The Space Between at Julie Saul Gallery

“Life is an ecosystem of relationships. Love and lust and all forms of human connection are necessary in making humanity evolve and grow.”

Have you ever walked into an exhibition and immediately felt a sense of comfort and familiarity? A sense of intimacy and connection? Curated by the gallery’s Director, Edna Cardinale, the photographs in the show are united by one common thread: love and intimacy. Each image approaches and interprets love from a unique perspective, making us, the viewer, consider the emotions and their manifestations as the artists did.

Ruth Orkin, ‘Israel Beach’, c.1950. Gelatin silver print 6 3/4 x 9 3/4 ”.
Image courtesy Julie Saul Gallery

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Edna Cardinale shared this about how the show came together:

The exhibition, The Space Between came about after getting divorced from a 28-year relationship. The different stages a relationship takes resonated with me during this time and I started thinking about the space between people – the physical and non-physical space that brings people together and also separates them. I began compiling photographs over the last several years and it was a natural progression to start thinking about it as an exhibition.

In the final stages of putting the show together it became important to me to have a contrast of vintage and contemporary photographs along with video and a few non-photographic works. I also wanted to include a range of artists in their careers.  I discovered a few on Instagram and loved the idea of including non-practicing artists with established artists.  I wanted to show intimacy and also the other end of the spectrum- divorce, ambivalence and how technology and the passing of time have changed how we interact with each other.

Things have changed since Ruth Orkin’s tender gelatin silver print of a couple on the beach in 1950 to images today on social media and Internet dating. Relationships change over time and time has also changed the nature of relationships. I think that comes across nicely in the show. 

Eric Pickersgill, ‘Angie and Me,’ 2014. Pigment print 32 x 40”. Edition 2/12.
Image courtesy Julie Saul Gallery
Maria Martinez-Canas, ‘Vestigios: Untitled 19,’ 2015. Abraded offset print 12 x 10 ”, sheet.
Image courtesy Julie Saul Gallery

From the gallery: “Every facet of our existence is an unconscious navigation of how we do or do not connect with the people in our lives. The twenty-first century has posed a unique challenge to connectedness with the escalation of cell phone usage and data roaming.  It is a double-edged sword, bridging physical distance but lessening real face-to-face social interaction. In Eric Pickersgill’s series Removed, a couple lie in bed, back to back, with an invisible cell phone in hand seemingly invisible to each other. The evolution of a relationship comes into focus as we age; innocence gone, familiarity and routine become the norm. We find comfort or sometimes ambivalence over the progression of time as in Yolanda del Amo’sEdith, Juan. A senior couple sits at a table together, occupying the shared space with a sense of togetherness and isolation.”

Yolanda del Amo, ‘Edith, Juan’, 2007. Pigment print 17 1/2 x 22 1/4.
Image courtesy Julie Saul Gallery ”. Edition 1/5

The exhibition is on view at the gallery’s Chelsea location until April 20, 2019.

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