September 8–November 10, 2007

Jean Luc Mylayne

HOUSTON, Texas – August 9, 2007 – Blaffer Gallery, the Art Museum of the University of Houston, is pleased to present Jean Luc Mylayne, the artist’s first solo exhibition in an American museum, on view September 8 through November 10, 2007. The exhibition displays roughly twenty large-scale color photographs of bluebirds, hummingbirds, juncos, and other species of birds, all taken in the landscape of Western Texas. A pioneer of his trade, Mylayne invented some fifty special lenses that allow him to explore multiple focal point perspectives in a single exposure.

In 2004, Jean Luc Mylayne, traveling with his wife and co-collaborator, Mylène, began to spend six months each year photographing his avian subjects in Fort Davis. A rugged and wild place nestled in the scrubby landscape of the Davis Mountains, it is both a stopping place for people and a way station on the migration routes of animals and birds – specifically Eastern, Western, and Mountain Bluebirds. This might seem like an unlikely place for the French artist to end up, but Mylayne notes, “Since I was 10 years old, I knew that I would come here for the bluebirds. I looked for a long, long time to find the place to see all three species at the same time.”

Although Mylayne’s artistic practice involves capturing images of birds, he is not by any means a conventional wildlife photographer: his art goes far beyond the simple documentation of various species and habitats. Rather, his work embodies exploration and a philosophical meditation on the nature of being in the world. More a conceptual artist than a traditional photographer, Mylayne’s training as a painter is visible in his photography, encompassing contrasts of stillness and motion, light and shadow. Mylayne favors his current medium because he can meld formal elements of color and composition with the notion of a frozen moment in time. As exhibition organizer and Blaffer Gallery Director Terrie Sultan explains: “These seemingly opposing elements—and an abiding fascination with temporality—are the foundation of Jean Luc Mylayne’s creative process.”

The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue published by Twin Palms Publishers. Featuring 100 images and essays by Sultan and Lynne Cooke, Curator, Dia Center for the Arts, the publication covers Mylayne’s entire career, addressing the growth and development of his themes and concepts over a thirty-year period.

Jean Luc Mylayne is organized by Blaffer Gallery, the Art Museum of the University of Houston. The exhibition and publication are made possible by the generous sponsorship of the Lannan Foundation. Additional support is provided by The Eleanor and Frank Freed Foundation, the Texan-French Alliance for the Arts and its presenting partner, the Levant Foundation, and the French Cultural Services.

Related Programs:

• Friday, September 7, 7–9 pm                           Opening Reception

• Wednesday, September 12, 12 noon             Brown Bag Gallery Tour with David Sarkozi
  

• Thursday, September 13, 5–8 pm                   Blaffer Student Association Red Block Bash
  

• Thursday, September 13, 8 pm                       Outdoor screening of Michael Gitlin’s film The Birdpeople
  

(with Aurora Picture Show and the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts at the University of Houston)

• Wednesday, October 10, 6 pm                         Contemporary Salon

Following its presentation at Blaffer Gallery, Jean Luc Mylayne will travel to the Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington, Seattle; the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland; and the Krannart Art Museum, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champagne.