Alison Rossiter at Yossi Milo Gallery

In her new show Alison Rossiter focuses on geometry

Sculptural elements take center stage in Alison Rossiter’s newest body of work which has also gotten larger since we last profiled the artist on galleryIntell. The front room of the gallery features several stacked, dual-element compositions that showcase her affinity towards sculptural  geometry. It is through these clean-edged totem-like compositions that this Brooklyn-based artist displays her ability to manipulate the medium with precision more often found in graphical work. In fact, to those seeing her work for the first time, only the sheen of the photographic paper gives away the true medium.

Lumière Lumitra, exact expiration date unknown ca. 1960, processed in 2014  From the series Fours  Gelatin Silver Print  9.5″ × 7″ each element Unique  © Alison Rossiter, Courtesy Yossi Milo Gallery, New York

Alison Rossiter, Lumière Lumitra, exact expiration date unknown ca. 1960,
processed in 2014 From the series Fours Gelatin Silver Print 9.5″ × 7″ each element
© Alison Rossiter, Courtesy Yossi Milo Gallery, New York

In each of her single or multi-leaf photograms, she continues to balance the positive and negative spaces leaving just the “right” amount of void to “hold” the composition. Skillfully versed in the language of abstraction, Rossiter instinctively understands the colors’ weight through their volume, placement, opacity and form. In this new body of work she seems to be exploring these permutations along with the directionality of elements as some appear to lean in towards one another while others precariously balance along the vertical axis.

Alison Rossiter’s four-leaf vertical photograms are created through a careful process of planning, sketching, testing and developing expired sheets of photo-sensitive paper the artist sources online. Each work is titled with the series name, paper manufacturer, size and expiration date. Because larger paper sheets are more challenging to source, (they measure 20 x 24″ each) the artist had to be extra careful in exposing and developing each sheet. Each gesture, each line had to be exact. The resulting images are at once powerful and weightless, anchored and in motion, some evidently floating towards and away from the viewer.

Alison Rossiter From the series Fours Haloid Military, (#11) expired October 1957, processed 2015 Four Gelatin Silver Prints Unique © Alison Rossiter, Courtesy Yossi Milo Gallery, New York

Alison Rossiter
From the series Fours
Haloid Military, (#11) expired October 1957, processed 2015
Four Gelatin Silver Prints
Unique
© Alison Rossiter, Courtesy Yossi Milo Gallery, New York

A unique elegance that defined her previous series can be seen in the current exhibition which also features a set of small delicate exposures. Cumulatively titled ‘Defender Argo‘ these photograms feature an opaque dark band that runs across the lower portion of the horizontal sheet and reads like the gentle curvature of a shallow hill or a distant mound. A closer look at the top portions of each work in this series reveals what first appear to be perforations, then splatter, but they are neither. The soft edged shapes are the result of the most ordinary paper mold that presented itself in this most beautiful “light” once Rossiter processed the paper. In Alison Rossiter’s work rich texture of the paper’s surface makes this not only a hugely rewarding visual but also a virtually tactile experience.

Defender Argo, expired September 1911, processed 2014 (#6), 5x7 inches, from the series Landscapes, © Alison Rossiter Courtesy Yossi Milo Gallery

Defender Argo, expired September 1911, processed 2014 (#6), 5×7 inches, from the series Landscapes, © Alison Rossiter Courtesy Yossi Milo Gallery

These 5 x 7″ photograms made from paper that expired in September of 1911, were priced at around $7,500 and are already sold out and not surprisingly. Demand for Rossiter’s methodically crafted images has been growing steadily and many new and existing collectors continue to expand their collections to include her “light drawings”.

Alison Rossiter From the series Landscapes Defender Argo, expired September 1911, processed 2014 Gelatin Silver Print Unique  © Alison Rossiter, Courtesy Yossi Milo Gallery, New York

Alison Rossiter From the series Landscapes Defender Argo, (#5) expired September 1911, processed 2014 Gelatin Silver Print Unique © Alison Rossiter, Courtesy Yossi Milo Gallery, New York

Her work is easy to consider in art historical terms as we see direct parallels between the amorphous monochromes of the more atmospheric photograms and Helen Frankenthaler’s color field paintings. Earlier series, some directly inspired by Richard Serra’s paintings from the Met’s show a couple of years back, display similar proportional aesthetics as Barnett Newman’s zips and Morris Louis’ fluid seeps of color.

The exhibition is on view at Yossi Milo Gallery in Chelsea through the run of AIPAD Photography Show in April, which is sure to feature several of the her new works, and until May 2nd, 2015.

This article © galleryIntell

Main Image:

Alison Rossiter
Eastman Kodak Vitava B-3, (#2) expired February 1943, processed 2014
From the series Pools
2 Gelatin Silver Prints
14″ × 11″ each element
Unique
© Alison Rossiter, Courtesy Yossi Milo Gallery, New York

Alison Rossiter
From the series Fours
Haloid Military, expired October 1957, processed 2015
Four Gelatin Silver Prints
Unique
© Alison Rossiter, Courtesy Yossi Milo Gallery, New York

Alison Rossiter
Nepera Chemical Company Carbon Velox, (#1) shipped from works November 8, 1897, processed 2014  Gelatin Silver Print
8″ × 5″ each element
Unique
© Alison Rossiter, Courtesy Yossi Milo Gallery, New York

Alison Rossiter
Haloid Military, expired October 1957, processed 2015
From the series Splits
Gelatin Silver
Print  24″ × 20″ each element
Unique
© Alison Rossiter Courtesy Yossi Milo Gallery

Alison Rossiter
From the series Fours
Haloid Military, (#11) expired October 1957, processed 2015
Four Gelatin Silver Prints
Unique
© Alison Rossiter, Courtesy Yossi Milo Gallery, New York

Alison Rossiter
From the series Landscapes
Defender Argo, (#5) expired September 1911, processed 2014
Gelatin Silver Print
Unique
© Alison Rossiter, Courtesy Yossi Milo Gallery, New York

Alison Rossiter
Nepera Chemical Company Carbon Velox, shipped from works November 8, 1897, processed 2014  Gelatin Silver Print
8″ × 5″ each element
Unique
© Alison Rossiter, Courtesy Yossi Milo Gallery, New York

Alison Rossiter
Eastman Kodak Vitava B-3, (#1) expired February 1943, processed 2014
From the series Pools
2 Gelatin Silver Prints
14″ × 11″ each element
Unique
© Alison Rossiter, Courtesy Yossi Milo Gallery, New York