East Boston, January, 2008 – From January 31 to February 23, 2008, Atlantic Works Gallery presents Old Country, New Country, photography, installation, and collage by Anna Salmaron and Eric Hess.
Hess, whose maternal family escaped Soviet-occupied Latvia, records the idea and nostalgia of “the old country.” “My family sacrificed everything for freedom and we dreamed of a free Latvia for 50 years. In 1991, we were thrilled by our new independence but now, 17 years later, I am surprised at what this independence looks like.” Here in “Old Country, New Country,” Hess juxtaposes the values and images of democracy and repression. Some pieces take a look at the darker side; the amoral, noholds- barred, capitalism of the 21st century. In addition to examining a free Latvia, Eric spent four days in Russia, which he was brought up to loathe, and was intoxicated with St. Petersburg’s post- Soviet energy and beauty. In collage and photograph, Hess expresses a point of view alternately appalled and delighted, but always personal, highly social and intimate.
Salmaron says: “Time and its meaning was much on my mind as I took the photos that became the source material for this work. They were taken during trips to the Czech Republic...,a place where the passage of time is much more openly acknowledged than it is here….a place of edgy melancholy that knows the power of all that has gone before, and a country that [in recent times] has changed profoundly.” When a collection of these photos was severely flood- damaged, Salmaron became intrigued by the permutations resulting from water and mold(!), and launched a “laboratory project” in which, by subjecting her photos to the more intense depredations associated with time, and, then, by rephotographing the results, was able to take control of the inevitable to produce something new..
Old Country, New Country is a complex set of responses in complex times: photography, installation, and collage of new/old Eastern Europe rising from the ashes of the Soviet Bloc.
>
The public is invited to Atlantic Works Gallery’s OPENING RECEPTION
on Thursday, January 31, from 6 to 9 pm and to the THIRD THURSDAY SOIREE
on Thursday, February 21, 6-9 pm.
>
Gallery hours are Fridays and Saturdays 2-6pm, and by appointment.
Begun in 2003, Atlantic Works Gallery, “East Boston’s Collaborative Space for Art and Ideas,” is a member-operated gallery located on the top floor of 80 Border Street on the waterfront of East Boston. It is T-accessible (near the Maverick T stop on the Blue Line,) and parking is usually available.