Road Not Taken

Robin Rice on Visual Art: "Divergence: Five Views On Photography"

by Robin Rice

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It's now dead simple to make technically excellent pictures with only a so-so camera and a computer. Taking this technological paradigm shift into account, "Divergence" at Sande Webster presents a few personal directions in photography.

Two among the quintet of photographers are showing work reminiscent of mid-20th-century painting. Mitchell (who uses one name only) makes expansive prints in which soft focus color areas are bounded by the edges of the paper and a few blurry lines. Mark Rothko is an obvious point of reference; Mitchell's colors — soft turquoise sky blues, faded reds — are like refreshing sun-washed island breezes.

Printmaker Gregg Krantz likes to work in what he calls "suites." There's one such cluster in this show; hard-edged but not harsh, occasionally symmetrical, these pictures include sharply focused architectural details like a flower and rhythmic, pleasingly angular zigzags.

Well-known in Philadelphia for her figurative sculpture, including the iconic gold Face Fragment at 3500 Chestnut St., Arlene Love is pursuing a long-term project of black-and-white street photography, "Walking Distance." With the exception of an image of a young woman in fishnet stockings standing with a policeman (pictured, detail), the images on her personal website are superior to the ones in "Divergence."

Another member of the Philly old guard, Ron Tarver is showing large, ethereal black-and-whites of spring flowers like daffodils or crocus blossoms. The best of the pallid auras seem tenuous, almost fetal, artifacts or memories of an unborn spring.

Inspired by digital fragmentation, Phil Stein assembles sharply focused, colorful urban scenes into low-relief collages. He occasionally alters the texture of sections with a Plexiglas veneer; the effect is jumpy, cacophonous almost, but also evolving and energizing — undeniably and excitingly urban.

(r_rice@citypaper.net)

"Divergence: Five Views On Photography" Through Aug. 28, Sande Webster Gallery, 2006 Walnut St., 215-636-9003, sandewebstergallery.com