Aldo Sessa: Reflections of New York City Photographic Exhibition Sept 19 – Nov 9 at Throckmorton Fine Art
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“Love at first sight” is how the acclaimed Latin American photographer Aldo Sessa describes his 40 year long love affair with New York City…..
“Aldo Sessa demonstrates unparalleled originality in his images of the Flatiron Building and MoMA, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Twin Towers, Statue of Liberty, Empire State and Chrysler Buildings and Fifth Avenue” – Spencer Throckmorton
Throckmorton Fine Art is pleased to present an exhibit of 25 photographs of New York City by the long-reigning “dean” of photography in Argentina, Aldo Sessa. Now in his seventies, Sessa is widely hailed in his native Argentina and in neighboring South American countries. His work has been shown throughout the region, in both museums and galleries. In a bid to introduce Sessa’s work to a wider audience, Throckmorton is showing 25 beautifully developed black and white gelatin silver prints of Sessa’s photographs of New York City. “ALDO SESSA: Reflections of New York City” will be featured at the Throckmorton Fine Art gallery at 145 East 57th Street from Sept 19 – Nov 9 2013.
Spencer Throckmorton says, “For the last four decades Aldo Sessa and his family have traveled each year to New York City where his fascination with the city has produced images of New York that are unlike those someone born here would produce. Sessa sees the city from “another angle.” And, while Sessa is well known for his images of Buenos Aires, another cosmopolitan city, the real contrast is seen in Sessa images of isolated rural areas of Argentina’s vast countryside, which has just 15 percent less territory than India, yet a population of only 40 million. With those reference points it’s not surprising that Sessa’s NY ‘lens’ is focused on the city’s unique urbanity: the circulating populous and the colossal height of the buildings – which he captures with a rare vision and sensitivity. His unique photograph of the Statue of Liberty being one noticeable example.”
Aldo Sessa says, “I never forget that Manhattan is exceptional and as such, is constantly changing and offering new and rare angles. The mixture of styles, the colossal height of the buildings, the singular rhythm of the cosmopolitan people that circulate through the streets and the energy produced by these contrasts make me feel anonymous, tiny. My senses feed upon this vibrant and ever-changing scenario that challenges me to find and register unseen images and their magic.
“As I begin my search for a prey, the adrenalin raises, I go into ecstasy, forget the world around me and press the trigger. I have climbed to improve the angle of my shots, I have buried myself in a snowed Central Park, I have shot in the fog and the rain and moved stealthily like a cat between the iron railings and bridges.
“This City is a place of wonderful memories, a place that I have shared with my wife Teresita, our family and very dear friends. We always enjoy the varied cultural events that the city offers us. I believe New York is and always will be my muse and the site of my professional evolution. Today, my passion for New York is intact as when I saw it for the first time fifty years ago. I am very proud and feel honored to share these photographs with you, at this marvelous and prestigious gallery.”
Jorge Taverna Irigoyen, Former President of National Academy of Fine Arts, Argentina says, “Sessa is an untiring worker and his own work is the clearest testimony. He has never given up a project halfway through, nor has he allowed any accomplishment to quench, randomly, his insatiable craving for perfection. His art is a combination of imponderables that he knows all very well; and however, like an infinite Big Wheel, he continues on an endless search, in the internalized conception, in the innumerable approaches that add faces, that go deeply into worlds surpassing distances. Globalization and global thought do not disquiet his lens: rather they make it more mature, they furnish it with a whole new inner wisdom so as not to give in to concessions. His esthetic thought is clear, categorical, taken to the limit. And the universe of his images gets concentrated and defined, in a sharper and sharper fashion, as if the half century that has gone by had not done anything but encourage a unique love, as unique as a fingerprint.”
Kraige Block adds, “Sessa’s images of New York are, despite his “maturity,” fresh and youthful. Sessa succeeds in making us look again—and more appreciatively—at familiar icons of New York.”
Among highlights in the “Aldo Sessa: Reflections of New York City” show are images of a Polar Bear at the zoo, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Guggenheim and MoMA, as well as the Bryant Park Carousel, the Grand Central Synagogue and a double exposure of the Empire State Building. He captures individuals in different spots around the city too, going about their day, as well as views of Rockefeller Center, and several of the Statue of Liberty, including one taken in 1 991 during the Gulf War. The Chrysler Building is a favorite subject with images shot over more than a twenty year span.
Throckmorton Fine Art holds in its archives images from Sessa’s work in Argentina as well as photographs by other accomplished Latin American artists. It is offering a catalogue of this show, ALDO SESSA: Reflections of New York City.
