Alchemy in Materiality: John Chiara

Alchemy in Materiality

ROSEGALLERY is pleased to present The Alchemy in Materiality, an exhibition of works by John Chiara as part of PST ART: Art & Science Collide. The Alchemy in Materiality offers an enthralling journey through John Chiara’s innovative career. It presents a comprehensive retrospective of his work, inviting viewers to contemplate the elusive essence of the present moment, seamlessly bridging the realms of art and science with a captivating, visceral aesthetic.

Seamlessly fusing art and science, John Chiara’s practice forges a unique process which combines photography, sculpture, and immersive experience. At its core are his meticulously crafted cameras; essentially large scale yet portable camera obscuras.

Within the dark chamber of these cameras, Chiara choreographs a precise interplay of light and chemistry on positive color photographic paper, deftly controlling light and manipulating the emerging images with an innate touch. The resulting pieces are profoundly perceptual bearing traces of their unconventional origin, rendered in soft, ephemeral hues that evoke materiality and transience. More importantly, they are all unique. With color positive photographic paper, no photo negative is created or needed, creating an image that is ultimately impossible to reproduce or duplicate. Chiara’s works are truly individual instances.

His artistry showcases the convergence of ingenuity, invention, and patient craftsmanship, transcending conventional photography to embody the interplay of light, time, and human perception.

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John Chiara (b. 1971, San Francisco, CA) pushes the boundaries of the photographic medium through his choice of process and the mastery of its possibilities. His approach is distinguished by its incredible physicality and recalls the early days of the medium when artists dealt with heavy, awkward equipment and endured long exposure and development times. Chiara’s giant cameras, which he designed and built himself, are transported to locations on a flatbed trailer to produce one-of-a-kind large-scale prints. The design of the cameras, which is much like daguerreotype box cameras, allows the artist to simultaneously shoot and perform his darkroom work while images are recorded directly onto oversized photosensitive paper (not film). This process, which Chiara first discovered as a student in 1999, invites anomalies in his final prints and adds to the mystery and lyricism of his pictures.

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ROSEGALLERY is part of PST ART as a Gallery Program Participant. Returning in September 2024 with its latest edition, PST ART: Art & Science Collide, this landmark regional event explores the intersections of art and science, both past and present. PST ART is presented by Getty. For more information about PST ART: Art & Science Collide, please visit pst.art

About PST ART:

Southern California’s landmark arts event, PST ART (previously Pacific Standard Time), returns in September 2024 with more than 818 artists, 50 exhibitions, and 1 mind-blowing theme: Art & Science Collide In partnership with museums and institutions across the region, this is one of the most expansive art events in the world.

This “collision” will explore the intersections of Art and Science, both past and present, with diverse organizations activating exhibitions on topics like ancient cosmologies, Indigenous sci-fi, environmental justice, and artificial intelligence. PST ART: Art & Science Collide will share groundbreaking research, spark lively debate, and provide thought-provoking lenses to explore our complex world.

PST ART is a Getty initiative.