“New Works by Michael P. Farrell and Joe Putrock” at the Albany Center Gallery begins July 10 and closes August 18. Both artists will attend the opening reception July 20 from 6:00pm to 9:00pm in the gallery. The gallery will be filled with over 30 new images from both of these Albany based photographers.
For this exhibit Farrell paired his observations of society with touching and personal experiences he has with his children, wife, and family. The finished diptychs flow from sharp to tender, gritty and grainy muscles in black and white to the blurred movements of his wife’s body.
Putrock’s new work shares his ability to subtly offer viewers images to apply to their unrealized observations, emotions, and memories. In one image the flowers printed on an empty box of tissues grow into the floral pattern of a tacky, beloved couch; their mismatched patterns appear naturally seamless. They are two disparate items connected visually by Putrock’s heavy, large format camera.
Farrell attributes his sharp awareness of his surroundings to his blind grandfather. As a child “I became his eyes as we would take walks, his hand on my shoulder, around the inner city blue collar neighborhood, called Black Rock. We often played games of visual description as I explained the sights to my grandfather.” Farrell’s 20-year career as a photojournalist began at age 12 when he decided that photography would be his life endeavor. He holds degrees from Buffalo State College, the Rochester Institute of Technology, and the Visual Studies Workshop. Currently, he is a staff photographer for the Times Union newspaper in Albany.
Putrock’s images are tense with color and textured details. The carefully chosen focus of each picture works to release the objects and places found in the imagery of his own memories and observations. He is a freelance photographer whose work appears weekly on the “Social Scene” page of the Times Union and regularly in the New York Post, the Wall Street Journal, The Boston Globe, the Daily News, and Metroland.
