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Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts Ken Hassell / Stuart Rome
Ken Hassell's men and women invest themselves in their labor, thereby dignifying the environments where mechanization might have dominated all. In documenting vital labor intensive industries, he finds evidence of the human presence -- a wall calendar, the orderly arrangement of tools -- in the most austere factories. These photographs depict the spiritual wholeness of workers and their work, and revere those who consistently introduce human scale within the impersonal realm of the machine. As a documentary photographer in the tradition of Lewis Hine, Hassell uses only ambient light, allowing his subjects to arrange themselves in their workplace. This documentary style fills "The Working Spirit" with images of poetic elegance. While focusing on the dignity of these workers, Hassell has not lost sight of the value of formal composition; in fact, the structural unity in these prints accentuates the grace of the workers and their work. The innate beauty of men and women elevating their work by their pride in it suffuses even those photographs devoid of people. For Stuart Rome, industry and mechanization impoverish the spiritual aspect of modern life; he seeks as his subjects those people who invest themselves in activities outside the workplace. He is drawn to those who use myth and ritual to infuse and expand their lives outside of the constraints of formal religion. The men and women in these "Ceremonial Portraits" pursue leisure activities which become ritual manifestations in modern life -- either formally in Haitian voodoo rites or informally in Halloween customs in San Francisco. By catching his subjects either before or in the few seconds immediately after they are aware of his camera, Rome avoids self-conscious gestures. He believes that those cultures that hold myth and ritual as priority instinctively echo the gestures of traditional religious representation. Rome's images of clear, simple gestures are often similar to archetypal religious imagery: the Haitian woman and child, for example, evokes the traditional Madonna and Child composition. In approaching the same theme from different perspectives, Hassell and Rome communicate the significance of the spiritual in all facets of modern life. Anne Monahan Ken Hassell Milwaukee Center for Photography, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, B.FA., 1980 Selected Grants: Currently adjunct professor of fine arts photography, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, and instructor of fine arts photography, Delaware County Community College, Media, PA Selected Individual Exhibitions Selected Group Exhibitions Artist's Statement The human spirit is the manifestation of our own true nature and
is revealed in every life experience and in every facet of our environment.
These events need not be monumental; indeed most seem very ordinary
and unremarkable. However, when viewed with clarity and candor,
they always portray something of the human condition. This exhibition
is a gleaning of experiences that vividly express "The Working
Spirit" through body posture, clothing, personal effects, and
work spaces. They are at once unique and universal declarations
on the strength and dignity of the common worker.
Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, New York, B.FA, 1977 Selected Grants Currently assistant professor of fine arts photography, co chair of the Photography Department, chairman of Design Arts Gallery, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA
Selected Group Exhibitions Artist's Statement These photographs have been made over the past three years with the intent of artistically disclosing the underlying purposes behind celebrations. These rituals appear to be a way of bypassing a dour modern reality in favor of expressing a rich mythological birthright in a variety of guises: Halloween, Mardi Gras, Mummers Parade, Rock'n'Roll dancing, and voodoo rites. America's melting-pot experience has produced a rich culture and
artistic life. My work portrays the freedoms of expression sought
after in leisure time. Today traditional mythologies are being supplanted
by a mechanical conformity. From the cultures I have studied, I
discover the adventurous spirit still seeking the mysteries of our
creative potential. My work communicates this information into photographic
imagery as a testimony to that powerful potential.
The Morris Gallery displays the work of outstanding contemporary artists with a connection to Philadelphia, determined by birth, schooling, or residence. The exhibitions are chosen by a committee composed of area artists, museum personnel, and collectors, and the curatorial staff of the Pennsylvania nia Academy of the Fine Arts. Currently serving on the Morris Gallery Exhibition Committee are: Moe Brooker, Diane Burko, Paolo Colombo, Ginsburg, Dr. Perry Ottenberg, Carrie Rickey, Judith Tanenbaum; staff Judith Stein, Morris Gallery Coordinator, Linda Bantel, Susan Danly, NO.Frank H. Goodyear, Jr., Ex Officio. Copyright, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, 1989 |