Panopticon Gallery invites you to join it on a new voyage. Located inside Hotel Commonwealth in Kenmore Square, Panopticon is the oldest photography gallery in Boston. At Sea is the gallery’s first exhibition under the ownership of Paul Sneyd and directorship of Kat Kiernan.
This group show features works by Diana H. Bloomfield, Dan Estabrook, Amy Friend, Jefferson Hayman, Lisa M. Robinson, Andrew Seguin, Stephen Sheffield, Agnieszka Sosnowska, and Joni Sternbach. Impalpable, infinite, and unpredictable, the sea has inspired artists since time immemorial. The nine artists in this exhibition continue in this tradition, each bringing their unique perspectives and photographic processes to the waves and surf of the world’s oceans.
Many of the photographs on view involve handmade elements including painting, historical photographic techniques, and artist-made frames. Andrew Seguin’s cyanotypes reinterpret Herman Melville’s classic “Moby Dick” by combining the book’s illustrations and text with the historic blueprint process. Using tintypes, a 19th-century photographic process, Joni Sternbach’s images are timeless records of the Northeastern shoreline. In Lisa M. Robinson’s photographs of churning seas, we are reminded of the volatile and unpredictable nature of the ocean.
Their large scale invites a visceral reaction of teetering at the ocean’s edge. Jefferson Hayman’s one-of-a-kind handmade frames act as portholes into his quiet seascapes. Whether you are seduced by photographs of stormy seas or prefer the calm waters of the shoreline, the diverse range of images in At Sea offer something for every ocean lover.