art + objets d'arts + photography

‘Rocío, Perú, 2000’, Authentic Photograph by Pedro Isztin (Ottawa, Canada), Original Silver Gelatin Darkroom Hand Printed, Measures 16 inches height x 20 inches width (print size) , 29 x 25 inches with mat silver frame. Signed & dated by the artist.

Framed $650.

 

IN SITU ARTIST STATEMENT

We both affect and are affected by the world in which we live. The land, the trees, the sky, the water. The people we are making of ourselves from the people we are and the people we have been…in situ.

From 1998-2001, I explored the connection between people and their environment which brought me to various regions of Canada, the United States, Cuba, Colombia and Peru. I chose to focus primarily on friends and members of my immediate and extended family scattered across the Americas, in order to emphasize the value of human connectedness.

As I set out on my journey, I was in search of what I thought might be a universal link among human souls as they exist in their respective places. I found a ubiquitous element in people despite their differences in culture and geography…we are all connected by a human spirit that speaks through attitudes and feelings. I encountered flashes of humanity; from harmony, fear, selfishness and wisdom to innocence, joy and sadness. Despite differences in circumstance we share a commonality that places us within the rhythm of the body in synchronicity with the rhythm of the natural world. I came to appreciate that the natural world consists of both flora and fauna and the natural way in which we have affected it.

My images combine organic tokens from the soils of the Americas with symbols of modern life. The natural world that changes more slowly and the fast-changing world we have constructed within it. These worlds are metaphors of our own existence, of the roots we lay down, rip up and attempt to plant again, of who and where we think we are, of who we might become and where we might be going. These photographs speak to our fragility. They celebrate our individuality and our community in a world that requires mutual support and social solidarity in order to be truly healthy and sustainable.

The interplay between people and nature is the strongest theme. The rhythm of the desert on a man’s back. A branch of leaves as homage to a young girl’s murdered friend. An Amazonian river rock carefully balanced between two lovers. Green balconies hanging over New York City as my niece Apolonia contemplates from her perch in the sky. The arrival of illegal aliens into a foreign – or not – land. The weight of the world on my cousin Juan Carlos as a storm looms in the distance. Licence plates, graffiti, totem poles…

Somehow our worlds are all connected. In what we are, in what is and what is yet to be. A massive tree with eons of roots in twisted majesty demonstrates how nature bares its history. Over time, we go from place to place and bare our own roots. In our hope, despair, reverence and acceptance we are joined with our past. In response to our world we are immersed in the present. Life transcends the obvious. In a moment of time, it provides a glimpse of a mysterious, perhaps even sacred place in the Americas, in the world. in situ.

Special thanks to The Canada Arts Council, David Bosschaart, William McCullough, Stephanie Pyne, Luis A. Abanto, laura jeanne lefave at DAïM0N, Rita Isztin, Valérie Yobé and Ben Pakuts.

Most special thanks to Fernando Castro R. who shared my vision and was vital to its realization.  –  Pedro Isztin

 

 

BIO

 Pedro’s photographs reflect the richness of his diverse heritage. Born in 1964 to a Colombian mother and Hungarian father, Isztin lives in Ottawa, Canada. His recent work explores monolithic structures, (in the series Remains), inner life and outer world, (the installation Sami), the subtlety of a human gesture, (Nuance), and studies of land and humankind’s influence on nature (in The River. The Glade, and Study of Structure and Form). 

Recently published images from Nuance are included in the Peter Hay Halpert Fine Art New York release of “Identities Now: Contemporary Portrait Photography.” The River debuted at Ottawa’S City Hall Gallery, in the Fall of 2012 in conjunction with Ottawa’s Photography Festival X and Nuit Blanche.

Pedro has received various awards to support the creation of his projects, including an Ontario Arts Council Award, 2006, and a Canada Council For the Arts: Photography Project Grant, 1999. Isztin’s work has been exhibited internationally and featured in photography books, Full of Grace, 2006, New York, and magazines such as Contact Sheet, #148, 2008, Syracuse, NY, Private, #37, 2007, Italy, and Ottawa’s Guerilla, #17, Vol 5, 2008. His work is represented by Wallack Galleries and is also in the permanent collection of the Canada Art Bank and The City of Ottawa’s Fine Art collection.

