John Cleary Art Gallery-Fine Art Photography

The other day I was having lunch with my friend, Catherine Couturier, owner of John Cleary Gallery Fine Art Photograpy, and she made a comment about photography that stuck with me. I asked her what she thought about some of the new applications available for our current app-obsessed society such as Instagram and Hipstamatic, both very popular since the advent of the App Store from Apple. Her response was interesting - she explained that a photograph is something tangible, not what you find on online mediums such as Instagram. A lot of the work that goes into producing a beautiful photograph is put into it's development, printing, and the final end product. A true photographer is one who not only has an eye for taking the image, but who can also process it so that the end result is an amazing piece of art.

This art has become somewhat lost in this digital age, where a novice can feel like a professional because of the mass quantities of people who "like" the novice's online images. These online images are fun to look at, and I have also loved being an Instagram user. Even so, taking a trip to the John Cleary Gallery is quite an eye-opening experience.

The artists who are lucky enough to be part of the John Cleary Gallery's exhibits are some of the most talented in the world. Catherine's eye for thoughtful, amazing photography is evident as you pass through the doors and into the stark white walls and concrete floors of the gallery.

Here are some pictures from previous exhibits and receptions held at the space:

You can find a list of exhibitions on the official website for the John Cleary Gallery. Below is a picture from the most recent exhibit (one of my favorites), Mitch Dobrowner: "Storm Series":

Mitch Dobrowner: "Monsoon"

The next exhibition, currently hanging in the gallery, is Jeri Eisenberg: "Bokah". The opening reception for this exhibition will be Saturday, September 17, 6-8 p.m. Stop by to check out the artist and the gallery, you will love it! This exhibition is a series of defocused, blurred images from "common wooded landscapes" which are then printed on thin Japanese Kozo paper and segmented into diptychs, triptych or quads.

Here are two from the series:

Giant Magnolia:

Silver Pear Willow:

All images in this post are from the Gallery directly, or taken from the Gallery's official website, with permission.

John Cleary Gallery
2635 Colquitt Houston,
TX 77098 - tel: 713-524-5070