Ralph Gibson (American, b. 1939)
Ralph Gibson is an influential American photographer known for his surreal and erotic photography. Gibson’s photographic debut was his role as Photographer’s Mate in the U.S. Navy from 1956 to 1960. After the war, Gibson studied painting and photography at the San Francisco Art Institute and worked as a printing assistant to Dorothea Lange. Lange inspired Gibson to grow as an artist and find his photographic voice. From these early days, Gibson published his work in book form. He became well known for his book format and even began his own publishing firm, Lustrum Press, in 1969. Throughout the 70s, Gibson began to create surreal photography through enigmatic juxtapositions and the dream sequence-like organization of his images. Gibson’s work has appeared in
hundreds of exhibitions and is featured in over 150 permanent museum collections around the world. Cloud, New Mexico demonstrates Gibson’s captivating and high
contrast style of black and white photography.
Nadia Botello (American, b. 1986)
Nadia Botello is an American sound artist and experimental composer. She is currently an MFA candidate in Music/Sound at Bard College. Botello’s work has explored topics like the relationship between sound and water, site and space, and trauma and the voice. She has lectured and facilitated workshops for preschoolers that center around building electronic instruments, the history of women in electronic music, and more. Botello’s work has been exhibited at leading galleries and museums like the MoMA PS1 ClocktowerGallery and Philadelphia Museum of Art. Her composition for Landscape / Soundscape draws from the darkness and suspension of Gibson’s photograph. In her own poetic words, “The eyes are engulfed, drawn inwards, remain. Sound ensues, breathes in the spaces between. Pulling shadows together until they become one.”