Artist Reception on Friday, January 5, 5-8PM

With his newest body of work acclaimed artist Gary Schneider presents an ambitious and unique series of nudes. His willing partners lie face up on a black background for one and three hours while the artist explores their bodies using a handheld flashlight, exposing one part after another in a single, continuous exposure. This process is a collaborative performance. In the beginning, Schneider's subjects are naked and isolated within the darkness of the studio; as the re-creation process evolves, Schneider becomes the chorographer directing light, tone, and time. The artist is present, playing the role of a scientist exploring their skin and responding to the creation of this new physical presence. Schneider's desire is to break down the persona of his sitter and replace it with an adapted version distinct from both collaborators. Over time the sitters move and on film these movements translate as distortions. Schneider explains, "You should be able to come to the surface of all my work and be able to read the information and the surface, as if you were reading a map or a landscape." The resulting image—a new body—is a transformative, collaborative artwork.

Gary Schneider was born in 1954 in East London, South Africa. His work is recently the subject of a major exhibition that opened at Harvard University's Fogg Museum (opened February 2004) which incorporates his previously acclaimed solo exhibition, "Genetic Self-Portrait," an artistic response to the Human Genome Project. He has shown extensively worldwide, including Museé d'Elysee in Lausanne, Switzerland; the Museum of Fine Art in Houston, Texas; the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York; and the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago, Illinois.