Directors' show -  7/8/2005


Harry Scull Jr./Buffalo News
CEPA celebrates its 30th anniversary with an exhibition of the works of its directors, past and present, including current director Lawrence Brose. "Artist Run: CEPA Gallery at Thirty" begins with an opening reception from 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday.
When CEPA Gallery says it is an artist-run gallery, it has proof galore. Since its inception three decades ago as Buffalo's only organization devoted to photography and photography-based art, each and every one of its 11 directors has been a serious practicing artist, from founder Robert Muffoletto to current director Lawrence Brose.

Appropriately enough, CEPA will celebrate its 30th anniversary by presenting an exhibition of the works of these 11 directors, past and present. Called "Artist Run: CEPA Gallery at Thirty," the show begins Saturday with an opening reception from 6 to 8 p.m. The show was originally conceived by another artist-run organization, Light Work in Syracuse. The Buffalo version will expand the scope of the exhibition to include a more rounded view of the work of each artist. In addition to Muffoletto and Brose, the participants will be, in order of their tenues, Pierce Kamke, Kevin Noble, Ken Pelka, Tom Damrauer, Kathy High, Biff Henrich, Gary Nickard, Gail Nicholson and Robert Hirsch.

Concurrently, Hirsch will also be exhibiting a new photographic installation, "Manifest Destiny & The American West," in CEPA's Flux Gallery. The project, consisting of 850 jars containing electrostatic photographic prints, is described as a stylized three-dimensional image catalog that presents a wide-ranging visual narrative documenting the formation of American culture and the American psyche. The exhibition and catalogue have been supported by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and a grant from M&T Bank. Both exhibitions run through Aug. 24. CEPA is located at 617 Main St. in the Market Arcade Building.

- Richard Huntington