Jankowski

The  Visual Arts Center last night had a photography exhibit opening.  Matty Jankowski had contributed a number of photographs.  Born in New York, Jankowski moved to Panama City about 10 years or so ago.

 A triptych of his work, located downstairs was interesting--good as might be expected, but also a progression from his previous works.

Parenthetically, Jankowski's photos are going inevitably to be priced above--about twice that--of most photos exhibited. But Jankowski's work is a compliment to a general contemporary art collection and will sustain value.

The photos were allusive in nature, satirical of bygone famed photographers. The first photograph is of the back of a local female model. The model looked a bit like Ultraviolet from the Warhol troupe, also Dali's girlfriend at the time.  There is a "Mapplethorpe" tone to the photo—contrast is high, either via the use of his shutter or paper or after working the photo.

Thematically there is, too, Mapplethorpe's subcultural urban eroticism (to coin a phrase) combined with a strong sense of the details of the actual body—the sinews and crevices of the back. Mapplethorpe did many backs, and  Jankowski emphasizes the spine with the woman's stringed corset. Jankowski was starting out in New York about the time that Mapplethorpe was, and was an observer of that doomed generation of gay men cavorting before the plague decimated them entirely. He was a taxi driver to the great artists of the time as they traveled to the clubs.  Its hard not to surmise that Jankowski is making a bit of an inside joke here.

The second photo, same model, has a Victorian quality, with its handcut oval frame, sepia tint,  and waif depiction of an Alice Liddel (the prototype of Alice in Wonderland) lookalike. The woman sits plaintively in a chair, hands on knees, dressed in a simple frock. The picture evokes Charles Dodson (see photo below). Again, it remindful of an earlier epoch of photography. Jankowski purposely blurs the face to mimic a superannuated camera.

 As in confirmation of the Charles Dodson (Lewis Carrol) reference the model in real life (she was at the exhibit and is named Stephanie) has a John Tenniel tattoo on her arm—Tenniel being of course the political cartoonist chosen to illustrate the original Alice in Wonderland.  His own drawings were themselves caricatures of political art--of Disraeli and the other prominent figures of the day.

 Jankowski tends to photograph beautiful models but creating a critical distance so that the eroticism is objectified or campy. Just a shade in one direction and they would seem prurient, a shade the other direction they would seem simply narcissistic model photographs. He achieves a balance. Like Warhol, another rather objectified observer of human nature, Jankowski is Polish in origin—the role of the outsider, looking at high and pop culture from a working class point of view, interested but also detached, at time humorous, other times cool.

Finally, the third photo is a fifties style tough guy photo, the tough guy being the same model, this time chomping a cigarette with a sternly rebellious look on her face.

Overall, Jankowski work is interesting to find in a local showing. He is not going to win prizes, and that may be good, the limited money or accolades going to beginning  artists building a resume. Its not realistic to be comparing his work to that of  new artists attempting to find some footing or learning the craft or developing technique.  Many of the other photographs were quite good, though, and this is not to dismiss genuinely competent photographs. However, at this point Jankowski is less interested in those endeavours and mostly interested in expanding the field and potentialities of photography, among other fine arts, and expanding the range of photographic expression  given the various tools and experiences he has developed over the years.

Below are representative photos of a particular photographer that  Jankowski slyly pays homage to, at least to me. In order, they are Maplethorpe, Jankowski, Dodson, Jankowski, photo of Welsh painter Augustus John, Jankowski doing a mug of Augustus John.  He seems to have aged himself in the last photo.




Maplethorpe

Jankowski

Dodson

Jankowski

Augustus John

Jankowski