. I think an artist should be able to protect their work and the marketability of that work, particularly in the internet age when often what one has is an image of that work. But I recognize that things get fuzzy when one artist quotes another, or borrows an image and reworks it, like the Shephard Fairey piece on President Obama. Since I do “quote” some of the classics maybe I’m wandering over to the other side of that issue.

BS: As you know, the economy has been hard. Have you had to change-- or should I say adapt-- your practice due to the economy?

LH: Well, Polaroid has gone out of business and I used a lot of their product working out my staging and angles and such. But Fuji instant film seems to be working to fill that gap. Oh, and I will dearly miss their Type 55 PN, which produces the most seductive B&W negative I’ve seen. I will mourn that! Other than that, I can’t say I’ve changed how I work or had to adapt because of the present economic situation.

The Last Supper Project, 1-5 by LeRoy Howard

BS: Finally, is there anything else you would like to say about your art?

LH: I try to focus on creating meaning by developing an emotional connection with the viewer. It is the human element that is most powerful for me and figures centrally in my images. I find the human figure creates an emotionally immediate connection, and I feel the nude presents a primal quality and a sense of timelessness.

In my more recent work I have been exploring the use of facial expressions that more directly present emotion and point to a narrative. My work has always suggested a narrative context, but now I purposely build that sense and open it up for the viewer to join. Perhaps I am inviting people to connect with one another, rebelling against so much abstraction in art or a coldness and alienation that comes from the “deadpan” school.

This is the conclusion of my interview with LeRoy Howard. To return to Part 1 of the interview click, HERE

You can read more of my interviews by visiting the following page-- www.myartspace.com/interviews. Feel free to discuss the interview and the art of LeRoy Howard on the myartspace.com Forum-- www.myartspace.com/forum

Take care, Stay true,

Brian Sherwin
Senior Editor
myartspace.com
www.myartspace.com
Myartspace Blog on Twitter
www.twitter.com/myartspace_blog

Art Space Talk: LeRoy Howard (Part 2)

Under Construction, No. 6 by LeRoy Howard

This is Part 2 of my interview with LeRoy Howard. To return to Part 1 click, HERE

BS: Can you discuss your process in general? Are there any specific techniques that you utilize?

LH: I photograph with a 4” x 5” camera, using film and make in-camera multiple exposures. As my background is in traditional photography I hold myself to the technological constraints that come with film. I discovered during earlier work that one can photograph the body many times over on the same sheet of film if the background is black. Each body appears to hold it’s full form and substance. The only bleed-through comes when the bodies superimpose on each other, which gives rise to some wonderful juxtapositions and physical relationships.

Many have suggested that I could just as easily make the photographs individually and digitally combine them, but that doesn’t interest me. There is something about the process of staging and practicing to get the body in just that right place so the two or three characters portrayed in a given photograph are seen engaging with one another. It is almost like staging a play or a performance piece, then shooting that. There is something about the calm discipline as I set up and imagine the characters and their emotional state that is as gratifying to me as the completed image.

And the gifts of the overlaps and overlays are such that I could not think to do it in Photoshop. There is a magic involved in working this way and when I see the juxtapositions of body to body, the overlap of one blending into another, the piercing of flesh by flesh, I find myself drawn on and overwhelmed with the final image.

Beyond capturing the image, I am looking into alternative printing processes. I began making gelatin silver prints, but now (out of necessity) many of my prints are digitally made. I have taken workshops for printing in bromoil, platinum/palladium and photo-graveure, and plan on producing editions in one or more of these media.

Under Construction, No. 1 by LeRoy Howard

BS: What about other influences? For example, are you influenced by any specific artists?

LH: This is a more difficult question to consider. I know of many artists that photograph themselves, but don’t think I can claim them as influences. I think we have just happened upon a particular technique that works for us. I recall reading an interview with Cindy Sherman where she said something that reflected my own thinking. In effect, “I’m easy to work with and I’m always around.” I don’t have to communicate my ideas to another. I can just let it flow through my body and mind and see what the camera captures.

