An unlikely combination of experimentalist, aesthete and meta-photographer (anything is possible these days), Spencer Finch produces series of images infused with a moody sensibility that hide more than they reveal. In order to show us an “anti-image,” Finch offers “Thank You, Fog,” fifty-eight small color shots taken at one-minute intervals with a static camera as the mists moved across the northern California forest—we have to squint to see more than shadows and we barely glimpse traces of color, but if we are willing to peer intently, we will be rewarded with a plenitude born of subtle effacement and attenuation. The banner attraction of Finch’s show is “Periscope,” a device that lets us see the sky outside appear on the gallery wall, permitting the artist to create prints of his subject on a photo-sensitive surface. Attention-grabbing as that might be, the glints of hue in the miasma end up being the more compelling seductions. (Michael Weinstein)
Through May 2 at Rhona Hoffman Gallery, 118 N. Peoria.
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