| About the Exhibitions
Andrea Modica artist talk and book signing: Saturday, May
1, 2 pm
Toshio Shibata: Expressway
Gallery 339 is pleased to present Expressway,
an exhibition by renowned Japanese photographer Toshio Shibata.
Known primarily for his powerful images of the Japanese landscape,
Expressway presents a remarkable body of early work that has
not been widely exhibited. With the Expressway pictures, Shibata
was seeking a contemporary subject that was ubiquitous but
also compelling. Driving the highways of Japan at night, he
found the commonplace subject that he was seeking; it felt
removed from any specific locale yet also evoked mystery and
seductiveness. In these photographs, Shibata is able to capture
the tension between peacefulness and foreboding, and he is
able to imbue these overlooked places with a cool, cinematic
beauty.
Andrea Modica: Minor League
Gallery 339 is pleased to present Minor League, an
exhibition by Andrea Modica. Like many of her projects, Modica
was drawn to this one by a desire to understand a world that
she found puzzling and somewhat intimidating. Over time, the
project opened up to Modica the fascinating human level of
minor league sports: its hard work, fierce ambition, and the
essential but slim hope of making it to the major leagues.
Her picture-taking revealed to her the complex issues of success
and failure with which the players must grapple on a daily
basis. Her pictures also offered an understanding of the multifaceted
relationships among the players, who exhibited both a tight-knit
camaraderie and a determined competitiveness. Modica eventually
found that as an artist, who must contend with similar issues
around success and self motivation, she had more in common
with these players than she could have imagined.
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