Image above: ©Tim Roda, (left) Hidden Father 13, 2015; (right) Hidden Father 24, 2015. Courtesy of Daniel Cooney Fine Art.
Daniel Cooney Fine Art announced their second solo exhibition of Tim Roda's black and white photographs titled Hidden Father. In this exhibition Roda continues to explore family dynamics, specifically the relationships between him and his four sons. Odd and intriguing scenarios are acted out for the camera in staged environments created by the artist. To heighten the sense of surrealism, many images are made from negatives that have been spliced together in homespun fashion. Others have been burned or cut and double exposed. Roda's process results in complex tableaus of family life that tell specific and relatable stories.
©Tim Roda, (left) Untitled; (right) Untitled. Courtesy of Daniel Cooney Fine Art.
The title of and inspiration for the exhibition reaches back to Victorian Era photography when it was normal practice for mothers to disguise themselves as studio props. Mothers often camouflaged themselves as studio background so that only the baby would appear in the photograph when in fact the mother was holding the child. These photographs are commonly referred to as "Hidden Mother" portraits. Here, Roda takes the role of supporter, nurturer and a sometimes-ambiguous presence in the photographs and lives of his sons.
©Tim Roda, (left) Hidden Father 6; (right) Hidden Father 4. Courtesy of Daniel Cooney Fine Art.
Tim Roda lives and works in Lanchester, PA. He has a BFA from Pennsylvania State University and an MFA in Ceramics from the University of Washington, Seattle. He has had exhibitions in public and private galleries in London, Brussels, Berlin, Hamburg, Seattle, Chicago, Las Vegas and New York City, to name just a few. Collections include, the Bard College Museum, the Elton John Collection, the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago, the Seattle Art Museum and the Essl Collection in Austria.