 

 

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2017
Desposorio, Possible Worlds, Ottawa, Canada

2013
The River, Wallack Galleries, Ottawa, Canada

2012
The River, City Hall Art Gallery, Ottawa Canada
Study of Structure and Form, SPAO Red Wall Gallery, Ottawa, Canada

2010
Remains, (work in progress), Wurm Gallery, X Ottawa Photography Festival, Ottawa, Canada

2007
Destino III (catharsis), Wurm Gallery, X Ottawa Photography Festival, Ottawa, Canada
Destino IV (symbiosis), Photography Festival
Remains, (work in progress)

2006
Destino I (home)
Destino II (journey)
Destino III (transformation), Espace Odyssée, Gatineau, Canada

2005
in situ, Soho Photo Gallery, New York, New York

2004
Américas, Patrick Gordon Framing and Gallery, Ottawa, Canada

2003
in situ, With the support of the Canadian Embassy, Cinemateca Distrital, Bogotá, Colombia

2002
in situ, FOTOSEPTIEMBRE USA, Rendon Photography & Fine Art, San Antonio, Texas

2000
Los Vibrantes, FOTOSEPTIEMBRE 2000, Nuyorican Poets Café, New York, New York
Muraya, VU Centre de Diffusion et de Production de la Photographie, Québec, Canada

1999
Los Vibrantes, Institute of Hispanic Culture, Houston, Texas

1998
Muraya, Saw Gallery, Ottawa, Canada
Los Vibrantes, Foto Real Gallery, San Antonio, Texas
FOTOSEPTIEMBRE 1998

1994
Los Vibrantes, The Art Gallery Of the Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton, Ottawa, Canada

1991
Forty-Two Hearts, The Little Gallery, Arts Court, Ottawa, Canada

 

 

GRANTS & COLLECTIONS

Grants
2013 Ontario Arts Council Grant
2011 Ontario Arts Council Grant
2006 Ontario Arts Council Grant
1999 Photography Project Grant     Canada Council for the Arts Grant
1999 Ontario Arts Council Grant
1998 Ontario Arts Council Grant
1998 Travel Grant Canada     Canada Council for the Arts
1996 Ontario Arts Council Grant
1995 Photography Project Grant     Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton

 

Collections
City of Ottawa, Ottawa Canada
Light Work, Syracuse, New York
Canada Canada Council Art Bank, Ottawa, Canada
Rendon Photography & Fine Art, San Antonio, Texas
Throckmorton Fine Art, Inc., New York, New York

 

