JOHN BACK
One of John Back’s collectors surprised him by describing the effect of living with his work: “Throughout the day, when I walk past these images they give me a feeling of confidence.” He still ponders that mysterious alchemy, yet it is no surprise that living with art alters our lives. The Lodge has a number of his photographs in their permanent collection, which you can relish as you pass through the corridor to your room! The photographer’s series of “Leaves and Sticks” come from “various parkland settings, from the island of Oahu to the Hudson Valley and the Catskills. At first glance, the subjects are natural things, like leaves and sticks, branches and glimpses of sky in a vivid palette of saturated color, altered by scale and focus, conveying a sense of motion and changing light. The images have the formal attributes of abstraction, with color and form of a unified structure. They capture memories in a form that the writer Michael Frayn has described as “vivid particulars” that create “hidden links.” The hidden links are what you bring to the picture when viewing it.
Born in Wisconsin, Back has a BS in Art from the University of Wisconsin and a MFA in Photography from the Rhode Island School of Design. He has lived and worked in the New York City area since 1980 and currently lives in Barryville, New York. He has had solo exhibitions at the Perimeter Gallery, Chicago IL, at J. Walter Thompson, NYC, Burlington College, Pemberton NJ 1982, The Madison Art Center, Madison WI and a
two person exhibit at DVAA Narrowsburg, New York. Commercially the artist has photographed primarily Fine Art, Architecture and Design related objects. Among his clients were Pace MacGill, Pace prints, Chuck Close, Alfred
Leslie, and the architects Haines Lundberg Whaehler, Beyer Blinder Bell, and NextDes.
The artist is included in public collections at The Center For Creative Photography; Tucson,AZ.: Bibliotechque Nationale; Paris,France: George Eastman House; Rochester, NY and the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art; Madison, Wi. As you walk about our Lodge corridors, discover Back’s photographs, now part of our permanent collection.
