Image as Object: Alternatives 2023
Ohio University Art Gallery, Seigfred Hall, 5th Floor
Exhibition: Jan. 24-Feb. 17, 2023
Juried by Deborah Orloff

Artist Talk:  Thursday, February 16 at 5-6pm, Mitchell Auditorium in Seigfred Hall
Closing Reception:  Thursday, February 16 at 6-7pm, Ohio University Art Gallery

An International Photo Biennial hosted by the Photography + Integrated Media Program in the School of Art + Design at Ohio University.

Through the means of photography and visual media, we commemorate — a moment, a place, a person, a thought, a feeling, a concept. We work to recuperate and reimagine memories, dreams, and facades. How do photographs and their ‘object-ness’ suppose to memorialize that which is otherwise always in flux? What are we trying to hold onto, if anything, in our images?

In fall 2022, Alternatives sent out an international call for submissions of poignant works that explore the artist’s interpretation of ‘image as object’, the physical manifestation of that which can’t otherwise be pinned down — the tangible in the intangible. Submitted works were from artists working broadly within the spectrum of image-based media, including conventional and non-traditional photographic processes, moving images and installations.

The resulting exhibition opens in the Ohio University Art Galleries in Athens, Ohio January 24, 2023. It is on view until February 17, 2023.

Juror: Deborah Orloff  (www.deborahorloff.com) Originally from New York City, Deborah Orloff moved to Ohio to accept a teaching position at the University of Toledo. She is currently a tenured Professor and Associate Chair of the Department of Art where she is also Head of Photography & Digital Media. She received her MFA in Photography from Syracuse University and her BFA from Clark University. Although her primary medium is photography, she has also worked in video and installation. Her artwork has been included in numerous exhibitions at national and international venues which include: the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, the Toyohashi Museum of Art & History in Toyohashi, Japan, The Museum of Fine Arts in Nizhny Tagil, Russia, and the Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh, Scotland. Orloff's ongoing series, Elusive Memory, was recently selected for inclusion in the Museum of Contemporary Photography's Midwest Photographers Project. Deborah Orloff has been the recipient of dozens of grants and awards including corporate sponsorship by Hahnemühle Paper, the Ohio Arts Council’s 2019 Individual Excellence Award, and the University of Toledo’s 2021 President’s Award for Excellence in Creative and Scholarly Activity.