Foto Gallery the photographer’s gallery

Jane Wenger’s black-and-white photographs at Foto Gallery represent two studies: one utilizing an unusual bald male model, the other a series of self-portraits. Both demonstrate her phenomenal technical control and artistic sensibility.

Shooting predominantly against varied skyscapes, Wenger uses strobe light, wide-angle lenses, and carefully chosen vantage points to turn human forms into original abstract experiences. The images, which have been further subject to Wenger’s tight control in the darkroom, become disquieting and surreal revelations. The now large and unfamiliar figures, visually integrated into the land and skyscapes, ultimately emanate a wide-reaching power that affects the viewer.

An earlier body of work that Wenger exhibited in Spokane in 1974 initiated three important things for her: The Museum of Modern Art purchased one of her prints, the University of Illinois (Chicago Circle Campus) hired her to teach photography, and Artemisia, a women’s cooperative art gallery, invited her to become a member of its newly formed photography gallery in 1976. Foto now presents Jane Wenger’s photographs in her first major New York show.