Early on I saw an image by Joel Peter Witkin where he had set up an amazing tableau using up to five or six people in the image along with painted backdrops, furniture and built sets. I came away from that with the idea that it was o.k. to set it up, to stage it. Once could pursue their ideas and create meaning by setting it all up. There was a great deal of freedom in this idea. It felt as though I was given permission to abandon the constraints of standard photography.

One artist I greatly admire, as he does build meaning in a variety of ways and is fully photographic in his approach is the Japanese photographer, Eikoh Hosoe. If I am influenced by others, it is by studying their work where I discover that I can give myself permission to do something different, that there are no constraints on my ideas or approaches.

My main influences come from classical painting and sculpture as well as modern dance. I suppose my greatest influence is the time I spent living and visiting Japan, where I first saw Butoh avant-garde dance. Butoh has had a long-lasting influence on my work, probably lending it a sense of darkness, nudity and dramatic narrative.

Under Construction, No. 4 by LeRoy Howard

BS: So what is the specific message you strive to convey to viewers? Do you adhere to a specific philosophy as far as your work is concerned?

LH: Not sure I intend this as a message or a philosophy, but I think my work does explore and celebrate our emotional, and perhaps spiritual being. I want to elicit an emotional involvement on the part of the viewer. I aim at the senses so that there is no question in their mind that there is something to feel and that makes them alive.

While I know that the components of my images may have specific meaning, I leave the overall meaning of the piece or image to the viewer. And while they may not be able to construct a narrative, I don’t think they are left wondering that there is a reason for the image. So much of modern photography, some call “deadpan,” seems purposely devoid of emotion and meaning, beyond apparently saying, “this is what is here”, and frankly, that doesn’t resonate for me.

To read Part 3 of my interview with LeRoy Howard click, HERE

Take care, Stay true,

Brian Sherwin
Senior Editor
myartspace.com
www.myartspace.com
Myartspace Blog on Twitter
www.twitter.com/myartspace_blog

Art Space Talk: LeRoy Howard (Part 1)

Born and raised in Houston, Texas, LeRoy Howard is a fine-art photographer, based in Berkeley, California. LeRoy photographs himself, nude, with Japanese dance masks, fans and other cultural artifacts. He constructs in-camera multiple exposures into dreamlike or psychological narratives, improvising within unfinished construction and various rooms in his home.

Since 2002 he has shown his work in Northern California, the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Kobe and Sakai, Japan. His recent work explores the uses of narrative and the personal experience within the built space in defining the self.

St. Sebastian, No. 5 by LeRoy Howard

Brian Sherwin: LeRoy, you were selected for representation at the NYAXE Gallery in Palo Alto, CA. As you know, NYAXE Gallery is operated by the founders of www.myartspace.com and www.nyaxe.com and serves as a way to bridge the online and physical art world. Why did you decide to submit your work for consideration?

LeRoy Howard: While I have been fairly successful in getting my work into juried shows around the country and in Japan I hadn’t been paying attention to the Bay Area gallery scene. The NYAXE Gallery looked like a great opportunity to get to know a new gallery in the Bay Area. Additionally, I liked the idea of the connection between the web-based networking site and a physical gallery. It also appealed to that perverse part of my nature.

For some time now bricks-and-mortar shops and galleries have been putting up web-sites to help expand their reach and promote their efforts. In this case I saw a web-based enterprise setting up a physical gallery to help expand their market reach. I admire an operation that looks at all possible avenues to reach their market and expand their consumer base.

Lastly, I have enjoyed the web-site a great deal, met many artists and engaged in some interesting conversations about our art. This chance to talk to other artists is something hard to come by. I work by myself in my studio and don’t get out much. So I felt good about the NYAXE gallery invitation.

