Klompching Gallery is delighted to present a solo exhibition  of new work by Cara Barer.  An opening reception will be held on Saturday, January 9, 6pm–8pm with the artist in attendance.

Exhibition dates: January 9–February 27, 2016

The artist’s creative process includes the transformation of outdated, abandoned and obsolete books into coiled, crumpled and sculptural objects. Following this labor-intensive reconfiguration, she photographs them and presents the final artworks as large-scale pigment prints – lush in color, highly detailed and impressive.

Through this process of re-imagination, the books segue into a carefully considered commentary on their changing role of how society accesses and values knowledge in a technologically advanced context. Ultimately, Barer’s work questions the value of the book itself.

“I transform books into art by sculpting them, dyeing them and then through the medium of photography presenting them anew as objects of beauty. I am attempting to blur the line between objects, sculpture, and photography. The way we choose to research and find information is also in an evolution. I hope to raise questions about these changes, the ephemeral and fragile nature in which we now obtain knowledge, and the future of books.”—Cara Barer

With this new series of photographs, Barer expands her attention to include cartography. Using maps as the primary source material, she paints, rips and tears them before binding them into a book form and resulting photograph. As with the status of books, she calls attention to the increasing obsolescence of traditional paper-based cartography, in a world easily travelled with GPS.

The exhibition will feature eight photographs dated 2014–2015, and showcase the artist's newly introduced scale of editioned photographs at 48"x48". 

Cara Barer (b. 1956) lives and works in Houston, Texas. She is a graduate of the Art Institute of Houston, the University of Houston and the Glassell School of Art. Barer has been represented in numerous exhibitions across the US, and has had her work reproduced in several publications, including Art Made From Books: Altered, Sculpted, Carved (Chronicle Books, 2013). Collections holding her work include VISA, UCLA Special Collections, Danielle Steel, Bloomingdales, Lehigh Unviesity, Nordstrom’s Nationwide, Wells Fargo Bank and Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, among others.

Klompching Gallery was established 2007, and specializes in the sale and exhibition of contemporary fine art photography. The gallery represents an international roster of established artists, whose work can be found in several notable public and private collections. Located in Dumbo (Brooklyn, NY), the gallery showcases photography that demonstrates creative integrity and intent, originality, narrative and aesthetic challenges, and the highest level of craftsmanship. Klompching Gallery is a member of AIPAD since 2012, and exhibits each year at the New York Photography Show at the Park Avenue Armory. In addition to its exhibitions schedule, the gallery provides detailed, bespoke acquisition services to collectors of contemporary photographs.