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ART REVIEW
by JENNIFER SCHULTZ
IMAGES AS ICONS
J. Phillip White is something of a magician,
wielding an Exacto knife instead of a wand. He
conjures complex coded illustrations and com
pelling, powerful photomontage compositions
out of not-so-thin air. He does this by reaching
into the realm of the photojournalism the pop
icon and the dizzying billions of images used to
convey everything we know. He clips photos out
of magazines, and recombines them. By recycling
images from their original contexts and juxta
posing them like free verse within unexpected
realms, against alien skies, the artist creates a
plane of altered reality wherein the mind takes
intuitive leaps in order to make sense of what
the eye sees. These leaps of imagination result in
new symbols, new concepts bom within us,
insights into our souls and the world around us.
That is to say, by combining photos of a club full
of foam-dancers, a Hindu god, some
Mesopotamian wall carvings and an open book
about birds of prey, White paints a scene from
Purgatory complete with seething masses and
the menacing Fates, or whatever else pops into
his head, or yours. He does this
very well, as evidenced by his
Lowery Gallery exhibition,
titled "Scenes from the
Caverns of the Great
Ravelled Knot."
White is careful to dis
tinguish between "pho
tomontage" and "collage"
when discussing his work.
It's an important distinc
tion. White has two
degrees, one in Journalism
from Auburn
University and
another in
Photography from UGA.
"Photomontage" is
linked historically to
works composed pri
marily of photographic
elements. The term
"photomontage" was
invented just after
World War I, when the
Dadaists needed a
name to describe their
technique of utilizing
photo elements in their new
works. While the Cubists and
Futurists included "collaged" elements within
paintings and drawings, Dadaists made the pho
tographs or fragments of combined photographs
the primary materials of the picture. The word
became popular in the context of a legitimate
art (or anti-art) movement. Its use was part of
the Dada reaction against oil painting, an essen
tially exclusive and unrepeatable artform.
Photomontage was inspired by the world of
mass-communication and photomechanical
reproduction. Artists such as the great Hannah
Hoch created startling, provocative pictures with
just a few carefully trimmed images, culled from
newspapers and exhibition catalogues.
Surrealists, pursuing the "systematic derange
ment of the senses," created photomontages
typified by the works of Max Ernst and the
American Joseph Cornell.
White goes for a photographic quality of
seamlessness in his work, careful to hide cut
lines between pictures. He wants each piece to
look, as he puts it, "visually plausible." He
experimented with Photoshop for a time, but
ultimately did not like the canned, cold look it
gave his images. He feels he has more control
working with a blade than by utilizing the
mouse. He also found the gimmicky filters dis
tracting, tempting the often-lazy imagination.
He's not anti-technology; he simply prefers a dif
ferent set of results.
"The Hunt" has a very broad appeal and was
the first piece purchased from the show. The
image, composed of a herd of elephants, two
nomadic-looking tribesmen and a geodesic dome,
against a majestically stark natural background,
conveys a universe of timeless cycles and con
fronts the viewer with a sense of peace in mor
tality. This image was reproduced as the show
poster, also available. "Say more with less, that's
my goal," says White. He does place importance
on his titles, however. "There's a lot of politics in
my work, but I try to incorporate a little humor
also. I'm more about asking questions." A small
piece titled "Resurrection" is a good example of
this, containing what for some might be uncom
fortable imagery. Jesus hangs on the cross in the
foreground, surrounded by the 21st century's
best medical personnel who confer with one
another over the most elegant technique for res
urrecting the Messiah. A group of onlookers
resembling one of the National Conventions mills
about beneath the ceiling of a large, cavernous
room, waiting for a miracle. And a black velvet
Elvis is mounted prominently on the rear
wall, suggesting perhaps the Savior in a
new suit of clothes.
White's is an involuntary
creative process, where images
form directly out of the sub
conscious as he gathers photo
clippings from hundreds of
National Geographic and
Smithsonian magazines.
"You can't force it," says
the artist. "At least, I
can't. The wonderful thing is
the thrill-seeing what I end
up with." Still, the artist's
style and technique have
evolved quickly. It should be
noted that White spent many
years as a practicing commer
cial photographer in Atlanta
before giving up and moving
to Athens with his wife and
child in order to take the
plunge into making
his own artwork. His
photomontages
evolved naturally from
years of experimenta
tion, but his entire body
of work (some 30 pieces) was
completed in the last five months. "Upon
Witnessing the Changing of the Gods," an early
piece, is very complex and concentrated in the
foreground, almost two-dimensional. By con
trast, more recent works like "Faux Pas" or
"Michelangelo Meets Dali" contain within them
more space, and much more "visual plausibility."
"Michelangelo" is one of the strongest pho
tomontages in the show, combining a "classical"
view of a highly recognizable work by Dali with
an ironic reference to environmental degradation
and third world exploitation.
Don't miss the five assemblages displayed in
a comer, also by White. The legitimacy of pho
tomontage (and collage) as art has been ques
tioned rep f atedly through the years, but it's a
style of expression that regularly experiences a
popular resurgence. The sorcery of J. Philip
White opens a doorway to the subconscious in
eacn of us, and simultaneously, clarifies our day-
to-day submersion in the world of imagery and
the culture of communication. O
WHAT: Photoaartagts by Mj> Whits
WHERE: Lowery GaBery, 795-0102
WHEN: Through Od. 20
HOW MUCH: FREE!
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