Fern Hill Field Trip with Frances Denny to view her new exhibit “Spellwork” at CLAMP Gallery in NYC
Join Fern Hill Project for special Field Trip to NYC with local photo-based artist and Fern Hill member Frances Denny to view her new exhibit Spellwork at CLAMP gallery on Wednesday, November 15th.
Meet at the gallery located at 247 West 29th Street at 11:30am or take the train with other Fern Hill members from the Katonah Metro North Station at 9:30am.
Frances will walk us through her exhibit followed by an informal lunch nearby the gallery.
About Spellwork:
Spellwork is a collection of still life photographs inspired by the occult, motherhood, and photography itself. Frances spent three years photographing self-identifying witches around the U.S., resulting in her book Major Arcana: Portraits of Witches in America. During that time, she became interested in the occult concept of magic conceived – in the words of revered witch and environmentalist Starhawk – as "the art of changing consciousness at will."
In the years since completing Major Arcana, Frances has explored whether art-making itself occupies a realm of practiced intuitive consciousness. In Spellwork, the studio set becomes an altar; the act of creation an incantation. Each photograph features a flower, invoking bodily fragility and mortality, alongside the trace of a child's interruption. Many incorporate magical photographic shifts (smoke, blurs, refractions) and plastic material as shield for the preservation of the self and container for a child’s mess. Together, the images conjure a subjective duality of artist and mother; the triumphant, deathly dance of disparate roles merging into one.
About Frances:
Frances F. Denny is an internationally exhibited photo-based artist, editorial photographer, and screenwriter whose work investigates female identities. Frances is the author of two books, Let Virtue Be Your Guide (Radius Books, 2016) and Major Arcana: Portraits of Witches in America (Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2020). Photographs from Major Arcana have been exhibited at The Peabody Essex Museum, The New-York Historical Society, and The Southeast Museum of Photography. Frances is the recipient of a NYFA’s 2016 Fellowship in Photography, and has won numerous awards, including Photo District News “Top 30.” She received an MFA from Rhode Island School of Design and a BA from NYU’s Gallatin School. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal Magazine, Harper’s BAZAAR, Vanity Fair, ELLE, Architectural Digest, British Vogue, among many others. Frances is represented by CLAMP gallery (New York, NY). Her literary agent is Meg Thompson (Thompson Literary). Her entertainment manager is Rick Berg (Code Entertainment). Frances lives in Pound Ridge, New York.