Touch anything you want, don’t be shy. I say this to every visitor at MMPA: Those of us in the arts have the privilege to handle, ogle, smell, and otherwise take in the works and books others make, live with, and visit. We are privileged. The public—the rest who walks through our doors—knows they're supposed to be reverent in their approach to viewing works. But I say: Come. You need a break from the news, the bottom line, the fragility of humanity. And it's here at MMPA in our next exhibit, The New Abstraction, it will take you and your brain to another place where simple modernist concerns reign. (That's art speak for delight in the formal elements of light, design, time, and craftsmanship.)

Lately, I've been thinking about contemporary abstraction in photography and how it relates to contemporary art. Why is it that I can live with an abstract photograph longer than a documentary one? And where is this inclination toward abstraction from artists coming from? Why is the name of our next exhibit "The New Abstraction"—what are we talking about? Let me delve into a little process. With the advent of AI and the current trend toward camera-less works, we're witnessing a rise in abstraction. Camera-less works are smart and sexy and feel cutting edge, though since the invention of photography in the 1800s, artists have made these images—perhaps the medium enables it. These works break down the essence of photography—capturing light (I'm simplifying). In formal terms, the elements and principles of design seduce us. The all-important Light and Time come to the forefront. (Wait until you see the works by Luc Demers who makes color from these...) In its simplest terms artists like the rest of us are grappling with; What is photography? Photographic works—photography adjacent...are they photography lite...photographic phenomena? What is abstraction in photography?

Lyle Rexer in The Edge of Vision says:
"Our tendency is to make something of the photograph, to try to say immediately what it means and how it works and why it is made. But these images are more disjunctive than that, and often frustrate our impulses. Though approaches to photographic abstraction are varied, the end results all deny the viewer a discernible reference to reality, defying the most conventional norm in photography. There is a tendency among photographers to rebel against the photographic norm and revel in the basic appeal of the unpredictable impact of abstract processes." —Lyle Rexer is an author, curator, critic, and columnist who lives in Brooklyn, New York and has taught at RISD and the School of Visual Arts in NYC.

AI is here and affecting all of us—it is larger than the advent of the internet and smaller than the impact of global warming. Ah, the times they are a-changin'. I say this a lot: Photography is the fastest transmutting medium because it's linked to science and technology. AI as a tool is linked to process and research. Not all of the works in this exhibit or at MMPA use AI or will be camera less but yearly, more and more do. I welcome you to come and see for yourself, to contemplate the abstraction and delight in the process. - Denise Froehlich, Dir. MMPA

The exhibition dates are June 5 - July 26