PUBLICATIONS & REVIEWS

Publications
Shots 141 – Home – Fall 2018 – Saint Paul, Minnesota
F-Stop Magazine – Home – Issue No. 85, October-November – Chicago, Illinois – 2017
The Solari Foundation Photography Collection, Volume III, 19th, 20th, and 21st Century Prints and Objects ~ Arizona State University – Tempe, Arizona – 2017
Unterwegs – Neeko Paluzzi – Ottawa, Canada – 2017
F-Stop Magazine – The Human Body – Issue No. 79, October-November – Chicago, Illinois – 2016
F-Stop Magazine – Family – Issue No. 77, June-July – Chicago, Illinois – 2016
Herd Magazine – Issue 10, Fall – Ottawa Canada – 2015
Nuance – privatephotoreview.com – France, April – 2015
The Human-Altered Landscape – PhotoPlace Gallery – Middlebury, Vermont – 2014
F-Stop Magazine – The Natural World, – Issue N. 64 – April-May – 2014
Festivalx.ca – On Pictures, Seeing and Criticism, by Randy Innes – September 2012
The River Exhibition Catalogue, Ottawa, Canada – 2012
Shots 115 – Minneapolis, Minnesota, Spring – 2012
Uncanny: Surreal Photography – PhotoPlace Gallery – Middlebury, Vermont – 2011
Many Guises: Contemporary Self- Portraits – Judith Parker – Bytown Museum, Ottawa, Canada – 2010
Justin Wonnacott – heart + soul – Photographs that are portraits – Patrick Gordon Framing Ltd., Blurb Ottawa, Canada – 2010
Ottawatter – Six, Ottawa, Canada, January – 2010
Nueva Luz – Volume 13 No. 3, Bronx, New York – 2009
Ottawatter – Five, Ottawa, Canada, January – 2009
Contact Sheet – number 149, Syracuse, New York – 2008
Guerilla – no. 17 vol. 5, Ottawa, Canada, Fall – 2008
Guerilla – no. 13 vol. 4, Ottawa, Canada, Fall – 2007
Shots 96, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Summer – 2007
Private – no. 37, Italy, Summer – 2007
Art at Work – Canada Council for the Arts, Ottawa, Canada – 2007
full of grace – Ray Merritt – The Cygnet Foundation, New York, New York – 2006
Canada Council for the Arts – Annual Report 04-05, Ottawa, Canada – 2005/06
Photo Life – Vol. 30 – No.2, Toronto, Canada, March – 2005
Preston Catalogue – Premiere Issue, Ottawa, Canada – 2004
Photo Ed – Issue 10, Toronto, Canada, Spring – 2004
Mirror Magazine – Issue 5, Ottawa, Canada, December – January 2004
Global Rhythm – Vol. XII #11, New York, New York – November 2003
Foto Pozytiw – No. 10 (51), Lódz, Poland – 2003
in situ (ebook) – En Press (available on www.lightreadings.com), May 2003
Shots 79 – Minneapolis, Minnesota- March 2003
Shots 78 – Minneapolis, Minnesota – December 2002
ARC – Canada’s National Poetry Magazine – Arc 46, Ottawa, Canada – Summer 2001
VU – Centre de diffusion et de production de la photographie – Los Vibrantes Exhibition Catalogue, Québec, Canada – 2000
Aero brief – Winter 1997 Volume 11 No.1

Reviews
Canadianart.ca – 2017
L’Insatiable Quête du Destin – by Line Dezainde – Voir, Gatineau/Ottawa, Canada – 2006
Capturing Our Destiny on Film – by Paul Gessell – The Ottawa Citizen – Ottawa, Canada – 2006
A penchant for people – by Paul Gessell – The Ottawa Citizen – Ottawa, Canada – 2005
Life in the suburbs is officially toxic – by Laura Moss – XPRESS – Ottawa, Canada – 2004
Critics’ picks – by Paul Gessell – The Ottawa Citizen – Ottawa, Canada – 2004
Looking through the looking glass – by Anita Euteneier – XPRESS – Ottawa, Canada – 2004
Lo magico detras de la roca – by Miguel A. Sagrado – El Nuevo Gerald – Miami, Florida – 2003
Pedro Isztin’s In Situ – by Hector Saldana – San Antonio Express News – San Antonio, Texas – 2002
Depth of field – by Dan R. Goddard – San Antonio Express News – San Antonio, Texas – 2002
Pedro Isztin – by Dany Quine – Le Soleil – Quebec, Canada – 2000
A Review – Women of Word – by Tianna Kennedy – NYCpoetry.com – 2000
Imagining essence – by Anita Euteneier – XPRESS – Ottawa, Canada – 1998
‘Fotoseptiembre’98’ – by Dan R. Goddard – San Antonio Express News – San Antonio, Texas – 1998
Airport Art – by Fraser Needham – The Charlatan – Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada – 1997
Los Vibrantes – Photographs by Pedro Isztin – by Fraser Needham – The Charlatan – Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada – 1994
Los Vibrantes – Pedro Isztin e Fredy Llamosas – by Daniela Mascella – Image – Rome, Italy – 1993
Art About – by Kate Taylor – The Globe and Mail, Canada – 1991
The fading innocence of 42 hearts captured on film – by Barbara Fras – The Fulcrum – University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada – 1991
Touching the soul with 42 Hearts – by Mo Gannon – The Charlatan – Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada – 1991

Past and Present Gallery Representation
Wallack Galleries, Ottawa, Canada
metergallery.com, New York, U.S.A.

Teaching and Jury Experience
tutsplus.com Online Instructor, Melbourne, Australia
Peer Assessment Committee member – Ottawa, Canada
City of Ottawa – Direct Purchase Program – 2013
School of the Photographic Arts: Ottawa – Ottawa, Canada