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Press Release

Candace Dwan and Nailya Alexander Galleries are pleased to announce The Visual Path, a photography exhibition opening on June 25th and running through August 1, 2008. The opening reception will be held on June 24th from 6-8pm at 24 West 57th Street, Suite 503.

The Visual Path invites the viewer to consider diverse ways of connecting with the spiritual and the metaphysical as explored by gallery photographers Kevin Bubriski (American, b. 1954), Niel Folberg (American/Israeli b. 1950 ), Nicholas Hughes (British, b. 1963), Olivier Meriel (French, b. 1952), James Nicholls (American, b. 1941), Prabir Purkayastha (Indian, b. 1952 ), Pentti Sammallahti (Finnish, b. 1950), Igor Savchenko (Belarussian, b. 1962), George Tice (American, b. 1938), and Jean Claude Wouters (Belgian, b. 1956). A vision, a miraculous moment, a mystery of nature, and a holy site are some of their many inspirations. Metaphysical transcendence through photography grants us a moment of wonderment. Indeed, an almost gravitational pull of pure expression reflects a growing interest in the sacred felt in many circles.

Kevin Bubriski seeks “to raise curiosity about the complexity and diversity of our world... to create bridges of understanding between people and places." His photographs of Nepali villagers from the series The Portrait of Nepal are private, sensitive and respectful revelations of an ancient culture. Niel Folberg, whose intriguing statement, "I saw it or think that I saw it", conjures his vision of spiritual experience as seen in Celestial Nights. The series’ subject encompasses the biblical land of Israel and its vast, black and starry skies. In Darkness Visible, Nicholas Hughes’ luminous prints of enchanted, moonlit forests evoke a sense of mystery and quietude. In today’s society driven by instant self- gratification, these Arcadian-like images offer dreamy musings on the magical power of nature and the essence of the human spirit. Olivier Meriel has sought the secret, the ineffable, in large format photographs of his native Normandy-dramatic views that often gaze into the sun, casting deep shadows from his churches and into his passionate landscapes. James Nicholls’ profound empathy with the human being in contemplation transcends everyday reality, like a prayer at dawn near a mysterious vortex. His works from India and Jerusalem capture intense moments of spiritual life.

Prabir Purkayastha left his native India for Ladakh in search of meaning and healing after the shocking assassination of the beloved Rajiv Ghandi for whom he worked. Many voyages later, his photographs from Ladakh, a difficult and sometimes dangerous place to access, convey the intensity and passion of its Buddhist people. Pentti Sammallahti is appreciated worldwide for his images of Finland and Russia that include an animal, especially a dog as messenger of a natural way of being. His photographs, however, extend to pilgrimage and other religious sites such as Nepal, Croagh Patrick, Wales, and Monte Sacro o Gelbison, Italy, and have a more somber feeling than other parts of his oeuvre. Igor Savchenko’s abstract landscapes from the series On the Alternate Behavior of Sunlight are meditations on invisible, alternating moments of light and darkness: “We still believe that the visible picture is steady. Light appears to us as a sequence of transient storms. Everything around us is lit up for brief instants. The world picture shimmers....” George Tice, though not usually considered a photographer of the spiritual, nevertheless invokes a sense of grace bordering on the mystical in his image of a men's washroom. The meeting of the familiar and man-made with a small reminder of the sublime seems essentially Tice. Jean Claude Wouters creates one-of-a-kind, large format, black and white gelatin prints of Buddhas. They are human size, hypnotic renditions made from a found image of a 9th-century Chinese sculpture, which he painted and photographed again.