Jeffrey Blondes

Tayloe Piggott Gallery is pleased to present an exhibition of select films and editions by artist Jeffery Blondes. Dedicated to capturing the subtle changes pulsating within our natural world, Blondes' creates high definition videos and printed film still editions that patiently showcase the effect of time on the environment. Evoking a mindful response, Blondes' natural window creates an intimate experience seizing the viewer's full attention. An artist reception to celebrate the opening of this exhibition will be held Wednesday, August 29th from 6-8pm; all are invited to attend.

A similar philosophy unites all of Blondes' artworks regardless of the medium. An artist at heart, Blondes began as a photographer in high-school and went on to create en plein air paintings early on in his career. While his paintings have been in over 35 solo exhibitions, Blondes' use of film has come to define his artistic aesthetic. The similarities between the intense practice of plein air painting and the experience of his films connects these different mediums expressing his artistic intent to display nature in the most accurate and intimate viewing as possible. Blondes' films achieve this purpose in a unique way that fundamentally resonates with the viewer. His first video project began in 2005 when he filmed a tree on his farm in France for one hour, every week, for 52 weeks. Producing a 52-hour video that captures the authentic experience of the tree, Blondes realized he could use time as a medium to reveal the beauty within nature. The brilliance of Blondes' work arises from his ability to illuminate nature's time-based reality in a way that deeply impacts individuals. Creating a connection to the audience, the films instill the profound feeling of time's relationship to our natural world. At first glance the minimally framed screen seems to be a static photograph of a landscape. However, for those with the patience to look closer, the minute movements reveal the true essence of the artwork. Once acquainted to the setting, the audience sharply attunes their mind to the quiet changes in the film. Diving into a meditative experience, each moment passes dramatically slowly .

Blondes produces his films with varying time restrictions and locations. For some, he slowly pans across a landscape with only one camera and in others he places two cameras back to back in order to capture a 360-degree experience of an environment. In his film, Wyoming 3 x 180, Blondes studies Phillips Ridge in Wilson, WY. This video pans three 180-degree sweeping views with the camera closely exploring the textures found in the natural world. All of Blondes' videos are recorded without sound, however the mesmerizing experience of the film recreates the delicate rustle of the aspen leaves. Contemplating the unheard sounds of nature, the audience engages with the film in a markedly different way than whimsically glancing out a window. Blondes' work increases awareness of nature's age-old rhythm by bringing nature inside and making the audience mediate on the connection between time, history and their own being.

In a similar spirit, Blondes makes printed editions from his videos. These static film stills display the movement of time over an environment viewed together at one time. These editions are framed grids of color arising from the films that Blondes feels produce an interesting network of flowing tones. Unlike the high definition films, the viewer does not have to wait for time to pass in order to see the changes in the landscape. Rather, time is presented in a coherent frame. Blondes positions film stills in a system that represents each minute horizontally by every hour vertically. From afar, the audience views an undulation of hues representing the passage of time. However, from up close each distinct film still of the printed edition sharply shows the elusive changes that occur from one minute to the next. Blondes changes the measurement of time on the grid for different editions of films, however the outcome is the same. A current of time flows across the artwork closely studying the changes of life in the natural world.

Born in Washington, D. C. in 1956, Blondes spent the first half of his life in America. In 1992 he moved to Touraine, France where he currently lives and works. The artist's work is collected both publicly and privately. Past exhibitions include the Centre d'arts et de nature, Chaumont-sur-Loire; Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature, Paris, France; Lyman Allyn Museum, New London, CT; Bitforms Gallery, New York, NY; David Findlay Jr. Contemporary, New York, NY; Metivier Gallery, Toronto, Canada; Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland; Hackett- Freedman Gallery, San Francisco, CA; The Fine Art Society, London, UK; among others. He has completed commission work for a private collection, Wilson, WY; Borusan Contemporary, Istanbul, Turkey and Stanford Arts, Stanford, CA. Blondes artworks are also exhibited in hospitals around the world including Memorial Sloan Kettering, New York, NY; John Hopkins, Baltimore, MD and St. Thomas Hospital, London, UK.