Rick Wright, Vessels of the Late Petroleum Age: Evidence of Ancient Earth

October 26 – November 29, 2019
Artist Talk: Saturday, October 26: 4pm-5pm
Reception: Saturday, October 26: 5pm-6pm

Camerawork Gallery
301 N. Graham Street, Portland, OR 97227
Located in Lorenzen Conference Center – Legacy Emanuel Medical Center Campus.
9am – 6pm, Monday-Saturday, Sunday, 10am-4pm
Free off street parking available, Stair and elevator access, TriMet Routes 4, 24 and 44, ADA accessible
www.TheCameraworkGallery.org
www.Facebook.com/cameraworkgallery
503-701-5347
Event is free and open to the public

Philadelphia photographer Rick Wright inhabits the persona of a c. 4300 CE archaeologist: a scientist stumbling onto a cache of preserved vessels crafted out of an unknown synthetic material. This Dada series of catalogued “artifacts” explores how a future society might interpret contemporary plastic containers. The project is driven by Wright’s creative lens work; the objects taking on new form, expression, and meaning. There are 27 digital photographs (18 on display at Camerawork Gallery) in the collection—printed with tri-tone pigment ink on Hahnemühle Bamboo paper at 12” x 18”.

ABOUT THE ARTIST Rick Wright practices photography as a malleable and sculptural medium, stating “photography suffers the unfortunate condition of looking like reality and remains the first thing to transcend as a photographer.” He trained first as an oil painter at Princeton and Columbia Universities (BA and MFA), then later morphed into a photographer with studies at ICP in NY with Nan Goldin, Susan Meiselas, Dorit Cypis, and Danny Lyon. Wright is a Philadelphia-based photographer working as a fine artist, an architectural photographer, and an instructor.

The Vessels of the Late Petroleum Age are currently featured on the cover of LensWork #144 magazine (Sept.-Oct. 2019); along with a 16-page spread. The work has also appeared online in Float Magazine and garnered a Fleisher Faculty Fellowship Award. Wright is currently working on a book of the series with a professional writer.

Several of his photographs reside in permanent collections: Houston Museum of Fine Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Creon Collection, Johnson & Johnson Collection, and The University of Pennsylvania. Wright keeps his studio in Philadelphia (past 13 years) and teaches photography at Fleisher Art Memorial, Peter’s Valley School of Art & Craft, and The Halide Project.

“Photography is 93% of my life. The other 7% is occupied by typewriter repair, short story writing, and life model sketching. I chose photography over painting for its speed, joy, and unexpected bends of reality.”—Rick Wright