Brenda Biondo: Play
San Diego Museum of Art
Gallery 15: Mrs. Thomas J
Fleming Sr. Foyer
Through January 7th,
2018
Article by Cathy Breslaw
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| Brenda Biondo, Burlington, CO, 2009. Color photograph. Image courtesy of the artist. |
Colorado photographer Brenda
Biondo’s constructed abstractions and playground images fill the Mrs. Thomas J
Fleming Sr. foyer of the museum with a
combination of fascination and nostalgia. The Paper Skies series are a group of formal
minimalist abstractions which at first glance resemble paintings. However, they are printed photographs created
as the result of paper being cut, folded and then re-photographed against the
sky. Biondo begins by photographing the sky at different times of day. She then prints out the desired
photographs, manipulates them, and then re-photographs the shaped photographs against
a sky. The photos are then printed onto thin aluminum using a dye sublimation
process, lending a slight metallic sheen and a polished quality to the
surfaces. This series also reveals
atmospheric color as well as noting the ambiguity of the real versus the
reproduced. These images brings to mind modernist painters like Frank Stella
and Ellsworth Kelly who used geometry in rather simple and straightforward ways
but are also visually compelling images.
Biondo’s second body of work
comprises 15 photographs depicting the evolution and obsolescence of the
traditional American playground. Her
photos unearth memories of early and mid century playgrounds made of mostly
metal and materials no longer used in contemporary play structures. To prepare
for her photographic series, Biondo researched vintage catalogs and historic
photos from the 1920’s to the 1970’s including classic seesaws, slides,
spinners and whimsical animal jungle gyms. Her photographs using iconic
American symbols like rocket ships, and lunar landers were popular because of space
exploration during the 1960’s, while other
photographs depict structures from the 1950’s when cartoon characters, cowboys
and Indians, Cinderella and other pop culture references were widely used. Her
photographs allow us to revisit icons of childhoods past as well as documenting
their place in American culture. Biondo’s playground photographs share similar
geometric and minimalist compositions with the paper skies series and the use
of light in an atmospheric way.
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| Brenda Biondo, Paper Sky 7, 2013-16. Dye sublimation on aluminum. Image courtesy of the artist. |
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Brenda Biondo, Paper Sky 27, 2013-16. Dye sublimation on aluminum. Image courtesy of the artist. |
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| Brenda Biondo, Colorado Springs, CO, 2006. Color photograph. Image courtesy of the artist. |
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| Brenda Biondo, Hudson, CO, 2011. Color photograph. Image courtesy of the artist |
