Exhibition Review: Jan Groover: Laboratory of Forms
Bruce Boice, Jan Groover, ca.1968 © Photo Elysée - Fonds Jan Groover
Written by Anvita Brahmbhatt
Copyedited by Chloë Rain
Photo Edited by Julia Borges
Laboratory of Forms is a retrospective of artist and photographer Jan Groover, a collection of black-and-white and color photographs in vintage prints, along with the photographer’s materials, such as notebooks and polaroids. The exhibition is an homage to Groover’s works and her influence on modern day photography. The collection consists of still life, portraits and landscape images.
Jan Groover, Untitled , ca. 1978 © Photo Elysée - Fonds Jan Groover
Groover’s influence of painting on her photography is evident in Untitled, ca. 1978. The photo captures a cherry tomato, and utensils surrounding it. The red of the tomato is striking, whereas the steel utensils reflect the colors around it. The photographer’s dedication to formal composition and color play is evident, as the objects lay cleanly next to each other.
As the artist rightfully said about her interest in photography, “with photography, I didn’t have to make things up. Everything was already there.” Her portrait taken by her partner, Bruce Boice, in 1968 shows the duo’s interest in capturing portraits and human life. The light and shadow interplay puts Jan’s face in the light as the shadow falls on the wall behind her. In Untitled, ca. 1978, Groover captured two hands in an angular position to each other. The viewer cannot see the faces that belong to the people’s hands, except for a glimpse of a child’s face. This adds to the mystery of the scene, as viewers are left wondering who these people are, the relationship they share, and their relationship to Groover.
Jan Groover, Untitled, ca. 1981 © Photo Elysée - Fonds Jan Groover
In Untitled, ca. 1975, Groover photographed a suburban neighborhood. In the six nearly identical photographs, the lamppost remains a constant, as the cars behind the post keep changing. The light, texture and mood of the photos remain the same, but the cars either enter the frame or leave it. This consistency is another reminder of Groover’s passion for clean composition and a subdued color palette.
Untitled, ca. 1989 is an interesting study in color play, as the subjects of the photographs are barely visible. Groover captures a bedroom: the bedside tables and the bed, as the bright red, blue and green hues cover the still life. In another photograph, Untitled, ca. 1983, Groover’s subjects are trinkets that create a beautiful composition, instead of a single subject focus.
Jan Groover, Untitled, ca.1975
© Photo Elysée - Fonds Jan Groover
Born in 1943 in New Jersey, Jan Groover’s interest in photography grew in the 1970s after buying her first camera. She initially studied abstract painting at Pratt institute, and later obtained a master’s degree in art education at The Ohio State University. Her first solo exhibition was in 1974 at the Light Gallery. In 1987, The Museum of Modern Art in New York devoted a retrospective to her works. In the late 70s, Jan experimented creatively and worked with platinum palladium printing which was obsolete after the 1850s. Jan Groover was an inspiration to the art and photography movement in New York until her death in January 2012. Her latest retrospective at Foundation Henri-Cartier Bresson is an homage to her devotion to composition in still life, use of color film and themes of mystery, isolation and abstraction in her photographs.
Laboratory of Forms, a Jan Groover retrospective is currently on display at Foundation Henri Cartier-Bresson in Paris from November 8, 2022 to February 12, 2023.
Jan Groover, Untitled, ca.1983
© Photo Elysée - Fonds Jan Groover
Jan Groover, Untitled, ca.1989
© Photo Elysée - Fonds Jan Groover
