Veronica’s Emulsion: AJ Nadel in Chelsea – By Judy Collischan

Perhaps it’s the influence of recent interest in The Passion of Christ, but it seems not too far-fetched to compare contemporaneous photo transfer to Christian biblical lore.

Veronica’s Emulsion: AJ Nadel in Chelsea

By Judy Collischan

 

 

 

 

Perhaps it’s the influence of recent interest in The Passion of Christ, but it seems not too far-fetched to compare contemporaneous photo transfer to Christian biblical lore. Each involves transference: one via chemicals and the other a miracle. According to legend, Veronica wiped Christ’s brow as he laboriously carried the cross, and miraculously, his face remained imprinted on her handkerchief. Process is important in either case – one attributed to the supernatural and the other to chemical reaction. According to my dictionary, a "miracle" is defined as "an extraordinary event brought about by a superhuman agency." Chemicals perform superhuman feats even though they have been concocted by us.

Comparisons aside, photo transfer is used by AJ Nadel to produce some remarkable results.

His latest feats, (on display at the Chelsea Studio Gallery, 515 West 19th Street, from April 15 to May 15) expand the vocabulary of photo transfer through a combination of control and experimentation. His first step was to choose a model whose face moved easily and swiftly among emotions. He took slide pictures of her that were converted via a large camera to two sheets – one print and one chemical transfer. For this body of work, Nadel used both parts. For some pieces, he separated the emulsion from the print, using only this "skin." In other cases, he applied this epidermis to transferred images. He also uses drawing, painting and collage inserted under the applied surface.

The "skins" alone have an ethereal quality: the actions of removal and application are present in the wrinkles, tears and irregular outline of the image. Change and formation are the results of accidents and disruptions took place. "It’s almost as though you can change skins," says the artist. Indeed, today it is possible to alter one’s countenance with flattering and sometimes disastrous results.

This body of work brings to mind Andy Warhol’s portraits that likewise allowed the accidental to add an element of the ephemeral and mutable. Nadel’s work, however, is more complex in the variety of techniques of alterations he explores.

Process is key in this work in terms of content as well as form. His means parallel the changeability and capriciousness of life itself. While the camera catches a moment in time, Nadel offers the continuity of transformation. Chemical or miracle – maybe a little of both? Like Veronica’s veil, the artist’s imagery has an enigmatic feeling that appears alchemical, strange and symbolic.