FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
LOS ANGELES, CA.
The Paul Kopeikin Gallery is pleased to present an exhibition by minimalist photographer David Fokos. This exhibition opens Saturday March 19th and runs through April 30th, 2005. A reception with the artist will take place on Saturday, March 19th, 2005 from 6:00 to 8:00pm. The reception is free and open to the public. The gallery is located at 6150 Wilshire Blvd, just west of Fairfax. For information call 323-937-0765.
David Fokos continues to explore the epic beauty of simple, geometric forms and enigmatic scenes through his favorite subjects: water, light, horizon, rocks, and sand. Combining long exposures with mechanical manipulations and dedication, Fokos’ style has by this point become signature. Fokos describes his work as filtering out the "visual noise" of everyday life to reveal the basic forms of our world.
Fokos earned a degree in electrical engineering in 1984 and immediately turned his analytic skills to artistic endeavors: first as a designer of high-end speakers and then as photographer. He finds similarities between the two, saying that finessing the sound of the speakers (making it warmer, darker, brighter, cooler) requires the same level of precision as the making of his negatives and prints. He makes all his image manipulations digitally, including his favored split-toning (sepia and selenium), prior to printing his 36"x36" prints on color paper.
Fokos has chosen to make images that interpret feelings formed over time, just as we build a portrait of people across numerous meetings. His is not the ‘snapshot’ aesthetic, but a studied feeling of his total experience of place. With more recent works tending toward abstraction, the subject becomes less obvious. Constantly reducing and fine-tuning, his silent landscapes create a unique and personal visual poetry.
Born: Baltimore, MD. 1960
Lives and works in San Diego, California
Education
1979-1984- BS, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
Selected Exhibitions
2005
John Cleary Gallery, Houston, TX
Paul Kopeikin Gallery, Los Angeles, CA (upcoming)
Granary Gallery, West Tisbury, MA (upcoming)
Jackson Fine Art, Atlanta, GA (upcoming)
2004
Bonnie Benrubi Gallery, New York, NY
Granary Gallery, West Tisbury, MA
Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego, CA
Benham Galery, Seattle WA
2003
No. 4 Gallery, San Diego, CA
Belvedere, Atlanta, GA
Granary Gallery, West Tisbury, MA
Kane Marie Fine Arts Gallery, Virginia Beach, VA
Paul Kopeikin Gallery, Los Angeles, Ca
2002
John Cleary Gallery, Houston, TX
Granary Gallery, West Tisbury, MA
Benham Gallery, Seattle, WA
2001
Lexington Art Gallery, Lexington, VA
Paul Kopeikin Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Granary Gallery, West Tisbury, MA
Benham Gallery, Seattle, WA
2000
Benham Gallery, Seattle, WA
Granary Gallery, West Tisbury, MA
John Cleary Gallery, Houston, TX
1999
Granary Gallery, West Tisbury, MA
Robert Klein Gallery, Boston, MA
Photographic Image Gallery, Portland, OR
Blue Heron Gallery, Vashon Island, WA
Anchorage Museum of History and Art, Anchorage, AK
1998
Benham Gallery, Seattle, WA
1995
Danforth Museum of Art, Framingham, MA
Collections
Arch Capital Collection
Banana Republic
Boise Art Museum, Boise, Idaho
McGraw-Hill Collection
Microsoft Collection
Museum of Fine Art, Houston, TX
Ritz Carlton Hotels
Swedish Hospital, Seattle, WA
Texaco
Washington Convention Center Collection
Bibliography
"A Revealing Look", Robert L. Pincus, San Diego Union-Tribune, September 2, 2004
"Basic Elements", Lenswork Magazine, February/March 2004
"Resonant Images", Rosiland Smith, Shutterbug Magazine, February 2003
"Still Waters", Leah Ollman, Los Angeles Times, March 8, 2001
"Distillations", Shannon Stoney, Spot Magazine, Fall 2000/Winter 2001
"Dave Fokos, Serenity", Rosalind Smith, View Camera Magazine, May/June,
2000 "Double Vision", Patricia C. Johnson, Houston Chronicle, July 15,
2000
"AIPAD Show 2000", Photographer’s Forum, Summer 2000
"Spotlight–David Fokos", Rosalind Smith, B&W Magazine, August, 2000