Woodpecker (Car). 2007. colour photograph. 32 x 41 inches

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Woodpecker (Swan). 2007. colour photograph. 32 x 41 inches

–Woodpecker. 2007. colour photograph. 32 x 41 inches

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Abandon (Plug). 2005. colour photograph. 43 x 57 inches

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Abandon (Snap). 2005. colour photograph. 43 X 57.25 inches

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Abandon (Fawn). 2006. colour photograph. 147.2 x 109.1 cm

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It’s beautiful here, isn’t it? 2008. colour photograph. 37 x 28 inches

below: Her fame came at a price. 2008. colour photograph. 62 x 47 inches

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all images © JEFF BARK

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American artist JEFF BARK creates series of elaborately constructed photographs re-examining the relationship between painting, photography and films. Nothing is ever left to luck: the collaborations, castings, set construction (the swamp took one month to sculpt in a Brooklyn studio) and illusionary narrative in the series bring the act of photo taking closer towards the highly considered processes of both the Old Master tableau and the younger art of cinema. Held together in a film, cinematically constructed, dissected and reassembled – the works can be looked at as individually structurally significant, and also as part of a larger extended narrative.

In 2006, the series “Abandon” captured moments of self-contained abandon in formally constructed urban interiors. In “Woodpecker”, his subjects are pictured in naturalistic outdoor tableaux and the scenery is mirrored by the corruption of the youth – drugs, disillusionment, violence and sexual behavior.  His latest photographic series, Flesh Rainbow, demonstrate an exquisite handling of light in a painterly manner reminiscent of the Dutch masters to capture his moody, sometimes bizarre compositions.

JEFF BARK (born 1963) lives and works in New York