Auction Highlights: Edward Oleksak
Auction Highlights: Edward Oleksak
Selections from AFTER DARK: Photography
Lot 54: Edward Oleksak (American, 1940-2010). Series of Twenty-Five (25) Photographs of Richard Etts & Ronald Blakley, ca. 1970. Gelatin silver print. Estimated at $4,000 - $6,000.
From the oeuvre of the experimental photographer and filmmaker Edward Oleksak, this series of twenty-five sensual figure compositions will star in our upcoming AFTER DARK Photography auction, live this Thursday, September 24th.
Active in the 1960s-1970s New York art scene, Edward Oleksak quickly made a name for himself through his involvement with Andy Warhol’s Silver Factory and the Judson Dance Theater collective. He documented many of the artists at work in the Factory, and also captured many expressive portraits of Robert Motherwell, Henry Geldzahler, Helen Frankenthaler, amongst other artists and tastemakers. Similar to other artists within the Factory milieu, Oleskak also produced his own experimental short films, including one such work featuring the Warhol superstar Viva.
This series by Oleksak features fellow artists Richard Etts and Ronald Blakely in a wide array of angles and postures, with many of the tightly cropped images alluding to a more erotic sequence. Within these works he presents all of the delicate niches and curves of the male form, showcasing the artist’s interest in both the sensuality of his models and the compositional possibilities that their bodies create as both figure and ground.
Alongside his interest in the physicality of his subjects, Oleksak explored the medium of photography as a tactile practice. During his photo sessions, the artist would go through countless iterations of different poses and compositions, fully capturing his subjects from all angles.
Oleksak also experimented with the spontaneous nature of the gelatin silver process. Through minute changes to the development and enlargement of his images, he would create large sequences of images which differed in their level of contrast, as well as their size and placement along the sheet.
As with many artists within the Silver Factory circle, Oleksak was interested in presenting photography as an authentic form of art, one which required both artistic labor and a creative vision. Through his unexpected framings and experimental approach to the development process, Oleksak challenged many of the conventional narratives around formal art photography. In this series, the artist presents an exemplary model of his artistic practice and a full aesthetic exploration of the male form.
Browse the catalog today to find this series by Edward Oleksak and much more in AFTER DARK: Photography. There’s still plenty of time to register, request condition reports, or place pre-bids on any lots you’re interested in for our upcoming September 24th auction!
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