Opening Reception
Friday, September 22nd
6-8pm 

On view Sept 22 - Jan 13

 

Body Lines is a photography exhibition featuring the work of Jarid Blue and Savannah Spirit, curated by Deborah Oster Pannell. Working with light, shadow and digital projection, both of these artists use the human body as a canvas to create beautifully patterned, abstracted nudes that transcend mere eroticism. While some of the resulting images are certainly sexy, the underlying purpose of their work has more to do with photographers and their subjects claiming agency over their own bodies. Blue and Spirit each use photography as a tool to explore new sources of empowerment for individuals who wish to celebrate their physical form on their own terms.

 

Jarid Blue
Jarid Blue is a multi-disciplinary, Brooklyn-based artist who creates immersive photographic installations. His signature "Light Baths" series uses a unique combination of projected light and custom digital patterns to transform the model's body into an interactive canvas. Says Blue, “I invite participants into a collaborative and supportive space where they can reveal themselves at their own pace… I transform the subject's body into an interactive canvas, turning their skin into an armor of artwork that aids in providing them with the strength and freedom to express themselves in ways they may not have felt possible before… Going beyond body positivity, ‘Light Baths’ explores the intersection of identity, self-expression, and the impact of societal expectations on our relationship with our bodies.”

Blue exhibits his installations and printed works extensively across the United States and internationally, and often collaborates with music and performing artists to bring his unique artistic aesthetic to their stage performances and videos. Notable art fairs he has participated in include Satellite Art Show in Miami, FL, and The Other Art Fair in Brooklyn, NY. Recently, he co-developed an immersive installation as part of a two-week residency at one of ChaShaMa's Midtown, NY locations. 

Savannah Spirit
Savannah Spirit is a New York-based photographer, curator, and activist. Her black and white “I Am My Own Muse” self-portrait series subverts the historically gendered power dynamics of the medium by subjecting herself to no one’s gaze but her own. In defiance of the stigma around female nudity in both social media and society at large, she has been battling against the censorship of her and others’ work through online exhibitions. She is the co-founder of “Don’t Delete Art,” a campaign, gallery and resource center helping artists who are banned or deleted from social media platforms.

Since 2012, she has documented important civil rights movements including Occupy Wall Street, Black Lives Matter, People’s Climate March, and the Women’s March. Savannah’s work has been published in the books, “Censored Art Today,” by The Art Newspaper managing editor, Gareth Harris (Co-published by Lund Humphries and Sotheby's Institute of Art) and “The Business of Fine Art Photography” by Thomas Werner (Published by Routledge). She has been featured in publications such as Hyperallergic, The Art Newspaper, The Nation, LA Weekly, BOMB, Vice, W, Shindig!, Dazed, Billboard, and Huffington Post. Her work is in private collections in Rome, Sao Paolo, London, Miami, New York and Los Angeles, including a permanently installed photograph in Tom Ford's Houston flagship store. Savannah recently showed her black and white series during Miami’s Art Basel week with Shim Arts.

Deborah Oster Pannell is a multi-disciplinary culture producer based in New York City. She is currently the Gallery Manager at C24 Gallery in Chelsea, where she helps produce and promote a diverse, international curatorial calendar and associated programming. An accomplished writer and editor with creative experience in the fields of music, theater and film, she brings her performing arts and event production background with her into the fine art world, where she enjoys being part of a small, dedicated team of arts professionals, as well as an independent curator.