St. Sebastian, No. 2 by LeRoy Howard

BS: What can you tell us about your academic background concerning art? Did you study art formally? Tell us about your art studies in general-- any influential instructors?

LH: I have minimal formal training in art, nor have I and received an BFA or MFA. In my early years I studied design at a pre-architecture curriculum at Texas A&M University before taking a year to study art at the University of Houston. I did not complete the program and eventually moved to Alaska where I took up with a 35mm Pentax and began teaching myself how to photograph the landscape and small towns of Southeast Alaska.

I devoured books and magazines and more or less taught myself the rudiments of photography. At that time I’m sure I was influenced by Ansel Adams, given the nature of scenery in Alaska. Yet I’m sure I was studying other artists as I have strong memories of photographing the small towns, and playing with the odd effects one gets from industrial light sources.

Years later, in 1991, I moved to Japan and began studying with a number of professional photographers, most notably Tim Porter who runs the Tokyo Photo Workshops. He is a rigorous photographer who knows just about everything there is to know about the craft and technology of photography.

After settling in the Bay Area in 2001 I took a number of workshops from well-known Bay-Area photographers such as Judy Dater and Frank Espada.

BS: Tell us about yourself. At what point did you gain an interest in creating visual art?

LH: I suppose I began to challenge myself when I lived in Alaska, but it wasn’t until I began taking workshops in Japan that I began to explore the idea of creating imagery and building meaning, moving beyond the basic idea of reportage, landscape and street photography.

Since 1991 I have been pushing myself to develop a multi-layered sense of meaning and it seems that I am beginning to think more like an artist who uses photographic technology rather than a photographer who captures a scene imbued with meaning. At the heart of my work is the desire to communicate with the larger culture through the meaning created in my images. Kneeling Maiden by LeRoy Howard

BS: Can you tell us about your art? Give us some insight into the thoughts behind your art.

LH: I have developed a certain technique in creating meaning in my work, which is that I photograph myself, usually nude, and sometimes with Japanese dance masks, native American tribal masks, and other artifacts. This comes from my deep awareness and fascination with the idea that our being, or our identity, is separate from our bodies.

Our sense of self is independent of the physical and this understanding has allowed me to put myself within the work without feeling that the work is about me. I see myself more as an actor or technician helping to stage the work and less as the director, though I set the thing in motion. Since I am in front of the lens when the image is taken, I really have this sense that I am a participant in a larger process.

I give a lot of thought to what the body is doing in the image and what is communicated to the viewer. I understand the iconic value and what may be communicated by various poses and attitudes the body can take. Initially I borrowed easily found poses like that of kneeling in prayer or contemplation to the cruciform pose, knowing that on a cultural level the meaning inherent in these poses would say something to the viewer. Even when the image wasn’t overtly religious.

I think this comes from an early exposure to renaissance art which almost totally is made up of religious imagery. And so I find many of the attitudes my body takes can be traced to religious imagery. Yet, I wanted to move beyond these easy targets and develop a repertoire of more natural poses that provided the foundation for including facial expression, which began as part of the process with this current project.

I’m calling my current body of work, “The Last Supper Project.” Following a year of taking classes at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, one of which was an Art and Religion class I came up with the initial idea of conducting a theological exploration by re-presenting Leonardo’s Last Supper. I divided the picture into five images and posed myself, nude in all the roles.

What I found when I looked at the work was a strong representation of outpouring emotion, in this case male expression. Reflecting that this work was based on a narrative that dealt with betrayal, loss and grief I saw the opportunity to explore male emotional expression and communicate this to the viewer. The work that has come after is loosely based on iconic artwork, whether photographic, sculptural or painted, and inspired by the illness, decline and eventual loss of my father.

To read Part 2 of my interview with Leroy Howard click, HERE

Take care, Stay true,

Brian Sherwin
Senior Editor
myartspace.com
www.myartspace.com
Myartspace Blog on Twitter
www.twitter.com/myartspace_blog