Press Release: Announcing Group f.64

For Immediate Release                                                                    

August 25, 2009                                                                                   

Contact: Dee Grano
The Light Factory
704-333-9755

Contact: Nicole Nastacie
Bank of America
980-388-7252

THE LIGHT FACTORY ANNOUNCES f.64 EXHIBITION FEATURING ANSEL ADAMSShow (Opening Sept. 17) Studies Photography’s Past for Modern Influences

 

Charlotte, NC – The Light Factory announces the next exhibition in the 2009-10 schedule, Group f.64: Photographs by Ansel Adams, Edward Weston, Imogen Cunningham, Willard Van Dyke, and Brett Weston. The exhibition features works from the Bank of America Art in our Communities program which makes art from the bank’s collection available to museums nationwide.  The exhibition will open September 17, 2009, and run through January 3, 2010, in The Light Factory’s Knight Gallery.  The exhibition is free and open to the public, as is the opening reception on Thursday, Sept. 17, from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m.  More information is available by calling 704-333-9755 or logging onto www.lightfactory.org. 

Founded in 1932, Group f.64 was an informal association of photographers devoted to exhibiting and promoting a new direction in photography. The group was established as a response to Pictorialism, a popular movement on the West Coast, which favored painterly, hand-manipulated, soft-focus prints, often made on textured papers. Feeling that photography’s greatest strength was its ability to create images with precise sharpness, Group f.64 adhered to a philosophy that photography is only valid when it is “straight,” or unaltered. The term f.64 refers to the smallest aperture setting on a large format camera, which allows for the greatest depth of field and sharpest image.

 “The artists who comprised Group f.64 worked from 1930 until 1935, and in that short period, changed photography forever,” says Dennis Kiel, Chief Curator of The Light Factory.  “This wonderful exhibition not only gives us an opportunity to reflect upon the origins of modern photography, it also illustrates that the innovative vision of this legendary and influential group continues to have a profound impact on the photographic aesthetics to this day.”

 “Bank of America is honored to collaborate with The Light Factory in the creation and realization of this exhibition, which features the works of influential photographers like Ansel Adams,” said Charles Bowman, North Carolina and Charlotte Market President, Bank of America.  “We are committed to strengthening artistic institutions and in turn, the communities we serve. Sharing our collection with the public through The Light Factory not only makes business sense for the bank, but also helps support one of Charlotte’s cultural institutions that is also passionately dedicated to community education and outreach.”

Through its Art in our Communities Program, Bank of America has converted its corporate art collection into a unique community resource from which museums and nonprofit galleries may borrow complete or customized exhibitions. By providing these exhibitions and the support required to host them, this program helps sustain community engagement and generate vital revenue for the nonprofits, creating stability in local communities. From 2008-2010, Bank of America will have loaned more than 30 exhibitions to museums nationwide.

As a museum of both film and photography, The Light Factory features special evening film events associated with “Group f.64 and the Modernist Vision.”  The museum will screen the documentary films “The Eloquent Nude: The Love and Legacy of Edward Weston and Charis Wilson” by Ian McCluskey on Thursday, Oct. 8, and “Portrait of Imogen” by Meg Partridge on Thursday, Dec. 3.  Both events occur in the Knight Gallery at 7:00 p.m. and are free and open to the public.

The Light Factory is supported by Basic Operating Grants from the Arts and Science Council of Charlotte-Mecklenburg and North Carolina Arts Council. Films-specific programming is supported by the North Carolina Film Office and the National Endowment for the Arts.

The Light Factory is one of only four museums in the United States that promote the power of image through photography and film. For more than 30 years, The Light Factory has served students, artists and the public at large by offering film screenings, photography exhibits, classes and outreach programs that promote media literacy and self expression using the most powerful mediums of our time. The Light Factory is a 501c3, non-profit organization. To find out more about The Light Factory or make a donation visit www.lightfactory.org.

Bank of America is a major supporter of arts and heritage in the United States, and increasingly in Europe. Its support is built on a foundation of responsible business practices and good corporate citizenship that helps improve access to the arts and arts education in local communities nationwide. Bank of America offers customers free access to more than 120 of the nation’s finest cultural institutions through its acclaimed Museums on Us® program, while the Art in our Communities program shares exhibits from the bank’s corporate collection with communities across the country through local museums. In addition, the Bank of America Charitable Foundation provides philanthropic support to museums, theaters and other arts-related nonprofits to expand their services and offerings to schools and communities. Bank of America’s unique arts and heritage program makes good business sense by providing customers with a distinct benefit, while supporting the economic and cultural vitality of the communities it serves.

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