LITTORAL DRIFT
Meghann Riepenhoff
December 10, 2015 - February 3, 2016
Opening reception: Thursday, December 10, 2015, 6 - 8 PM
Conversation with the Artist: January 19, 2016, 6 - 8 PM
Meghann Riepenhoff in conversation with Emily Lambert, Associate Director, Fraenkel Gallery
PRESS RELEASE
'Littoral Drift' Delivers Chaos with a Dash of Control at SF Camerawork, KQED Arts, 18 December 2015
Meghann Riepenhoff's grand (and pretty) experiments, San Francisco Chronicle, 18 December 2015
S.F. artist Meghann Riepenhoff works with waves on abstract works, San Francisco Chronicle, 4 January 2016
SF Camerawork is pleased to present Littoral Drift, a solo exhibition by Meghann Riepenhoff on view at the gallery from December 10, 2015 through February 3, 2016.
The title of the exhibition, Littoral Drift, is a scientific term describing the action of wind-driven waves transporting sand and sediment along the shoreline. This is a process that is beyond human control, and provides a symbolic parallel to the artist's working method which pushes the boundaries of the photographic medium through improvisational experimentation, incorporating naturally occurring water effects and the chemistry of cyanotype printing.
In this new and intertwined bodies of work on view, Riepenhoff continues to explore themes of landscape, time, and impermanence and subjects of rain, ocean, and shoreline. She directly employs the effects of waves, rain, wind, and sediment to leave physical inscriptions through direct contact with photographic material. She uses the cyanotype -- one of the oldest photographic processes -- in an unprecedented way, partially photo-chemically processing each work so that they remain dynamic and change in response to their environments over time. In its totality, Riepenhoff's work provides a meditation on the amplitude and immensity of the oceans and the tactile reality of our relationship to the water and the natural environment.
Littoral Drift installation view. Image courtesy of the artist.
ARTIST
Meghann Riepenhoff is a West Coast photographer who splits her time between Bainbridge Island, WA and San Francisco, CA. She received a BFA in Photography from University of Georgia, Athens, GA and an MFA from San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, CA. Her work has been exhibited internationally and nationally at Memphis College of Art, Memphis, TN; High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA; Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, MA; Museo de la Ciudad, Queretaro, Mexico; Photo Center Northwest, Seattle, WA; and Center for Fine Art Photography, Ft. Collins, CO. Between 2012-2015 Riepenhoff was an Affiliate Artist at the Headlands Center for the Arts, Sausolito, CA. She was artist-in-residence in 2009 at Rayko Photo Center, San Francisco, CA. Her work is in many collections, including High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA; and Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Houston, TX.
This exhibition is supported by a grant from the Fleishhacker Foundation.
Littoral Drift installation view. Image courtesy of the artist.
Below, we are pleased to share a recent conversation between artist Meghann Riepenhoff and Associate Director of Fraenkel Gallery Emily Lambert, on Littoral Drift, Riepenhoff's exhibition at SF Camerawork. This video was produced by Megan McHugh and Joseph DeMario of Art Curved Straight.
