Images above: © Chris Venere, Brian, Jayden, Mercedes and Amber, 2012; Amber’s Cousins, 2008. Courtesy of Postmasters Gallery, New York
The new exhibition of Chris Verene, his second at Postmasters, will consist of a group of photographs and a series of projected short videos, all depicting his family and other families in the small city of Galesburg, Illinois, whose lives were drastically altered in the 2008 economic downturn. Over the past five years, Verene has been videotaping the key subjects from his thirty years of photographic work. Until recently, Verene never watched any of the videos, feeling it was enough just to have them recorded. Yet, as the stories became more urgent, he proceeded to make video records and interviews with his cousins Candi and Steve, and his friend Amber. Verene worked his way from cellphone to an amateur DSLR camera, and eventually used sound equipment. In recent months he finally began to watch the videos and edit them into "Home Movies," short documentary videonovellas.
Chris Verene
Tomas Banovich, Christine Clisset
Postmasters Gallery on the Opening
Overview of Postmasters Gallery
© Chris Venere, Amber and Her Little Brother, 2012; Dan, Dalton, and Keeghan in the Demolition Derby Truck, 2012. Courtesy of Postmasters Gallery, New York
All Opening Images from Maíra García.