This weekend you have an opportunity to see something really unique. Patricia Grabski is displaying her amazing lumen and cyanotype photo art in Balboa Park. Her work is part of a five artist exhibition called Ain’t Nothing Like a Dame, which you can enjoy inside Gallery 21, in the always wonderful Spanish Village Art Center.
I learned that cyanotype printing was invented in England in 1842. Utilizing two chemicals, ammonium iron citrate and potassium ferricyanide, this process was used to create early blueprints. In 1843, the world’s first woman photographer, Anna Atkins, placed organic materials onto paper coated with cyanotype; when exposed to sunlight, ghostly, artistic photograms were created.
Lumens is a very similar process that uses old unexposed black and white photo paper. Exposure to sunlight creates all sorts of fantastic colors and effects.
My own poor photographs don’t do this fascinating artwork justice. You have to see the subtle detail in person. So head on over to Spanish Village tomorrow. Patricia Grabski’s work will be displayed through March 14. If you want to contact the artist, her info is visible in one photo.
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I like that gallery. Thanks for the heads up for the new show.
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Only a couple days left!
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I’d never heard of this kind of art before. How very interesting and beautiful! 🙂
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The images are fantastic, mysterious, and somehow strangely sublime. Very different from modern digital photography!
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